Sean Connery as he was popularly known bid good bye to the world at the age of 90 on 31st Oct 2020. With him we the end of an era of his style and films that had its own impact on the lives of millions who loved his craft.
Lets dig deep into who Sean Connery was and what all he did his life:
Longest serving James Bond:
Sean Connery’s name was Thomas Sean Connery. The world referred to him as Sir Sean Connery because he was knighted in 2000 for his accomplishments in film industry of Hollywood.
Sir Thomas Sean Connery was a Scottish Actor who made his mark on the world Cinema when signed up for the role of James Bond with Dr.No in 1962 followed by 6 more James Bond films spanning from 1962 till 1983.
All 7 James Bond films that he played were commercially successful and made him a superstar.
He is the only actor who played James Bond and also won 2 oscars. He won the Oscar for supporting role in ‘The Untouchables’ and Best Actor for ‘The Name of the Rose’, none of which is a James Bond movie.
He was Mr.Universe, almost:
Connery had no plans to be an Actor. He was interested in Body Building and was working out from the age of 18. He had participated in Mr. Universe in 1953 at the age of 23 and ended up winning at 3rd position.
He was also a fighter. Connery was once walking home and a gang from Edinburg followed him for his shiny jacket. They thought they would just snatch it away and ended up with a fight with Connery. There were six guys who had to take the beating from Connery and Connery walked home safe and sound.
A man connected to his roots:
Sir Thomas Sean Connery was a man connected to his roots. He was from Edinburg-Scotland and had ‘Scotland forever’ tattooed. The other tattoo that he carried was ‘Mum and Dad’.
Not only this, he had named his production company ‘Fountainbridge’ after the area in Edinburg-Scotland where he was born.
This shows how connected he felt with his people and Native.
An Actor who changed minds:
The author of the James Bond Novel Ian Fleming was not very sure of having James Bond with Scottish roots.
After seeing Dr.No, he was so impressed with the acting skills and charm of Sean Connery that he gave all his future Bond Novels a Scots Background. These following Bond movies played by Sir Sean Connery were ‘From Russia with Love’, ‘Goldfinger’, ‘Thunderball’, ‘You only live Twice’, ‘Diamonds are forever’and ‘Never say Never again’.
Important Roles and opportunities tuned down:
Sir Sean Connery was an actor who would not sign up for the just for money or for the size of production house.
He refused to sign up for the popular character of ‘Gandalf’ of ‘The Lord of the Rings’ because he said he could not understand the Novel. He was offered a whooping $30 million for the role plus 15% of the Box office collection that would have earned him another $450 million.
He also turned down the roles of the Architect of ‘The Matrix Reloaded’ and ‘The Matrix Revolutions’.
Not just films, Sir Sean Connery was also offered to play for Manchester United when he was 23 by Sir Matt Busby who led the club to glory in 60s. Busby offered him to play for the team for at £25 a week. Sean was keen to accept the offer but he know that his football career may not last beyond the age of 30 whereas he can act till the age he wants so he declined.
Movie Memories:
Sir Sean Connery ended up with a broken wrist while practicing fight sequence with Steen Seagal who was hired as fight choreographer for the James Bond movie ‘Never say Never again’ in 1983. According to Connery, Steven Seagal broke his wrist on purpose.
Sir Sean Connery was a man with a big heart. He donated his entire fee from the film ‘Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves’ to charity. His fee was $250,000 in 1991 which is a substantial amount even today.
Connery made his film debut with ‘Lilacs in the Spring’ in 1954 and later did ‘Darby O’Grill’ and ‘Little People’. ‘No Road Back’ was his first major movie in 1957.
Sean Connery’s success of 1962 film ‘Dr.No’ brought him immediate sequels ‘From Russia with Love’ in 1963, ‘Goldfinger’ in 1964 and ‘Thunderball’ in 1965 made him a worldwide phenomenon. After his 1967 Bond Movie ‘You only live Twice’ , Sean Connery announced to leave the James Bond franchise and move on. Although he came back in 1971 for ‘Diamonds are forever and ‘Never say Never again’ in 1983.
Best Rated:
Sean Connery was rated as the Best James Bond ever played by anyone till date.
He was rated as the ‘Sexiest Man Alive’ in 1989 People Magazine and a decade later he was rated as the ‘Sexiest Man of the Century’ by New Woman Magazine.
He was rated as the greatest living Scot in 2004, by The Sunday Herald
Life memories:
Connery was fit man not only because of his interest in Body Building but also from the fact that he served the British Royal Navy for period of 3 years and his fitness and discipline from the service was visible in his demeanour in films as well. He had signed up for 7 years though he had to leave because of stomach ulcers.
Connery’s first job was of a milkman and last job before taking up acting was of a coffin polisher.
There is so much happened between his first and last job before he took up acting and became a legend.
Connery’s love for sports never died. It started with Body Buliding, then went to Football and finally to Golf.
Sir Sean Connery is an exceptional actor who played James Bond and carved out a new image for himself. Generally other actors who played James Bond have found if difficult to do.
There are many such great actors, one such legend is captured in detail in https://factrivia.com/the-man-the-machine-arnold-schwarzenegger-has-been-actor-politician-sportsman-and-businessman-who-always-topped/