Due to his iconic character roles in both
From Russia with Love (1963) and
Smiley's People (1982), he is one of only two actors to play significant characters in the best video realizations involving the two most popular - and highly contrasted - fictional spies: James Bond and George Smiley. Kurt Jurgens played the General in Smiley's people as well as Karl Stromberg in The Spy who Loved me.