Dalton in 1986

I was a teenager back then, and I can clearly recall that when he became Bond that year (1986) he was pretty much unknown to American audiences.

He was best known for TV mini-series such as "Jane Eyre", "Sins" and "Mistral's Daughter". People didn't remember his late 1960s / early 70s films

However, no one in the U.S. really knew Sean Connery in 1962, so he was probably just as famous as Connery was when he did DR.NO

In 73, Roger Moore was already well established as The Saint