Sheriff J.W. Pepper (Clifton James)

Profile
Character: Sheriff J.W. Pepper
Actor: Clifton James
Movie: Live And Let Die, The Man With The Golden Gun
Age: 52
Appearence: A short and overweight redneck Sheriff, with red hair and a broad southern accent
Status: Active

It's difficult to decide whether Sheriff J.W. Pepper is truly one of Bond's allies or not. One thing is for sure, the character a hit in Live and Let Die as the hapless Louisiana po-lice officer that the producers brought him back in The Man with the Golden Gun. Although audiences at the time seemed to appreciate Pepper's incompetent antics, it's certain that 007 wasn't quite so impressed.

Most memorable quote:
Deputy: J.W., this fellow's from England, see, and he's over here workin' with our government, sort of a... secret agent."
Pepper: "Secret agent? On who's side?"

Personality
J.W. Pepper is the exact stereotype of a racist redneck cop, obviously very ignorant to anything going on around him. Bond first encountered J.W. Pepper, when the redneck cop tried to arrest him, introducing himself as "J.W. Pepper of the Louisiana Police Force". Pepper appears to be set in his ways, and makes up his mind on any particular subject, even though most of the time it was a blatant misjudgment on his part.

Involvement
During the Live and Let Die mission, whilst Pepper had pulled over one of Kananga's henchmen for speeding, he was startled by Bond heading directly for him in a speedboat, which jumped over the strip of land in the middle of a Louisiana river, straight over the Sheriff's head. After Pepper tried to Arrest Bond for his involvement in the boat chase, when it was explained to pepper that Bond was a secret agent, Pepper rambled "on who's side?". Bond again encountered J.W. Pepper, when 007 jumped into the drivers seat of a car still in a dealership window, surprised to find the Pepper was inspecting the car from the passengers seat, nevertheless Bond proceeded with his high speed pursuit of Scaramanga's Medator. After a volatile car chase which involved a 360 degree airborne barrel roll over a broken bridge, Pepper had never been more enthralled.