Jack Wade
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Jack Wade is a fictional character in Pierce Brosnan's first two James Bond films: GoldenEye and Tomorrow Never Dies. Wade, played by Joe Don Baker, is 007's CIA contact, presumably taking over the role of Felix Leiter after the events in the 1989 film Licence to Kill.
Wade is named after Kevin Wade, an uncredited screenwriter who wrote the majority of the scenes featuring the character.
Biography
Baker plays Wade very close to the Ugly American stereotype, acting as a memorable and effective foil to the ultra-suave Bond. However, this should not imply that Wade is any less effective than his predecessor, Leiter. So far Wade has been just as helpful — and just as willing to bend the rules — as Bond's original contact was.In GoldenEye, Bond and Wade initially didn't get along, as Wade had no patience for the cloak-and-dagger codes and passwords that "stiff-assed Brits" like Bond relied on. They quickly grew to like each other, however, as they shared a disdain for rules and official etiquette. Through his access to CIA intelligence and marine forces, Wade helped Bond foil Alec Trevelyan's plan to rob the British government of millions.
One of the funnier quirks of Wade's character was the nicknames he would give to Bond, including "Jimmy" and "Jimbo." He also has a tattoo of a rose from his third marriage that says "Muffy."
Wade was not present in The World Is Not Enough or Die Another Day, the two most recent James Bond films. In Die Another Day, however, there were two NSA agents, Giacinta 'Jinx' Johnson (played by Halle Berry), and Damian Falco (played by Michael Madsen). With Daniel Craig now taking on the role of agent 007, Jack Wade's return is considered unlikely for future films, although Wade's fate is unknown.
Baker had previously played a villain, Brad Whitaker, in the first Timothy Dalton Bond film, The Living Daylights. This casting dovetails that of Charles Gray, who played Ernst Stavro Blofeld in Diamonds Are Forever, having previously played Bond's contact, Henderson, in You Only Live Twice. Another similar occurrence was actor Robert Brown being cast in the role of M in Octopussy, when Brown had previously played Admiral Hargreaves in The Spy Who Loved Me (although in the last example, Brown may have actually been playing the same man in both films, since his M's real name was never revealed).
The character of Wade is similar to that of CIA agent Darius Jedburgh, played by Baker in the 1985 BBC Television serial Edge of Darkness. The serial was also directed by Martin Campbell, who cast Baker as Wade in GoldenEye.
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