James Bond

During World War II, a British spy named forest yeo-thomas (above) parachuted into occupied France three times to spy on the Nazis before being captured and tortured by the Gestapo—only to escape and reach Allied lines again. His derring-do was acclaimed by many British officers at the time, including a budding author named Ian Fleming. Fleming reportedly went on to use Yeo-thomas and his escapades as the basis for his most famous character, James Bond. Like Bond in various novels, Yeo-thomas was a bon vivant who made harrowing escapes by hiding in a hearse, jumping from a train, and strangling a guard. And the torture that a naked Daniel Craig’s Bond endures in Casino Royale is said to be based on the same twisted technique the Nazis used on Yeo-thomas.