Jerry Juroe, Hollywood Publicist Who Helped Establish The James Bond Franchise, Dies At 98

Charles “Jerry” Juroe, a Hollywood publicist and marketing expert who was credited with helping to establish the popularity of the James Bond franchise, passed away at the age of 98.

An Unlikely Start: Juroe died of natural causes at his home near Valencia, Spain, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

Born in San Francisco on Sept. 19, 1923, Juroe had his first experience with the film world as a soldier in the World War II Army, where he escorted visiting movie stars including Bob Hope and Rita Hayworth through U.S. military bases. His Army service also included considerably less glamorous duties — he was part of the D-Day invasion and was wounded in the Battle of the Bulge.

After being discharged in October 1945, Juroe found work as a publicist for several West Coast theater chains. He joined Paramount Pictures’ publicity department in 1950 and worked in the promotion of classic films including “Sunset Blvd.” and two Cecil B. DeMille epics, the Oscar-winning “The Greatest Show on Earth” and “The Ten Commandments.”

Juroe left Paramount to work with the high-profile public relations agency run by Arthur P. Jacobs, and one of his assignments involved working with Marilyn Monroe when she was in London for the production of the 1957 comedy “The Prince and the Showgirl.” During his time in London, he became acquainted with producer Albert “Cubby” Broccoli, who would team with Harry Saltzman in producing the James Bond film series.

Related Link: 10 Things You Probably Didn't Know About James Bond

Saving 007: Juroe joined United Artists as the head of its European publicity at the time the studio was preparing its release of the first James Bond film, 1962’s “Dr. No.” Juroe recalled the studio did a strange job in its U.S. release, which he recalled “was basically to drive-ins in Texas and places like that” while strangely downplaying its presence in major markets like New York City.

“But it was turned around by the success in Europe,” he said. “It was so big in Europe, and then of course, the thing about [President John F.] Kennedy being a big fan of Ian Fleming was a big help. We got a tremendous amount of publicity out of the releases in Europe and eventually in America.”

Juroe coordinated the European promotion of the next four 007 films —1963’s “From Russia With Love,” 1964’s “Goldfinger,” 1965’s “Thunderball” and 1967’s “You Only Live Twice” — as well as the promotion for the Beatles’ films “A Hard Day’s Night” (1964) and “Help!” (1965) before leaving United Artists to rejoin Paramount and then Universal Pictures.

He reunited with United Artists to promote the 1974 007 film “The Man with the Golden Gun” before joining Broccoli and Saltzman’s EON Productions as chief marketing executive to remote the 007 films through 1989’s “License to Kill.”

Juroe retired in 1990 and settled in Spain. He recounted his career in the 2018 autobiography “Bond, The Beatles and My Year With Marilyn: 50 Years as a Movie Marketing Man.”

Photo: Ursula Andress and Sean Connery in "Dr. No," courtesy of United Artists.