Le Chiffre (French pronunciation: ​[lə ʃifʁ], The Cypher or The Number) is a fictional character appearing in Ian Fleming's 1953 first James Bond novel, Casino Royale. On screen Le Chiffre has been portrayed by Peter Lorre in the 1954 television adaptation of the novel for CBS's Climax! television series, by Orson Welles in the 1967 spoof of the novel and Bond film series, and by Mads Mikkelsen in the 2006 film version of Fleming's novel. Fleming based the character on occultist Aleister Crowley.