John E. Koerner III was born on the 27th of January, 1943, in New Orleans, Louisiana.
He is an American businessman and respected socialite, best known in the city of New Orleans as the ex-president and co-owner of Barq’s root beer.
A lifelong resident of the state of Louisiana, John completed his education studying at Tulane University during the 1960’s. He subsequently entered the world of business by opening his own boat dealership, which soon became one of the most respected showrooms in the region. It was during this period of time that he became good friends with Baton Rouge native Jerry Comeaux, who was well known in the area as one of the finest boat drivers.
In late summer of 1972, Jerry entered John’s showroom and informed him that Eon Productions were preparing to film a boat chase in the area of Slidell for the latest James Bond adventure “Live & Let Die”. With his well established contacts in the boating industry and in the local area, it made perfect sense for John to be formally invited to join the production team as a member of the boat chase crew. During his time on the film, he became a key member of the team and was heavily involved with all aspects of the chase sequence.
Having established himself as a successful entrepreneur, a key moment in his career came in 1976, when John Koerner became president and co-owner of the famed Barq’s root beer company and it’s subsidiary, The Delaware Punch Company. For almost twenty years, Koerner was a major contributor to the continuation of the legacy of Edward Barq, who founded the company back in 1898. John left in 1995 to start his new company, Koerner Capital Corporation, which has developed into a very successful private investment group, now named Koerner Capital, LLC.
Throughout his extensive career in business, John Koerner has always remained a passionate patron for the city of New Orleans, helping numerous businesses to succeed along the way. He served as chairman of the New Orleans Regional Chamber of Commerce for the year of 1995, as well as being the chairman of the New Orleans Business Council between 2002 and 2003. His other accolades include being a director of Lamar Advertising since 2007 and serving on several boards supporting nature conservation.
Now semi-retired, John is still active in the community and regularly attends events on the social calendar.
In "Live & Let Die", John Koerner was a key member of the boat chase crew in Louisiana.
Specifically, he assisted the production for a period of 6 weeks, spending much of his time organising the boats and helping the team set-up locations for all of the sequences, including building the ramp for the world record jump by Jerry Comeaux.
John was seriously injured during the sequence of the boat crashing into Sheriff Pepper's patrol car. In order to make the crash look real, piano wire was rigged to parts of the car and on the shout of 'ACTION', several crew members pulled on the wire to remove the door and pop open the trunk, in order to make it look like the boat had just crashed into the car. Unfortunately, the piano wire that John pulled came loose and struck him in the eye, slashing open his face and requiring surgery.
During his time filming, John became friends with Roger Moore, whom he described to The Bond Archives as a complete gentleman. Following his accident, Roger came to visit him in hospital to make sure he was recovering from his injuries. John eventually returned to the set several days later.
Below is the shot described above:
The photo displayed below was signed by John Koerner for The Bond Archives in August of 2024.
Understandably, this is one of the few James Bond related items he has signed.
John was the named the King of the Carnival (King of Rex) in New Orleans in 2008.
Sir Roger Moore mentions John Koerner (misspelt in the book as Kerner), in several chapters of 'The 007 Diaries'. One of the those entries includes one of the first days of pre-filming, when Roger and John were on a boat together when their engine cut-out, leaving them unable to turn! The pair crashed into a boathouse and Roger was quite badly hurt.
Both Jerry Comeaux and John were up for performing the world record boat jump over Sheriff Pepper's patrol car. In the end, Jerry's over confidence led to him taking on the responsibility, despite John Koerner being a very competent boat driver in his own right.
His wife Ann Koerner, was one of the wedding guests in "Live & Let Die". Please view her page for further information!
Barq's was purchased by The Coca Cola Company in 2000.
The boats used in the chase were supplied directly by the Glastron Boat Company from Austin, Texas.
Later in life, John and his wife vacationed to Lyford Cay in The Bahamas, where they dined alongside Sir Sean Connery.
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