Sir Thomas Sean Connery (born 25 August 1930) is an Academy Award-winning Scottish actor and producer who is perhaps best known as the first actor to portray James Bond in a number of films. He starred in six official Bond films between 1962 and 1971, plus an unofficial remake in 1983.

Connery is known for his trademark Scottish accent and rugged good looks. He is repeatedly mentioned as one of the most attractive men alive by magazines, even though he is considerably older than most other sex symbols.

He is also one of the most vocal and high-profile supporters of the Scottish National Party, often campaigning for them and their cause of Scottish independence.

Thomas Sean Connery was born in Edinburgh on 25 August 1930. His father, Joseph Connery, was a Roman Catholic of Irish descent with roots in County Wexford, while his mother, Euphamia "Effie" Maclean, was a Protestant. He claims he was called by his middle name Sean long before he became an actor, explaining that he had an Irish friend named Seamus and those who knew them both decided to call him by his middle name whenever he was with Seamus, and it stuck. His first job was as a milkman with St. Cuthbert's Co-operative Society. He then joined the Royal Navy but was later discharged on medical grounds (stomach ulcer). He briefly returned to the Co-op, then went on to a succession of jobs, including truck driver, labourer, artist's model for the Edinburgh College of Art , coffin polisher, and lifeguard.

Under the name Thom Connery, he placed third in the tall man's division of the 1953 Mr. Universe contest. Another competitor, Johnny Isaacs, suggested that he try out for a stage production of South Pacific, which led to work on the stage, TV, and eventually in films. One prominent television role came in Rudolph Cartier's 1961 production of Anna Karenina for BBC Television, in which Connery co-starred with Claire Bloom. He was also in Darby O'Gill and the Little People (1956) starring Albert Sharpe. His first American television role was as a porter in an episode of The Jack Benny Show.

James Bond (1962-1967, 1971, 1983)

Connery, best known to audiences around the world for his role as James Bond, has appeared as Bond in seven films, beginning with Dr. No in 1962, and concluding with Never Say Never Again in 1983. In all, the Connery-Bond films are:

• Dr. No (1962)

• From Russia With Love (1963)

• Goldfinger (1964)

• Thunderball (1965)

• You Only Live Twice (1967)

• Diamonds Are Forever (1971)

• Never Say Never Again (1983) (Non-EON Bond Film)

The physically imposing, yet light-footed Connery was discovered by Harry Saltzman, after numerous names as possible contenders for Bond were ruled out or unavailable, including most notably David Niven, who later parodied Bond in the 1967 spoof Casino Royale, and Cary Grant (who was said to have been part of the inspiration for Bond), who was ruled out after committing to only one film; some sources also suggest that Grant, at 58, turned the role down feeling he was too old for the part. James Mason was also considered for the role. He shares the same problem as Grant did. Due to the relatively small budget, the producers were forced to go with an unknown, and Connery was cast partly for that reason.

Ian Fleming, the creator of James Bond, reportedly had doubts about the casting, on the grounds that the muscular, 6'2" Scotsman was too 'unrefined', but a female companion of Fleming's told him that Connery had 'it.' Fleming said, "He's not what I envisioned of James Bond looks." The author later changed his mind after Dr. No premièred; he was so impressed, he went on to introduce a half-Scottish (and half-Swiss) heritage for his character in the later books.

Connery's on-screen portrayal of Bond is due in part to tutelage from gentleman director Terence Young, who helped to smooth over Connery's rough edges, while utilizing his physical presence and graceful movements during action sequences. Robert Cotton wrote in one Connery biography that Lois Maxwell (who played 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 said, "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, following the unsatisfying and intrusive experience of filming You Only Live Twice, Connery quit the role, having grown tired of the repetitive plots, lack of character development, and the general public's growing demands on him and his privacy (as well as a fear of being typecast).

He also stated that he did not like the direction in which the Bond series was heading, feeling that the filmmakers were straying too far from the source material.

The producers hired George Lazenby to take over the role in 1969's On Her Majesty's Secret Service. However, Lazenby backed out of a seven-film contract, and quit before the film was even released. His performance met with a mixed response from fans and critics, but was by no means the financial flop that it has since been portrayed as.

Connery was enticed back by United Artists president David Picker in 1970 for £1.25 million - at the time, a record salary for an actor that he in fact wholly donated to charity. Thus, Connery made his final 'official' appearance as the secret agent in 1971's Diamonds Are Forever. He allegedly declined £5 million to make a further Bond picture, 1973's Live And Let Die.

However, the 'remake' project was revived in the 1980s, and Connery signed to play Bond for the seventh and final time on film in the unofficial film Never Say Never Again. The title of the film has long been believed to have derived from Connery's comments after the release of Diamonds Are Forever. After filming it, he claimed he would never play James Bond again. (For the legal battle, see the controversy of Thunderball)

Connery reprised the role once more in 2005, providing the voice and likeness of James Bond for the video game adaptation of From Russia With Love.

Connery's favorite Bond film is From Russia With Love, one of the most acclaimed in the series. He confirmed this in a 2002 interview with Sam Donaldson for ABCNews.com. (American Movie Classics erroneously listed Thunderball as Connery's favorite during its recent Bond retrospectives.)

Over 40 years after he first played the role, Connery is still widely regarded as the definitive cinematic incarnation of James Bond, despite popular interpretations by the likes of Roger Moore, Pierce Brosnan and Timothy Dalton, the latter often considered closer to the Bond of the novels. Connery's own feelings on Bond in interviews have run the gamut from bitter resentment to great fondness. At one point, he said that he hated the Bond character so much that he'd have killed him, but he has also stated that he never hated Bond, but merely wanted to pursue other roles. Certainly, when the James Bond series was at its peak in the mid-1960s, his association with the 007 image was so intense that different performances in his non-Bond films, such as Alfred Hitchcock's Marnie, A Fine Madness, and Sidney Lumet's The Hill, were virtually 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, Connery stated that he still cared about the future of the character and franchise, having been associated with the icon for too long not to care, and that all Bond films had their good points. In December 2005, Connery voiced his support for Daniel Craig, the latest actor chosen to play Bond, for Casino Royale.

Post-James Bond career

Although his most famous role was that of Bond, Sean Connery has also maintained a successful career since, much more so than any of the other actors who assumed the role. 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. After his experience with Never Say Never Again 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, 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, wise mentors to young, leading protagonists, 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.

Subsequent box-office hits such as Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989) (in which he played the father of Harrison Ford, actually only 12 years his junior), The Hunt for Red October (1990), The Russia House (1990), The Rock (1996), and Entrapment (1999) re-established him as a bankable leading man. 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 its fair share of box office and critical disappointments such as The Avengers (1998) and The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen (2003), 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 sometimes received criticism for never losing his accent, even when playing Russian and Irish characters, but he says 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. However, the book project was later abandoned because the publishers wanted to delve too far into his private life. Connery has long denied accusations from his first wife Diane Cilento that he physically abused her during their marriage.

About a month before his 75th birthday, over the weekend of July 30th/31st 2005, it was widely reported in the broadcast media (and again in The Scotsman), that he had 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", and after they went on to have huge box office grosses 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 is now writing a history book.

As a personality he has been accused of being an overbearing bully, but has also been praised as a highly professional actor, courteous and supportive of those around him. He made a big impression on actors such as Harrison Ford, Kevin Costner, Pat Adams, and Christopher Lambert, who considered him a great friend during filming. He refused to be directed in a movie by Barbara Streisand, and he did not get along with the director of his last film.

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. However, in January 2007, Connery told The Scotsman that he may join the cast of the fourth Indiana Jones film if he likes the script.

After several attempts at retiring, Sean Connery continues to come out and appear in more films. He has stated in interviews that it's because he loves acting and misses it so much, but he has stated in a recent interview for E! that he'll permanently retire the day he dies.

Personal life

Connery was married to the Australian-born actress Diane Cilento from 1962 until 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 has reportedly just written an autobiography that paints an unflattering portrait of her ex-husband). In 1975, Sean Connery married French artist Micheline Roquebrune, who is the grandmother of French television journalist Stéphanie Renouvin. He holds an honorary shodan in Kyokushin karate.

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 has not resided in Scotland for more than fifty years.

Connery used half of his fee from Diamonds Are Forever (1971) to establish a charity to support deprived children in Edinburgh as well as Scottish film production. 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 remarks the actor had made in several past interviews condoning the physical abuse of women.

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 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 claimed 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 March 12, 2006, he announced he was recovering from surgery to remove a kidney tumour in January.

Parodies

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 jokes about women sexually. Hammond would also play Connery for a fake trailer for a live action Smurfs movie, where Connery played Papa Smurf.

Comedian and talk show host Craig Ferguson has imitated Connery as well as Michael Caine, sometimes pairing the two together in a spliced sketch.

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

Selected filmography

Trivia

• He wore a toupee in all the James Bond films. He began losing his hair at 21. Privately and in most other movies, he wears none.

• Connery was offered a trial for Manchester United football club, but declined the chance to pursue his acting career.

• 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), the Norman French speaking Richard I of England (Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves), and a Lithuanian Soviet submarine captain (The Hunt for Red October).

• Connery had been the original choice for The Thomas Crown Affair (1968) but declined, a decision he later regretted. The role went to Steve McQueen. Interestingly, in the 1990s remake of the film, Pierce Brosnan plays the character. Brosnan was the fifth actor to play James Bond.

• He is the honorary chairman of the Friends of Scotland organisation.

• Allegedly, while filming the movie, Another Time, Another Place, Lana Turner was rumoured to have been having an affair with Connery, her co-star. Johnny Stompanato stormed onto the set, and during a verbal altercation with Connery, Stompanato waved a gun in Connery's face. Connery reacted by taking the gun away from him, physically beating Stompanato and sending him off the film set. After Stompanato's death, there were rumours that organized crime mobsters believed Connery had helped bring on the eventual demise of Stompanato, and Connery is alleged to have laid low for a time. There is no evidence that Connery and Turner were having an affair; this sort of behaviour was apparently normal for Stompanato.

• In 1987-88, Connery was attached to star in the British television series Red Dwarf, which was ultimately a sitcom that blended elements of science fiction with comedy (similar to The Hitchhiker's Guide to The Galaxy). Connery was to appear as the captain of the spaceship Red Dwarf. However the role was written in as being slightly overweight and slightly inept, and so with the part being unfitting for Connery it was eventually passed to an American comedic actor, Mac McDonald. This was revealed in the Red Dwarf Series I DVD commentary.

• Sean Connery makes a cameo appearance in the 18th episode of the flash cartoon, "Retarded Animal Babies". He also plays the same role in the 8th episode. Sean Connery is Puppy's biological father, as revealed in a crossword puzzle easter egg in episode 12.