The first James Bond, Sean Connery, breathed his last this morning (31st October) at his Bahamas home. He was 90. He had not been keeping well since some time. His end was peaceful as he died in his sleep.
His first outing as James Bond was in Dr. No in 1962. The other Bond films he worked in were From Russia With Love, Goldfinger, Thunderball, You Only Live Twice and Diamonds Are Forever. Tall and handsome, Connery acted in films over four decades. Sean Connery grew up in the slums in Edinburgh, born to a father who was a truck driver and a mother who worked as a cleaner. He worked as a coffin polisher, milkman and lifeguard. He was fond of bodybuilding which became his ticket to the world of films. Before getting into films and television, he worked in bit roles in theatre repertory companies. Although secret agent Bond became his most defining role, he won the Academy Award for his act as a tough Chicago cop in The Untouchables. The People magazine described him as the sexiest man alive when he was 59 years old in 1989.
Suave and sexy, Sean supported Scotland’s independence and had the words ‘Scotland Forever’ tattooed on his arm while serving the Royal Navy. He was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II in 2000 in Edinburgh. He went to receive his knighthood in full Scottish dress including the green-and-black plaid kilt of his mother’s MacLeod clan.
Although he worked in six Bond films, he had quit the franchise after the fifth outing (You Only Live Twice) for fear of being typecast. Australian actor George Lazenby succeeded him as Bond in On Her Majesty’s Secret Service but the producers were forced to call Sean back for the next Bond film because they realised that things were not quite the same for the public, without Connery. Sean Connery was then offered the carrot of a share in profits which, incidentally, he said, would go to a Scottish educational trust. In this way, Diamonds Are Forever became his last Bond film in 1971. Twelve years later, he played 007 Bond in Never Say Never Again, an independent production which had his original producer fuming. His ‘The name’s Bond… James Bond’ and ‘Shaken, not stirred’ dialogues are popular even today.
Some of the non-Bond films of Sean Connery were Alfred Hitchcock’s Marnie (1964), John Boorman’s Zardoz (1974), The Wind And The Lion (1975), The Man Who Would Be King (1975), director Steven Spielberg’s Indiana Jones And The Last Crusade (1989), and The Hunt For Red October (1990). The League Of Extraordinary Gentlemen (2003) was his career’s last film. Sean had disputes with the film’s director, Stephen Norrington, after which he retired from films.
Like his countless fans, the producers of the James Bond film franchise, Michael G. Wilson and Barbara Broccoli, also mourned the demise of Sean Connery. A statement posted on the film’s Twitter handle read, “We are devastated by the news of the passing of Sir Sean Connery. He was and shall always be remembered as the original James Bond whose indelible entrance into cinema history began when he announced those unforgettable words — “The name’s Bond… James Bond” — he revolutionised the world with his gritty and witty portrayal of the sexy and charismatic secret agent. He is undoubtedly largely responsible for the success of the film series and we shall be forever grateful to him.”