Timothy Dalton is sometimes described as the most underrated Bond. He only got to star in two movies – 1987's The Living Daylights and 1989's Licence to Kill – before legal issues between MGM and movie makers Eon Productions thwarted his planned third outing as 007.

Still, there's no doubt that the dashing actor has enjoyed a prolific and varied career with the odd very unexpected tour. So, as he celebrates his 75th birthday Sunday (March 21), we're making him our British Icon of the Week. Read on for more fascinating Dalton stories.

1. He tried to bring Bond back to his gritty roots.

"I came in under certain circumstances. The prevailing wisdom at the time – which I would say I shared – was that the series, whilst very entertaining, had become rather spoof-like," he told The AV Club in 2014. "It was one-liners and raised eyebrows and it had become, let’s say, too lighthearted. And the producer, Mr. Broccoli, felt that, and he wanted to try and bring it back to something more like its original roots with those Sean Connery films."

However, Dalton also conceded that things didn't quite pan out as he had hoped. "So that was the loose framework that we sort of embarked on, but then you find that nobody else wants to change it all!" he added. "The studio doesn’t want to change it, the people that work on it don’t want to change it… Everyone’s happy with what they know. And everyone intellectually says, 'Well, yes, we should, it was getting a bit stale, it was getting a bit this, that, and the other,' but nobody actually wants to. So it wasn’t as easy as one would hope."

2. He has managed to retain his mystique through a 57-year acting career.

Dalton told The Independent last year that his Wikipedia biography is filled with "totally ridiculous, utter drivel," but added: "This wall of lies protects me, in a way. Although it is also disrespectful of a life. The place where I lived was wrong, the fact I’d been in the air force was wrong. Although it is true that I learned to fly, back when I was at school."

3. He fulfilled a "childhood fantasy" when he guest starred on Doctor Who.

Dalton plays Rassilon, Lord High President of the Time Lords, in 2009-19's two-part story "The End of Time." Discussing the experience with The AV Club, he recalled: "Having been a kid watching that [show], when someone rings you up in later life and says, 'We want you to come and play a Time Lord…' Well, Doctor Who’s a Time Lord! Time Lords are it! So the answer is yes! I had great fun doing it. It was wonderful people to work with."

4. He showed his lighter side in Toy Story 3 and Toy Story 4.

Dalton is perfectly cast as Mr. Pricklepants, a classically trained actor who just happens to be, um, a hedgehog in lederhosen.

5. He also showed off his comedy chops in Simon Pegg and Edgar Wright's action-comedy movie Hot Fuzz.

Dalton is on scene-stealing form as a supermarket manager with a penchant for making very macabre jokes.

6. He played Mae West's husband in her last ever movie: 1978's Sextette.

For once, an older woman gets to have a love interest who's 50 years younger than her! The movie has become something of a camp classic and Dalton has called it "one of the remarkable, interesting, and extraordinary pieces of work that I have ever been in."

He's also revealed that it's not actually him singing in the musical scene below...

7. He also played Dame Joan Collins' husband in the lavish 1986 miniseries Sins.

Going toe-to-toe with Dynasty-era Collins – and her rumored 85 costume changes in just three episodes – is no small feat!

8. He's no fan of gratuitous nudity in TV and movies.

Dalton told The Independent last year that "many times," he's seen female co-stars "upset" about having to do these scenes.

"Most of the time it’s not necessary. There’s plenty of porn online. I think if people want to see naked bodies they can go online and find it," he said. "Those of us trying to make good, serious work... why do we need to offer people gratuitous sex? It’s not necessary. It’s silly to put people in situations where they are embarrassed or where they’re worried about what their kids or husbands are going to think about them. The work is not meant to make actors unhappy. It’s meant to be good for the audience and good for us."

9. More recently, he starred in cult horror series Penny Dreadful.

Dalton described his character, hardened explorer Sir Malcolm Murray, rather memorably in a 2016 interview with Empire. "So, Malcolm, yes, he's killed lots of people. Yes, he's exploited people. Yes, he's f**ked his way across Africa. Yes, as Vanessa says to him in season one, I can't remember the exact words but she referred to him as a foul, lustful, vain, glorious, egotistical piece of s**t. Well, yes he is," Dalton said. "But he can deal with all that."

10. Oh, and for what it's worth, he rates Sean Connery and Daniel Craig as the best Bonds ever.

"There's a case to be made that Daniel Craig is the best Bond ever, or at least in a very long time," Dalton told The LA Times in 2012, before adding that Connery is still, for him, the 007 to beat.

Have we missed out one of your favorite Timothy Dalton roles?