Auric Goldfinger (Gert Fröbe)

{{Cinematic}}
{{Infobox character
| image = <gallery>
Auric Goldfinger (Gert Fröbe) - Profile.png|1964
Goldfinger (GoldenEye - Rogue Agent).png|2005
Auric Goldfinger (007 Legends) - Profile.png|2012
</gallery>
| name = Auric Goldfinger
| alias = 
| rank = 
| age =
| birth_date = 
| birth_place = 
| death_date = 1964,
| death_place = Over Kentucky, [[United States]]
| hair = Blond, short
| eyes = Brown
| height = 6'1" (1.85 m)
| weight = 
| known_relatives = 
| nationality = {{Nationality|uk}}
| occupation = *Bullion dealer
*Jeweler
*Metallurgist
*International gold smuggler
*Founder and CEO of the [[Auric Enterprises]]
| affiliation = [[China]], independent
| status = Deceased, sucked out of an aircraft
| role = [[Main Villain]]
| portrayed = [[Gert Fröbe]],<br>[[Michael Collins]] <small>(voice)</small>,<br>Enn Reitel <small>(voice)</small>,<br>[[Timothy Watson]] <small>(voice)</small>
| first_appearance = [[Goldfinger (film)]]
| last_appearance = [[007 Legends]]
}}
{{Template:Dialogue|James Bond|Do you expect me to talk?|Auric Goldfinger|No, Mr. Bond. I expect you to die.|attr = James Bond and Auric Goldfinger.|src = Goldfinger (film)}}
'''Auric Goldfinger''' was a fictional bullion dealer, jeweler, metallurgist and international gold smuggler. The character was the titular main antagonist of [[EON Productions]]' [[007 franchise timeline#1964|1964]] ''James Bond'' film ''[[Goldfinger (film)|Goldfinger]]''. Portrayed by the late German actor [[Gert Fröbe]] (voiced by [[Michael Collins]]), he was adapted from the [[Auric Goldfinger (Literary)|literary character]] who first appeared in [[Ian Fleming]]'s [[Goldfinger (novel)|1959 novel]]. Fröbe's Goldfinger has subsequently appeared in numerous [[James Bond video games|video-games]], most notably ''[[GoldenEye: Rogue Agent]]'' (2004) and ''[[007 Legends]]'' (2012).

==Biography==
===Background===
Arguably the most famous James Bond [[List of James Bond villains|villain]] in any film, Goldfinger's obsession is gold. Welcoming any enterprise which will increase his considerable stock, Goldfinger engages in international gold smuggling. Smuggling gold out of Britain, Goldfinger moulds the bodywork of his [[Rolls-Royce Phantom III|Rolls Royce]] in eighteen carat gold, weighing approximately two tons. Making six trips a year to the continent, his men dismantle the vehicle at "[[Auric Enterprises|Auric Enterprises, A.G]]" in [[Switzerland]]. They reduce the gold in a special furnace, which in turn are turned into gold ingots.

A considerably wealthy man, Auric Goldfinger owned many properties throughout the world. Apart from being a legitimate bullion dealer, Goldfinger poses as a legitimate international jeweller. As such, he was legally entitled to operate modest metallurgical installations such as "Auric Enterprises, A.G", which he utilised in his gold smuggling scheme. An avid golfer who plays with a Slazenger 1 golf ball, Goldfinger owns the golf club where he and 007 play a high-stakes game. He is defeated by Bond, however, when he is tricked by Bond after attempting to cheat. Goldfinger also owned a farm in Kentucky that was used for horse breeding called "Auric Stud".

===Scheme===
At first, Bond thinks that Goldfinger was planning to steal the gold, but after having a drink with Goldfinger (who said that he had no intention in stealing the gold), Bond soon learns that Goldfinger actually intends to destroy [[Fort Knox]] with an atomic bomb made from [[China]] (on behalf of [[Mr. Ling]], Goldfinger's nuclear specialist from China), which would render the gold useless and validate Goldfinger's value of gold, thus making him the richest man in the world. To ensure that his plan would be successful, Goldfinger plans to have his fellow band of female pilots to spray nerve gas around the vicinity that would kill thousands of citizens, which will allow him and his forces to enter Fort Knox without resistance. He also decides to bring Bond along (as he plans to have him handcuffed to the bomb to finalize his plan).

However, before the plot went into effect, Bond convinced Goldfinger's personal pilot [[Pussy Galore (Honor Blackman)|Pussy Galore]] to help him thwart Goldfinger's plans. To that end, she secretly called Washington and switched the nerve gas to a more harmless one that would send citizens into a temporary sleep. At Fort Knox, Goldfinger has Bond strapped to the bomb and bids him farewell before learning out in horror that several U.S. soldiers have arrived to the scene. Posing as a U.S. army officer, Goldfinger betrays Mr. Ling by shooting him and [[Oddjob (Harold Sakata)|Oddjob]] and [[Kisch]] by trapping them inside the vault with the bomb. Goldinger manages to escape after shooting down several U.S. soldiers while Oddjob stays behind to ensure that Goldfinger's plan must succeed, even at the cost of his life and killing Kisch to ensure that no one disarms the bomb.
[[File:DeathofGoldfinger.jpg|thumb|right|225px|Goldfinger is sucked out of the depressurizing airplane.]]

{{Dialogue|Leiter|You ok, James? Where's your butler friend?|Bond|Oh, he blew a fuse.|attr=Bond kills Oddjob.|audio=|url=|src=Goldfinger (film)}}
{{Dialogue|Galore|What happened? Where's Goldfinger?|Bond|Playing his golden harp.|attr=Goldfinger gets sucked out of his plane to his death.|audio=|url=|src=Goldfinger (film)}}
Though Bond manages to finish off Oddjob by electrocuting him, he has trouble trying to disarm the bomb. After the U.S. soldiers manages to finish the rest of Goldfinger's men, they get in their bomb expert to successfully disarm the bomb for good, thus foiling Goldfinger's plot. After the battle is won, Bond is sent to Washington in a private jet to meet the president, only to find out that Goldfinger has boarded the plane earlier, left the tied-up pilots in the hangar and had Miss Galore pilot the jet. Goldfinger plans to finish off both Bond and Galore for ruining his plans, but during a moment of carelessness, Goldfinger is attacked by Bond and the two fight in the airplane. During the fight, Goldfinger accidentally shoots a window of the cabin and is sucked out of the plane before falling to his death.

==Alternate continuities==
[[File:007_Legends_-_Goldfinger_(1).jpg|thumb|250px|Goldfinger as he appears in 2012's ''[[007 Legends]]''.]]
Goldfinger appears as a playable multiplayer character in ''[[Nightfire]]'' and ''[[GoldenEye 007 (2010 game)|GoldenEye 007]]''.

===''[[GoldenEye: Rogue Agent]]''===
In a continuity separate from any established canon, Auric Goldfinger was a criminal in an unnamed organization run by [[Blofeld (classic film continuity)|Ernst Stavro Blofeld]]. At some point the [[Secret Intelligence Service]] became aware of him, and began to use him in their training scenarios as the mastermind behind a scheme to destroy the global economy by irradiating the gold at Fort Knox. At some point, he extended an offer to join his services to an [[GoldenEye (character)|unnamed SIS agent]]. After a failed attempt at revenge on Goldfinger's coincidental rival [[Dr. Julius No (Joseph Wiseman)|Dr. Julius No]], Goldfinger enlisted the agent, now christened ''GoldenEye'', to secure the OMEN (Organic Mass Energy Neutralizer) device that Goldfinger's scientists had created at [[The Octopus (location)|The Octopus]], where he was met by No's forces, attempting to steal the device. Goldfinger planned to use The OMEN against Dr. No. He was eventually killed when GoldenEye and Scaramanga discovered his betrayal and used the OMEN against him.

The character also appeared in the 2012 video game ''[[007 Legends]]'', with the likeness of Gert Fröbe and voiced by [[Timothy Watson]] (who also provides the voice of [[Daniel Craig]]'s Bond).

==Henchmen & Associates==
<gallery orientation="square" spacing="small" widths="125" captionalign="center" position="left" hideaddbutton="true" captionposition="below" captionsize="small" navigation="true" bordersize="none">
Oddjob Profile.png|[[Oddjob (Harold Sakata)|Oddjob]]|link=Oddjob (Harold Sakata)
Pussy Galore (Honor Blackman) - Profile.png|[[Pussy Galore (Honor Blackman)|Pussy Galore]]|link=Pussy Galore (Honor Blackman)
Jill Masterson Profile.png|[[Jill Masterson (Shirley Eaton)|Jill Masterson]]|link=Jill Masterson (Shirley Eaton)
Kisch - Profile.png|[[Kisch]]|link=Kisch
Mr. Ling - Profile.jpg|[[Mr. Ling]]|link=Mr. Ling
Mr. Solo (Martin Benson) - Profile.png|[[Mr. Solo (Martin Benson)|Mr. Solo]]|link=Mr. Solo (Martin Benson)
Jed Midnight (Bill Nagy) - Profile.png|[[Jed Midnight (Bill Nagy)|Jed Midnight]]|link=Jed Midnight (Bill Nagy)
Jack Strap (Hal Galili) - Profile.png|[[Jack Strap (Hal Galili)|Jack Strap]]|link=Jack Strap (Hal Galili)
MeiLeiGF.png|[[Mei-Lei]]|link=Mei-Lei
Profile - Denise (Aleta Morrison).png|[[Denise]]|link=Denise
64877-7471.jpg|[[Sydney]]|link=Sydney
Pussy Galore's Flying Circus - Profile.png|[[Pussy Galore's Flying Circus|The Flying Circus]]|link=Pussy Galore's Flying Circus
GoldenEye_%28Character%29_-_Profile.jpg|[[GoldenEye (character)|GoldenEye]]|link=GoldenEye (character)
</gallery>

==Behind the scenes==
His first name, Auric, is an adjective meaning ''of gold''. [[Ian Fleming]] chose the name to commemorate the architect Erno Goldfinger who had built his home in Hampstead next door to Fleming; Fleming disliked Goldfinger's style of architecture and destruction of Victorian terraces and decided to name a memorable villain after him. The architect was not pleased to find the character sharing his name and contacted his lawyers; he eventually settled for, among other things, the promise that the character's first name Auric would always be used.

[[Orson Welles]] was considered as Goldfinger, but his financial demands were too high;<ref name="Bray">{{Cite book|last=Bray|first=Christopher|title=Sean Connery; The Measure of a Man|year=[[007 franchise timeline#2010|2010]]|publisher=Faber and Faber|location=London|isbn=978-0-571-23807-1 |ref=harv|pages=p.104}}</ref> [[wikipedia:Theodore Bikel|Theodore Bikel]] auditioned for the role, but failed.<ref>{{Cite book |last1= Pfeiffer |first1= Lee |last2= Worrall |first2=Dave |title=The Essential Bond |year=[[007 franchise timeline#1998|1998]]|publisher=Boxtree Ltd|location=London |isbn=978-0-7522-2477-0 |ref=harv|pages=p.37}}</ref> Fröbe was cast because the producers saw his performance as a child molester in the German film ''[[wikipedia:Es geschah am hellichten Tag|Es geschah am hellichten Tag]]''.}<ref name="making">{{cite video |title=Behind the Scenes with 'Goldfinger' |medium=DVD |publisher=[[Metro Goldwyn Mayer|MGM]]/[[United Artists|UA]] Home Entertainment Inc |year=[[007 franchise timeline#2000|2000]]|url=http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0218836/}}</ref> Fröbe, who spoke little English, said his lines [[wikipedia:phonetics|phonetically]], but was too slow. To redub him, he had to double the speed of his performance to get the right tempo.<ref name="empire">{{cite news|title=Bond: The Legend: 1962–2002|work=[[wikipedia:Empire (magazine)|Empire]]|year=[[007 franchise timeline#2002|2002]]|pages=7–9}}</ref> The only time his real voice is heard is during his meeting with members of the Mafia at Auric Stud. Bond is hidden below the model of Fort Knox whilst Fröbe's natural voice can be heard above. However, he was redubbed for the rest of the film by stage actor [[Michael Collins (English actor)|Michael Collins]].<ref name="making" />

Of his role as Goldfinger, Fröbe later remarked: "I am a big man, and I have a laugh to match my size. The ridiculous thing is that since I played Goldfinger in the James Bond film there are some people who still insist on seeing me as a cold, ruthless villain - a man without laughs."<ref name="independent">{{cite web |url= http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/films/news/no-mr-bond-i-expect-you-to-die-showdown-between-goldfinger-and-sean-connery-voted-greatest-james-8435196.html|title= 'No, Mr Bond, I expect you to die': Showdown between Goldfinger and Sean Connery voted greatest James Bond moment|accessmonthday= |accessyear= |last= Battersby|first= Matilda|authorlink= |coauthors= |date= 2nd January 2013|year= [[007 franchise timeline#2013|2013]]|month= January|format= |work= |publisher= The Independent|pages= |language= English|archiveurl= |archivedate= |quote= }}</ref> ''Goldfinger'' was temporarily banned in [[wikipedia:Israel|Israel]] because of Gert Fröbe's connections with the [[wikipedia:National Socialist German Workers Party|Nazi Party]]. The ban, however, was lifted many years later when a Jewish family publicly thanked Fröbe for protecting them from persecution during World War II.<ref name="commentary">{{cite video|people=Lee Pffeifer|title=Goldfinger audio commentary|location=Goldfinger Ultimate Edition, Disk 1|publisher=MGM Home Entertainment}}</ref>

== Trivia ==
* Auric Goldfinger is one of the most iconic Bond villains in history - due in part to the legendary "Goldfinger" theme, which has been considered by many as one of the best themes to any Bond film.
* Goldfinger is the first main villain to appear that isn't affiliated with <small>[[SPECTRE]]</small>, and the only one to appear before Blofeld's defeat in ''[[Diamonds Are Forever (film)|Diamonds Are Forever]]''.
* Originally, the main villain in ''Diamonds Are Forever'' was supposed to be Goldfinger's twin brother, but Fröbe refused to play him, so he was replaced by [[Ernst Stavro Blofeld]].

==Gallery==
<gallery widths="190" orientation="landscape" bordersize="none">
GoldfingerLosesPoker.png
GoldfingerOddjobGolf.png
GoldfingerRanch.png
Goldfinger_-_Goldfinger_shows_the_gangsters_his_bank.jpg|Goldfinger plots the raid on Fort Knox in ''Goldfinger'' (1964).
GoldfingerGun.png
Goldfingers death.jpg
Auric_goldfinger_character_render_reloaded.jpg|Goldfinger as he appears in ''GoldenEye 007: Reloaded'' (2010).
007_Legends_-_Goldfinger_(2).jpg|Goldfinger holds Bond at gunpoint in ''007 Legends'' (2012).
Auric Goldfinger concept art (007 Legends).jpg|Goldfinger concept artwork for ''007 Legends'' (2012).
goldeneye-rogue-agent-20040927042345735.jpg|Goldfinger in Goldeneye Rogue Agent
</gallery>

==See also==
*[[Auric Goldfinger]]
*[[Auric Goldfinger (Literary)]]
*[[Auric Goldfinger (James Bond Jr.)]]
*''[[Goldfinger]]''
*[[List of James Bond villains]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}