The highlight of Kevin McClory’s career in the film business was Thunderball (1965), which he produced. The film’s sensational success established the James Bond franchise’s lucrative potential for studios — and lawyers. Instead of capitalising on his sudden success, however, McClory squandered his resources in the legal wrangling over the ownership of Ian Fleming’s story, which ground on for more than 35 years.

Kevin O’Donovan McClory was the epitome of the charming and ruthless Irish rogue. Born in Dublin in 1926, he did not shine at school — he suffered from dyslexia — and joined the Merchant Navy during the Second World War. On February 21, 1943, his ship was torpedoed in the North Atlantic, and he and the other survivors were rescued only after drifting for several days in a lifeboat. The trauma of this left him with a lifelong stammer.

After the war he decided to make his way in the film industry, and managed to charm his way into Shepperton Studios as a general dogsbody. In this capacity he worked as an assistant to John Huston in making The African Queen (1951) and Moulin Rouge (1952). He also assisted on The Cockleshell Heroes (1955) and Around the World in Eighty Days (1956) On the strength of this experience McClory set up as independent producer, teaming up with the financier Ivar Bryce to create Xanadu Productions in 1958. Their first film, a children’s drama called The Boy and the Bridge, directed and written by McClory, was a flop.

The quest for a new project led them to Bryce’s friend, Ian Fleming, who had been trying to interest Hollywood in his Bond novels. McClory saw the potential of the character but thought the books uncinematic. His idea to create an original Bond story and screenplay was accepted by Fleming who gave Xanadu the rights to make the first 007 movie. A plot was outlined and after Fleming had two attempts at writing it an established screenwriter, Jack Whittingham, was brought in. He delivered the script of Thunderball in early 1960.

There were grandiose plans to hire Alfred Hitchcock to direct and Richard Burton to play Bond, but the project foundered because of Bryce and Fleming’s fears over McClory’s profligacy and inexperience. Instead, Fleming used Whittingham’s screenplay as the basis for his new Bond novel without seeking permission. McClory and Whittingham sued for plagiarism, and McClory ended up the victor, winning the rights to Thunderball. It proved to be the most financially successful of all the Bond films.

Part of McClory’s court victory entitled him to remake Thunderball after a decade, and this eventually resulted in Sean Connery’s comeback as Bond in Never Say Never Again (1983).

For almost two decades McClory continued to annoy Cubby Broccoli and Harry Saltzman, the holders of the “official” Bond franchise, by trying to make rogue 007 movies based on his rights in Thunderball. All were shot down in the law courts until 1997 when Sony, the media group, backed McClory’s plans, leading to a multimillion-dollar lawsuit with MGM, the Bond copyright holder.

McClory also claimed that he was co-author of the cinematic James Bond, because of his involvement in Thunderball, and demanded a slice of the estimated $3 billion of profits the series had made over 40 years. This lawsuit was thrown out in 2000 on the ground that McClory had waited too long to bring his claims. Sony also settled out of court with MGM, ceding any rights to making a Bond film. Perhaps ironically, in 2004 MGM was sold to Sony, which released Casino Royale this year.

The years of litigation consumed the fortune that McClory had earned from Thunderball and caused him to be ostracised by the film industry.

McClory married, and divorced, twice. He is survived by his two sons and two daughters.

Kevin McClory, film producer, was born on June 8, 1926. He died November 20, 2006, aged 80