Age: 38.

Height: 5 feet, 11 inches.

	How will Daniel Craig stack up as the newest in the long line of actors who have played James Bond? Click photo for larger image.

Hair and eyes: The hair's blond, naturally blond; eyes are blue.

Birthplace: Chester, Cheshire, England.

Middle name: Wroughton.

Acting education: Attended the Guildhall School of Music and Drama at the Barbican, with fellow students Ewan McGregor, Damian Lewis and Joseph Fiennes, among others. Graduated 1991.

Marital status: Single. His two-year marriage to Scottish actress Fiona Loudon ended in 1994. They have a daughter, Ella, 14. Was linked to his "Layer Cake" co-star, Sienna Miller.

First raves: Starting in 2003, Craig had critical (but not box office) successes with "Sylvia," then "Enduring Love" and "Layer Cake."

Next up: "The Invasion," a sci-fi thriller with Nicole Kidman, and the anticipated "The Golden Compass," from the first book in the best-selling "His Dark Materials" series. He'll play an iconic villain of children's literature, Lord Asriel.

Blond Bond: Just as the sandy-haired Craig had trouble with fans when he took on the usually dark-haired 007, he'll face scrutiny as Lord Asriel, a character described as "a tall man with powerful shoulders, a fierce dark face, and eyes that seem to flash and glitter with savage laughter." He did go darker earlier this year to play Perry Smith in "Infamous."

Spielberg connection: Craig played an Israeli agent in Steven Spielberg's Oscar-nominated "Munich" last year, but his first screen credits are in the animated "The Adventures of Young Indiana Jones" in 1992 and then a guest shot in the TV series "The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles" in 1993. Spielberg directed the three Indiana Jones films.