from an interview given to the real life character (mr. popov) james bond was modeled after -
"I doubt whether a flesh and blood Bond would last 48 hours as a spy," Popov declared to a group of Italian journalists in 1981, shortly after his death at his residence outside Cannes, on the Mediterranean Cote d'Azur in France. (wiki)
...hmmm, shortly after he died he gave an interview :D
dj