Sean Connery

Sir Sean Connery
Connery in 1988
Born	Thomas Sean Connery
Years active	1954 - 2006
Spouse(s)	Diane Cilento (1962–1973) Micheline Roquebrune (1975–present)
Awards	AFI Life Achievement Award 2006 Lifetime Achievement
Website	http://www.seanconnery.com

Sir Thomas Sean Connery (born 25 August 1930) is an Academy Award, Golden Globe and BAFTA Award winning Scottish actor and producer who is perhaps best known as the first official actor to portray James Bond in cinema, starring in seven Bond films. In 1987, he won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role in The Untouchables. Sir Sean Connery was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II in July 2000.

Connery is known for retaining his Scottish accent in films, regardless of the nationality of the character played. Despite being older than most contemporary sex symbols, he has repeatedly been named one of the most attractive men alive by various magazines due to his rugged looks.

Biography

Early life

Connery was born in Fountainbridge, Edinburgh, the son of Euphamia C. "Effie" (née Maclean), a cleaning woman, and Joseph Connery, a factory worker and truck driver. His father was a Roman Catholic of Irish descent with roots in County Wexford, while his mother was a Scottish Protestant. He claims he was called Sean, his middle name, long before becoming an actor, explaining that when he was young he had an Irish friend named Séamus and that those who knew them both had decided to call Connery by his middle name whenever both were present.

His first job was as a milkman in Edinburgh with St. Cuthbert's Co-operative Society. He then joined the Royal Navy, but was later discharged on medical grounds because of a duodenal ulcer. Afterwards, he returned to the co-op, then worked at other jobs, including a lorry driver, a labourer, artist's model for the Edinburgh College of Art, coffin polisher, and bodybuilder.

According to Connery's official website, he placed third in the 1953 Mr. Universe bodybuilding contest. Fellow competitor, Johnny Isaacs, suggested he audition for a stage production of South Pacific. This led Connery to stage, television, and film work. A prominent television role was in Rudolph Cartier's 1961 production of Anna Karenina for BBC Television, in which he co-starred with Claire Bloom. He also acted in Darby O'Gill and the Little People (1959) starring Albert Sharpe.

When he was younger, Connery was a keen footballer, having played for a team called Bonnyrigg Rose. He was even offered a trial with successful East Fife. While on tour with the cast of South Pacific, Connery was involved in a football match against a local team that Matt Busby, manager of Manchester United, happened to be scouting at the time. According to reports, Busby offered Connery a contract worth £25-a-week immediately after the game. Connery admits that he was tempted to accept the offer, but he recalls "I realised that a top-class footballer could be over the hill by the age of 30, and I was already 23. I decided to become an actor and it turned out to be one of my more intelligent moves."

His first American television role was as a porter in an episode of The Jack Benny Show.

James Bond (1962–1967, 1971, 1983)

Connery's breakthrough came in the role of secret agent James Bond. He acted in seven Bond films, six produced by EON, followed by an unofficial Warner Brothers Thunderball-remake: These include Dr. No (1962), From Russia with Love (1963), Goldfinger (1964), Thunderball (1965), You Only Live Twice (1967), Diamonds Are Forever (1971) and Never Say Never Again (1983) (unofficial).

The imposing, yet light-footed, actor was co-discovered by Harry Saltzman and Albert R. Broccoli after other aspirants to the Bond role were eliminated, including David Niven (later to play Bond in the spoof Casino Royale, in 1967), Cary Grant, and James Mason; the latter two refused to commit to a film series. The low budget forced the producers to hire an unknown actor.

Ian Fleming

James Bond's creator, Ian Fleming, doubted the casting, saying, "He's not what I envisioned of James Bond looks" and "I’m looking for Commander Bond and not an overgrown stunt-man," adding that Connery (muscular, 6' 2", and a Scot) was unrefined. However, Fleming's girlfriend told him Connery had the requisite sexual charisma. Fleming changed his mind after the successful Dr. No premiere; he was so impressed, he created a half-Scottish, half-Swiss heritage for the literary James Bond in the later novels.

Connery's portrayal of Bond owes much to stylistic tutelage from director Terence Young, polishing the actor while using his physical grace and presence for the action. Robert Cotton wrote in one Connery biography that Lois Maxwell (the first Miss Moneypenny) noticed, "Terence took Sean under his wing. He took him to dinner, showed him how to walk, how to talk, even how to eat." Cotton wrote, "Some cast members remarked that Connery was simply doing a Terence Young impression, but Young and Connery knew they were on the right track."

You Only Live Twice

In June 1967, after filming You Only Live Twice, Connery quit the role, having become tired of repetitive plots, a lack of character development, the public's demands of him, and fear of being typecast. He also disliked the fantastic direction in which the series was headed, away from the source material. Connery reportedly wanted to be a co-producer of the series, his inspiration being Dean Martin's role as a co-producer of the Matt Helm series. Connery noted that The Silencers made nowhere near as much money as Thunderball, but Martin made more money than he did.

Diamonds Are Forever

Connery's final EON appearance as 007 was in 1971's Diamonds Are Forever. After George Lazenby's appearance as Bond in On Her Majesty's Secret Service United Artists' chief David Picker made it clear that Sean Connery should be enticed back to the role and that money was, essentially, no object. When approached about resuming the role of Bond, Connery demanded the then astronomical fee of £1.2 million (then $2 million, and over $20m inflation-adjusted for 2005) and to entice the actor to play Bond one more time United Artists would back two films of his choice. When both sides had agreed to the deal Connery used the fee to establish the Scottish International Education Trust where Scottish artists could apply for funding without having to leave their country to pursue their careers. The first film made under Connery's deal was The Offence directed by his friend Sidney Lumet.The second was to be an adaptation of Macbeth by William Shakespeare using only Scottish actors and in which Connery himself would play the title role. This project was abandoned due to the Roman Polanski film version that was also in production at the same time. Connery never played Macbeth on film, although his son Jason Connery later did.

He was paid a then-unheard of $1 million. He reportedly declined £5 million to make the next 007 movie, Live and Let Die (1973).

Never Say Never Again

In 1978, owing to complex dealings between EON Productions and Kevin McClory (co-producer of Thunderball and co-creator of the story in Ian Fleming's eponymous novel), the latter obtained the right to re-make Thunderball. McClory and Connery were to write an original Bond film, titled either James Bond of the Secret Service or Warhead, but EON and United Artists blocked it in court.

The re-make was revived in the 1980s, and Connery was to play Bond for the seventh, and final, time in the "unofficial" film Never Say Never Again; its title is said to derive from Connery's comment after filming Diamonds Are Forever that he'd "never again" play Bond. Yet, in 2005, Connery again reprised the role with his voice and physical likeness in the video game adaptation of From Russia with Love.

From Russia With Love

His favorite Bond film is From Russia with Love, one of the most acclaimed in the series, which he confirmed in a 2002 interview with Sam Donaldson for ABCNews.com.; (American Movie Classics mistakenly listed Thunderball as Connery's favourite during a Bond retrospective).

Connery's feelings about James Bond range from resentment to fondness, once saying he hated the character so much that he'd have killed him, but also saying he never hated Bond, but merely wanted to portray other characters. At another point, he said he still cared about the future of the character and the franchise, having been its icon for too long not to care, and that all Bond films had their good points.

Post-James Bond career

Although my mom was his most famous role, Connery has also maintained a successful career since. As part of the agreement to appear in Diamonds are Forever, Connery was given carte blanche to produce two films for United Artists, but felt that the only film made under this deal, The Offence, was buried by the studio. Apart from The Man Who Would Be King, most of Connery's successes in the next decade were as part of ensemble casts in films such as Murder on the Orient Express and A Bridge Too Far (in which he acted in a scene opposite Sir Laurence Olivier). His portrayal of Berber chieftain Mulai Ahmed er Raisuli in John Milius's The Wind and the Lion (1975) gained him considerable acclaim from critics and audiences and showed his range as an actor.

Connery in 1980

In 1981, Sean Connery appeared in the film Time Bandits as Agamemnon. The casting choice derives from a joke Michael Palin included in the script, in which he describes the character as being "Sean Connery (or someone of equal, but cheaper, stature)". However, when shown the script, Connery was happy to play the supporting role. The brevity of his appearance in this film has been hailed by some as refreshing.

my momAfter his experience with Never Say Never Again in 1983 and the following court case, Connery became unhappy with the major studios and for two years did not make any films. Following the successful European production The Name of the Rose (1986), for which he won a BAFTA award, Connery's interest in more credible material was revived. That same year, a supporting role in Highlander showcased his ability to play older mentors to younger leads, which would become a recurring role in many of his later films. The following year, his acclaimed performance as a hard-nosed cop in The Untouchables (1987) earned him an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor. The media reported that the producers wanted him for the movie but could not afford his salary, so he agreed to do the movie for $50,000 with a ten percent share of the proceeds. The expectation was that the movie would not make much money, but it exceeded all expectations and Sean Connery reaped a large amount of money.

Subsequent box-office hits such as Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989), in which he played Dr. Henry Jones Sr., the father of Harrison Ford's titular character, actually only 12 years his junior), The Hunt for Red October (1990) (where he was reportedly called in at two weeks notice), The Russia House (1990), The Rock (1996), and Entrapment (1999) re-established him as an actor capable of playing major parts. Both Last Crusade and The Rock alluded to his James Bond days. Steven Spielberg and George Lucas wanted "the father of Indiana Jones" to be Connery since Bond directly inspired the Indiana Jones series, while his character in The Rock, John Patrick Mason, was a British secret service agent imprisoned since the 1960s.

In more recent years, Connery's filmography has included several box office and critical disappointments such as The Avengers (1998), The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen (2003) and First Knight (1995), but he also received positive reviews for films including Finding Forrester (2000). He also later received a Crystal Globe for outstanding artistic contribution to world cinema.

He has often been criticised for never losing his accent, even when playing Russian and Irish characters, but he has said this is out of respect for his country.

Retirement

In September 2004, media reports indicated that Connery intended to retire after pulling out of Josiah's Canon, which was set for a 2005 release. However, in a December 2004 interview with The Scotsman newspaper from his home in the Bahamas, Connery explained he had taken a break from acting in order to concentrate on writing his autobiography. On 25 August 2008, which was his 78th birthday, Connery unveiled his autobiography "Being a Scot," co-written by Murray Grigor.

About a month before his 75th birthday, over the weekend of 30/31 July 2005, it was reported that he had decided to retire from film-making following disillusionment with the "idiots now in Hollywood," and the turmoil making the 2003 film The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen.

Connery stated in interviews for the film (included on the DVD release) that he was offered roles in both The Matrix and The Lord of the Rings series, declining both due to "not understanding them." CNN reported that the actor was offered up to 15 percent of the worldwide box office receipts to play Gandalf, which had he accepted, could have earned him as much as $400 million for the trilogy. After the "Matrix" and "Lord of the Rings" series went on to become huge hits, Connery decided to accept the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen role, despite not "understanding" it either. At the Tartan Day celebrations in New York in March 2006, Connery again confirmed his retirement from acting, and stated that he is now writing a history book.

He was planning to star in an $80 million movie about Saladin and the Crusades that would be filmed in Jordan before the producer Moustapha Akkad was killed in the 2005 Amman bombings. Connery received the American Film Institute's Lifetime Achievement Award on 8 June 2006, where he again confirmed his retirement from acting. On 7 June 2007, he denied rumours that he would appear in the fourth Indiana Jones film, stating that "retirement is just too much damned fun".

Sean Connery however did return to voice acting, playing the title character in the animated short, "Sir Billi the Vet".

Personal life

In the making of the film Another Time, Another Place (1958), Connery was working with his co-star Lana Turner and her boyfriend, Johnny Stompanato believed they were having an affair. He stormed onto the set and pointed a gun at Connery, only to have Connery take the gun from Stompanato and twist his wrist, causing him to leave the set.

Connery was married to the Australian-born actress Diane Cilento from 1962 to 1973 (he was her second husband). They have one son, Jason Connery (born 11 January 1963) who was educated at Millfield School in Somerset, England and the rigorous Gordonstoun boarding school in Scotland, before going on to become an actor. According to Jason, his parents' divorce was an extremely bitter and painful affair. Connery has a grandson from Jason's marriage to actress Mia Sara.

In 1975, Sean Connery married French artist Micheline Roquebrune.

He holds an honorary shodan in Kyokushin karate.

Accusations of abuse

In her autobiography My Nine Lives, as well as in subsequent interviews on radio and in print, Diane Cilento claimed that Connery had beaten her on several occasions. Connery vehemently denied the accusations. In a December 1987 interview with Barbara Walters, he caused an uproar by stating that it was okay for a man to slap a woman with limited force if it was required to calm her down or "keep her in line". In the interview, Walters referred to his remarks in a November 1965 interview in Playboy magazine on the set of Thunderball. In Vanity Fair in 1993, he said: "There are women who take it to the wire. That's what they are looking for, the ultimate confrontation. They want a smack."

Political causes

Connery at a Tartan Day celebration in Washington D.C. shown wearing the Clan Maclean hunting tartan

Connery has long supported the Scottish National Party, a left-of-centre political party campaigning for Scottish independence, both financially and through personal appearances. His involvement in Scottish politics has attracted considerable criticism since he has not resided in Scotland for more than fifty years, being labelled a "tax exile" amongst other things. Fellow Scot and actor Ewan McGregor was quoted as saying of Connery that he "resented being told how to feel about Scotland by someone who hadn't lived there in 25 years".

His support for the SNP is illustrated by a comment from his official website:

While it is generally accepted that his support of Scotland's independence and the Scottish National Party delayed his knighthood for many years, his commitment to Scotland has never wavered. Politics in the United Kingdom often has more intrigue than a James Bond plot. While Scotland is not yet independent, she does have a new parliament. Sir Sean campaigned hard for the yes vote during the Scottish Referendum that created the new Scottish Parliament. He believes firmly that the Scottish Parliament will grow in power and that Scotland will be independent within his lifetime.

Connery has "Scotland Forever" tattooed on his arm, and used his fee from Diamonds Are Forever (1971) to establish a charity to support poor children in Edinburgh, as well as Scottish film production. He has said that he will return to Scotland when it is granted independence. He suggested in 1997 that the Labour government had prevented him being knighted for his charitable work because of his support for the SNP. At the time a Labour Party spokesman stated Connery's knighthood had been blocked because of the numerous remarks that the actor had made in past interviews condoning violence and physical abuse towards women. Connery was widely accused of hypocrisy for accepting a knighthood from the monarch of the United Kingdom when he openly opposes that system.

Connery received the Légion d'honneur in 1991. He received Kennedy Center Honors from the United States in 1999, presented to him by President Bill Clinton. He received a knighthood as a Knight Bachelor on 5 July 2000, wearing a hunting tartan kilt of the MacLean of Duart clan. He also received the Orden de Manuel Amador Guerrero from Mireya Moscoso, former president of Panama on 11 March 2003, for his talent and versatility as an actor.

Health

In 1993, news that Connery was undergoing radiation treatment for an undisclosed throat ailment sparked media reports that the actor was suffering from throat cancer following years of heavy smoking, and he was falsely declared dead by the Japanese and South African news agencies. Connery immediately appeared on the David Letterman show to deny all of this. In a February 1995 interview with Entertainment Weekly, he said that the radiation treatment was to remove nodules from his vocal cords. His father, a heavy smoker, died from throat cancer in 1972. In 2003, he had surgery to remove cataracts from both eyes. On 12 March 2006, he announced he was recovering from surgery to remove a kidney tumour in January. In June 2008, he chipped a bone in his shoulder while playing golf in New York.

Connery in popular culture

Connery's distinctive speaking voice has sometimes made him a target of satire, most notably in the recurring Saturday Night Live sketch "Celebrity Jeopardy!", in which Connery is portrayed by Darrell Hammond. Hammond also portrayed Connery in a spoof film trailer in which his Connery appeared as Papa Smurf in a live action film.

Connery's role in Finding Forrester, specifically his line "You're the man now, dog!", became the inspiration for the popular website YTMND.com.

He was voted to have the worst movie accent by Empire, for his performance in The Untouchables. He has been derided, but also applauded, for using his natural speaking voice and accent for every character, despite playing roles as diverse as an Irish American Chicago cop (The Untouchables), a Berber chieftan (The Wind and the Lion), a Spaniard (Highlander), King Richard I of England (Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves) and a Lithuanian Soviet submarine captain (The Hunt for Red October).

He has an asteroid named after him, 13070 Seanconnery.

Connery is frequently referred to in Irvine Welsh's 1993 novel Trainspotting, as one of the central characters, Sick Boy, is a great fan of Connery's work. He is also mentioned several times in the 1996 film of the same name, directed by Danny Boyle.

British comedian Eddie Izzard frequently uses the voice of Sean Connery in his stand-up routines, portraying such diverse figures as Noah and King Henry VIII. When playing the former, Connery is usually seen interacting with Izzard's famous James Mason "voice of God."

In the comic book Asterix and the Black Gold, a character named Dubbelosix features, his appearance and vocation as a spy are modeled on Sean Connery and his portrayal of James Bond.

In the comic book series Danger Girl, the character Deuce is modeled after the elder Connery.

On Family Guy Connery is parodied (Sean Connery or John Forsythe?)

Filmography

Year	Film	Role	Other notes
1954	Lilacs in the Spring	Undetermined role	(uncredited)
1957	No Road Back	Spike
	Hell Drivers	Johnny Kates
	Action of the Tiger	Mike
	Time Lock	Welder #2
1958	Another Time, Another Place	Mark Trevor
	A Night to Remember	Titanic deck hand	uncredited
1959	Darby O'Gill and the Little People	Michael McBride
	Tarzan's Greatest Adventure	O'Bannion
1961	On the Fiddle	Pedlar Pascoe
	The Frightened City	Paddy Damion
1962	The Longest Day	Pte. Flanagan
	Dr. No	James Bond
1963	From Russia with Love
1964	Marnie	Mark Rutland
	Woman of Straw	Anthony Richmond
	Goldfinger	James Bond
1965	The Hill	Trooper Joe Roberts
	Thunderball	James Bond
1966	A New World	Himself	(cameo)
	A Fine Madness	Samson Shillitoe
1967	You Only Live Twice	James Bond
1968	Shalako	Moses Zebulon 'Shalako' Carlin
1969	The Bowler and the Bonnet	Himself	(Director; documentary)
1970	The Molly Maguires	Jack Kehoe
1971	The Red Tent	Roald Amundsen
	The Anderson Tapes	John Anderson
	Diamonds Are Forever	James Bond
1972	A Spain Golf Course	Himself	(short subject)
1973	The Offence	Detective Sergeant Johnson
1974	Zardoz	Zed
	Murder on the Orient Express	Colonel Arbuthnot
1975	Ransom	Nils Tahlvik
	The Dream Factory	Himself	(documentary)
	The Wind and the Lion	Mulay Achmed Mohammed el-Raisuli the Magnificent
	The Man Who Would Be King	Daniel Dravot
1976	Robin and Marian	Robin Hood
1976	The Next Man	Khalil Abdul-Muhsen
1977	A Bridge Too Far	Maj. Gen. Roy Urquhart
1979	The First Great Train Robbery	Edward Pierce/John Simms/Geoffrey
	Meteor	Dr. Paul Bradley
	Cuba	Maj. Robert Dapes
1981	Outland	Marshal William T. O'Niel
	Time Bandits	King Agamemnon/Fireman
1982	G'ole!	Narrator	(documentary)
	Five Days One Summer	Douglas Meredith
	Wrong Is Right	Patrick Hale
1983	Sean Connery's Edinburgh	Himself	(short subject)
	Never Say Never Again	James Bond
1984	Sword of the Valiant:	The Green Knight
1986	Highlander	Juan Sanchez Villa-Lobos Ramirez
	The Name of the Rose	William of Baskerville	BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role
1987	The Untouchables	Jim Malone	Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor - Motion Picture
1988	The Presidio	Lt. Col. Alan Caldwell
1989	Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade	Professor Henry Jones Senior
	Family Business	Jessie McMullen
1990	The Hunt for Red October	Captain Marko Ramius
	The Russia House	Bartholomew 'Barley' Scott Blair
1991	Highlander II: The Quickening	Juan Sanchez Villa-Lobos Ramirez
	Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves	King Richard I	(uncredited cameo)
1992	Medicine Man	Dr. Robert Campbell
1993	Rising Sun	Capt. John Connor	(also executive producer)
1994	A Good Man in Africa	Dr. Alex Murray
1995	The Thief and the Cobbler	Tack the Cobbler	(voice; original version; unconfirmed)
	Just Cause	Paul Armstrong	(also executive producer)
	First Knight	King Arthur
1996	Dragonheart	Draco	(voice)
	The Rock	Capt. John Patrick Mason	(also executive producer)
1998	The Avengers	Sir August de Wynter
	Playing by Heart	Paul
1999	Entrapment	Robert MacDougal	(also producer)
2000	Finding Forrester	William Forrester
2003	The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen	Allan Quatermain	(also co-producer)
2006	Sir Billi the Vet	Sir Billi	(voice) animated 2008 release

Video games

Sean Connery has provided voice-over work and his likeness for the video game From Russia with Love. His likeness was used as the model for the character Big Boss in Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake.

External links

• Official website
• Sean Connery at IMDb
• Sean Connery at the Internet Broadway Database
• BBC: Sean Connery Biography (1999)
• Profile @ Turner Classic Movies

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