The death of Desmond Llewellyn on December 19 1999 at the age of 85, ended one of the longest running actor-film relationships in cinema.

As “Major Boothroyd ” of Q branch, Mr Llewellyn played the quartermaster at Her Majesties Secret Service, responsible for supplying the various gadgets and devices to “James Bond” in 17 films.

The passion for technology that marked Mr Llewellyn’s screen guise for 36 years was not one that he carried through off-screen though.

As his biographer, Sandy Hernu confirmed after his death: "Unlike his character he hated gadgets - they just were not him."

Desmond Wilkinson Llewellyn was born on September 12, 1914 in Newport , Wales and was the son of a coal mining engineer.

After training at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts he was called up to serve in World War II in the 1st Battalion of the Royal Welsh Fusiliers, but spent much of the conflict as a prisoner of war in Germany .

Upon returning from action Mr Llewellyn looked to begin work as an actor, securing a number of peripheral roles in television and film productions, though the work was irregular and left him depending on the income of his wife, Pamela.

In 1963 the filming of the second “James Bond” film, “From Russia with Love” began, although Peter Burton, the actor who had played the role of “Q” in “Dr. No” was unable to reprise the role.

Director Terence Young had worked with Mr Llewellyn on “They Were Not Divided” in 1950 and saw him as an ideal replacement.

Mr Llewellyn immediately made the role his own, convincing Mr Young to allow him to play the character as an English civil servant instead of a boffin speaking in a lilting Welsh accent.

And “Q”, as the character was known, was developed further on the next “Bond” film, “ Goldfinger ”, when it was suggested to Mr Llewellyn that the character would dislike James Bond.

On the reason for this Mr Llewellyn said: “When I was cast, the director said, 'Everyone loves Bond, except for you. You hate him. You don't think he appreciates you. Or your equipment. He doesn't respect you. You're always saving his life, and he never says thank you.’”

Mr Llewellyn reprised the role in every subsequent James Bond film except “Live and Let Die”, with the characters popularity increasing with every appearance, resulting in hundreds of guests arriving on set, hoping for a glimpse of the two idols, “Bond” and “Q”.

A victim of his own success, Mr Llewellyn admitted to feeling typecast by the role which made him famous, but this did not affect his love of the role and he had no plans to retire, having once stated: “I'll carry on working as long as Eon (the Bond production company) wants me and the Almighty doesn't.”

Despite being the longest recurring actor in the 007 franchise, his on screen time only comes to little more than 30 minutes in total, which left him with little income from the films as he was merely paid by the day for his few hours of work on-set, and did not share in the money made by the films.

Mr Llewellyn was killed in a road accident after returning home from a friend's house, when his car collided head-on with another on the A27 near the village of Berwick , East Sussex and was survived by his wife Pamela and sons Ivor and Justin.