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Sir Thomas Sean Connery (born August 25, 1930) is a 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 1988 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. This dashing, effortlessly masculine Scottish leading man successfully escaped the profitable straitjacket of James Bond to become one of the most beloved and respected stars of contemporary Hollywood. Sean Connery had been a bodybuilder, model and chorus boy before moving on to repertory, TV and film work in the 1950s. Having dropped out of school at age 13, he spent much of his free time in libraries as he traveled about performing in plays. Connery beat out many far bigger (and more expensive) names to play Ian Fleming's superspy James Bond in "Dr. No" (1962), which made him a major 60s icon. He leavened the inherent violence of the character with his unflappably cool sophistication and humor. Connery is known for retaining his Scottish accent in films, regardless of the nationality of the character played, his rugged good looks and his height (6' 2 1/2"). He has repeatedly been named as one of the most attractive men alive by various magazines, despite the fact that he is older than most sex symbols. Connery was born in Fountainbridge, Edinburgh to a factory worker and truck driver father and a charwoman mother. 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 Sean, his middle name, long before becoming an actor, explaining that he had 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 1950 Mr. Universe bodybuilding contest. Fellow competitor, Johnny Isaacs, suggested he audition for a stage production of South Pacific, which led 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; his first American television role was as a porter in an episode of The Jack Benny Show. Connery periodically escaped Bondage to tackle a wider range of roles in other features (e.g., Alfred Hitchcock's "Marnie" 1964; "A Fine Madness" 1966; "The Molly Maguires" 1970) but most were box-office duds. He did some of his best work over the course of his significant collaboration with director Sidney Lumet: "The Hill" (1965), as a convict in a military prison; "The Anderson Tapes" (1971), as an ex-con masterminding a large-scale heist; "The Offense" (1973), as a London detective who beats a suspect to death; "Murder on the Orient Express" (1974), as part of the all-star ensemble; and "Family Business" (1989), a critical and commercial misfire in which he portrayed the proud patriarch of a criminal clan with Dustin Hoffman and Matthew Broderick as his son (!) and grandson respectively. Connery attempted to abandon 007 time-and-again but audiences did not at first support his efforts. "Diamonds Are Forever" (1971) marked the beginning of his 12-year absence from Bond pictures. Connery utilized this period to star in a wide range of interesting adventure films including John Boorman's "Zardoz" (1974), John Huston's "The Man Who Would Be King" (1975), John Milius' "The Wind and the Lion" (1975), Richard Lester's "Robin and Marian" (1976), and, in a crucial supporting role, Terry Gilliam's "Time Bandits" (1981). A little paunchy, but still handsome and charismatic, Connery donned his toupee and returned to his most celebrated role for the aptly titled "Never Say Never Again" (1983), which proved to be a box-office hit. Connery followed up with the popular fantasy film, "Highlander" and the successful international co-production "The Name of the Rose" (both 1986) before hitting a home run with an Oscar-winning supporting role in Brian De Palma's adaptation of "The Untouchables" (1987). Playing Malone, a sly and crafty old Irish cop, he easily eclipsed Kevin Costner, the film's ostensible leading man. The success of this film placed Connery firmly back on the A-list of modern Hollywood leading men--albeit often in fatherly roles and usually playing older than his actual age. His renewed star shone particularly brightly in Steven Spielberg's third installment in the Indiana Jones series, "Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade" (1989), as the alternately aloof and irascible father of Harrison Ford. 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. Though he has been an enduring presence harking back to the stars of the Hollywood studio system, Connery has also been a serious actor who meticulously prepares for his roles. He has trained extensively in movement and has claimed that he never accepts a role until he has worked out how the character should move. Connery has achieved impressive subtleties of characterization within a surprisingly wide range of parts. 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. 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 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. 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. One of the most sought-after actors in the industry, Connery has kept busy regardless of whether his films hit or miss. He has been a proponent of the always-keep-working school in part because of his financial support of the Scottish National Theater. That Connery is an audience favorite was confirmed in 1991 with his cameo as King Richard the Lionhearted in "Robin Hood, Prince of Thieves". His appearance in the denouement, as Kevin Costner and Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio marry, caused audiences worldwide to cheer enthusiastically, even though Connery was doing nothing particularly heroic. Subsequent credits have included portraying the Russian captain in "The Hunt for Red October" and a London publisher in "The Russia House" (both 1990), and the titular "Medicine Man" (1992), which dealt with the destruction of the Amazon basin and the suggestion that the cure for cancer was chopped away in the madness of development. The last marked his debut as an executive producer, a chore he also performed on "Rising Sun" (1993), in which Connery teamed with Wesley Snipes in a police drama with international ramifications. In 1995 and 1996, Connery alternated between medieval epics (as King Arthur in "First Knight" and the voice of Draco the dragon in "Dragonheart") and gritty contemporary action dramas (as a famous lawyer attempting to prove a man innocent of murder in "Just Cause" and a government agent with particular knowledge of Alcatraz in the box-office bonanza "The Rock"). He turned villainous as a man bent on controlling the world's weather in the big screen version of "The Avengers" (1998) and lent his pantherish charms to the role of an aging cat burglar in "Entrapment" (1999). In 2000, Connery earned critical kudos for his turn as a reclusive author who mentors a promising young writer in "Finding Forrester". The actor would not appear on screen again until 2003, when he appeared in the Victorian era action adventure "The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen," based on the popular comic book series. Connery played the fictional hero Allan Quatermain--sort of a Victorian precurser to Indiana Jones--who leads of team of characters culled from popular novels of the late 19th Century. The actor reportedly clashed with director Steve Norrington, and their off-screen friction didn't help the on-screen quality of the finished film. Rumors swirled that the actor was on the brink of a formal retirement from the big screen when he abruptly dropped out of 20th Century Fox's "Josiah's Canon" and walked away from a $17.5 million paycheck, but in 2005 he announced plans to reprise his role as James Bond one last time for Electronic Arts' videogame based on the 007 adventure From "Russia with Love." 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. 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. 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 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 acting in one form, in the form of voice acting. As he played the title character in the animated short, "Sir Billi the Vet". Allegedly, while making the film 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. After Stompanato's death, there were rumours that organized crime mobsters had helped Connery 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. 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 rigourous 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 has one grandchild from his son Jason's marriage to actress Mia Sara, a grandson named Dashiell Quinn Connery (born in June, 1997). He holds an honorary shodan in Kyokushin karate. 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. Connery has a "Scotland Forever" tattoo on his arm and used his fee from 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 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 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. 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 March 12, 2006, he announced he was recovering from surgery to remove a kidney tumour in January. 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. 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 (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. |
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