Everything about Sir Sean Connery totally explained
Sir Thomas Sean Connery (born
August 25 1930) is an
Academy Award-,
Golden Globe-, and
BAFTA Award-winning
Scottish actor and
producer who is perhaps best known as the first 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's repeatedly been named as one of the most attractive men alive by various magazines due to his rugged good looks and his height (6' 2½").
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 he'd an Irish friend named Séamus and those who knew them decided to call him by his middle name when with Séamus.
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 and an
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 him an 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 (1956) 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
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.
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."
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.
In 1970, United Artists agreed to finance Connery's production of
The Offence. Connery's final official appearance as 007 was in
1971's
Diamonds Are Forever; he reportedly declined £5 million to make
Live and Let Die (1973).
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.
His favourite 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).
More than forty years after playing the role, Connery's incarnation remains as the definitive cinema James Bond, despite popular interpretations by
Roger Moore,
Timothy Dalton (often considered akin to the literary Bond),
Pierce Brosnan, and
Daniel Craig. 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. Certainly, when the James Bond series was at its peak in the mid-1960s, his association with James Bond 007 was so great that his performances in films, such as
Alfred Hitchcock's
Marnie,
A Fine Madness, and
Sidney Lumet's
The Hill, were ignored. When asked if he'd ever escape the identification, he replied, "Never, it's with me 'til I go in the box".
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 Bond 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.
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.
After 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 didn't 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 couldn't 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 wouldn't make much money, but it exceeded all expectations and Sean Connery reaped a large amount of money. It was one of the most publicized times that an actor had benefited so greatly from having "bet" on the future of the film and since then other actors have parlayed their acting skills into taking less up front for a part of the proceeds.
Subsequent box-office hits such as
Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989) (in which he played Dr. Henry Jones, the father of
Harrison Ford, 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 Indy" 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's said this is out of respect for his country.
In 1987–88, Connery was to star in the
British television series Red Dwarf. Connery was to appear as the captain of the spaceship
Red Dwarf. However, the role was written as being slightly overweight and inept, and so, with the part not being a good fit for Connery, it eventually went to an American comedy actor,
Mac McDonald. This was revealed in the
Red Dwarf Series I DVD commentary.
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'd taken a break from acting in order to concentrate on writing his
autobiography. The book project was later abandoned because the publishers wanted to delve too far into his private life.
About a month before his 75th birthday, over the weekend of July 30/31, 2005, it was reported that he'd decided to retire from film-making following disillusionment with the "idiots now in Hollywood", and the turmoil making (and subsequent box office failure of) the 2003 film
The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen.
He 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". After they went on to become huge hits, he decided to accept the
League 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's 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'd 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 rumored to have been having an affair with
Lana Turner, his co-star.
Johnny Stompanato, her
mobster boyfriend, stormed onto the set and pointed a gun at him, only to have Connery take the gun from Stompanato, beat him up, and force him from 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
January 11,
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. Diane Cilento wrote an autobiography that paints an unflattering portrait of her ex-husband (see Accusations of abuse paragraph below).
In 1975, Sean Connery married
French artist
Micheline Roquebrune who is the grandmother of French television journalist Stéphanie Renouvin.
He has a grandson Dashiell Quinn Connery (born in June, 1997) from his son Jason's marriage to actress
Mia Sara.
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 as he stated it was okay for a man to slap a woman with limited force assuming that it was required to calm her down or "keep her in line". The interview with Walters referenced remarks Connery had made in a November 1965 interview with
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're looking for, the ultimate confrontation. They want a smack."
Political causes
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 hasn't resided in Scotland for more than fifty years, being labelled a "tax exile" amongst other things. Fellow Scot and actor
Ewan MacGregor 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:
Diamonds Are Forever (1971) to establish a
charity to support deprived children in Edinburgh as well as Scottish
film production. He has said that he'll return to Scotland when it's 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
July 5,
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'd surgery to remove
cataracts from both eyes. On
March 12,
2006, he announced he was recovering from surgery to remove a kidney tumour in January.
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 the sketches, Connery (as portrayed by
Darrell Hammond) taunts and mocks host
Alex Trebek (played by
Will Ferrell) and makes numerous lewd references and sexual jokes about women; more often than not, his jokes revolve around himself and Trebek's mother. Hammond would also play Connery for a fake trailer for a
live action Smurfs movie, where Connery played
Papa Smurf.
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 the same accent for every character, despite playing roles as diverse as an
Irish American Chicago cop (
The Untouchables), King
Richard I of England and a
Lithuanian Soviet submarine captain (
The Hunt for Red October).
He has an
asteroid named after him,
13070 Seanconnery.
Connery is frequently referenced in
Irvine Welsh's 1993 novel
Trainspotting, as one of the central characters, Sick Boy, is a huge 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.
Frank Caliendo performed an impersonation of Connery on his show
Frank TV. In the skit, Connery was advertising a course he taught on how to acquire his accent to pick up women.
Filmography
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 .
Further Information
Get more info on 'Sir Sean Connery'.
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