Bob Simmons and Bond:
Doubling for Connery, Simmons agreed to have a real tarantula spider crawl across his body and shoulder: ‘I tried to close my mind to what was going on. I lay there, petrified…’. But what made it worse was that the director, Terence Young, insisted that one more shot was taken, so Simmons had to do it all over again. Needless to say, Simmons was not very pleased, especially as he realised he had not negotiated any extra fee for the dangerous work.
Simmons regarded the duel between James Bond and ‘Red’ Grant (Robert Shaw) on the Orient Express in From Russia With Love as ‘one of the most realistic examples of hand-to-hand combat ever filmed’. Working as Connery’s double on the now famous From Russia fight sequence, with Jack Cooper doubling for Robert Shaw, Simmons said ‘it was a peach of a fight’, helped by editor Peter Hunt’s suggestion that a third free camera be used.
Source for above quote is this Bond fan site.
You may know Bob Simmons better from the iconic gun barrel scene.
He also played the widow in this fight scene. Skip to 1:40 if you want to get to the fighting.
Here's a photo of Simmons and Sean Connery chilling on set while filming that sequence.
bts photo source
also fun: this behind the scenes look at filming a scene in Diamonds Are Forever with Simmons working as stunt coordinator!
