Terence Young; British Director Made 3 Early James Bond Films

Terence Young, who directed the first, second and fourth of the hugely successful James Bond movies starring Sean Connery in the 1960s, has died. He was 79.

He died Wednesday at a hospital in Cannes in southern France, his daughter, Juliet Nissen, said. She said she understood that he had died of a heart attack.

Young directed “Dr. No,” the first of the Bond movies based on Ian Fleming’s novels about the British spy, in 1962. Ursula Andress starred opposite Connery as Agent 007.

Mixing sex, violence and offbeat humor against expensive sets and exotic locations, “Dr. No” was a huge box office success and established a winning formula for the other Bond movies.

The second, “From Russia With Love,” again directed by Young and starring Connery, Robert Shaw and Daniela Bianchi, appeared in 1963.

The third, “Goldfinger,” directed by Guy Hamilton, appeared in 1964, and the fourth, “Thunderball,” with Young back in the director’s chair, in 1965.

Tall, uninhibited and effervescent, Young was born in Shanghai and educated at Cambridge. He became interested in everything connected with motion pictures, first as a critic and later as a screenwriter. He segued into directing by working as an assistant to directors Jacques Feyder, Alexander Korda, Josef von Sternberg and King Vidor.

He traveled the world to make films, from the Arctic Circle to Kenya, from Jamaica to Libya. His first Hollywood film was “Wait Until Dark” in 1967, starring Audrey Hepburn.

Among the other movies he directed were “Storm Over the Nile” in 1955, “Triple Cross” in 1966, “Mayerling” in 1969 and “The Jigsaw Man” in 1984. But his Bond movies were the ones that proved most popular with audiences, and they are still regularly shown on television.

Nissen said her father was working on a documentary film in Cannes when he became ill.

He is survived by two daughters and a son.