Profile of Sean Connery on Famous Like Me

Sir Thomas Sean Connery (born August 25, 1930 in Edinburgh, Scotland) better known simply as Sean Connery, is an Oscar winning Scottish actor who has starred in many films and is best known as the original cinematic James Bond. His birth name was Thomas Connery. The name "Sean" was added later as a stage name.

Connery is known for his trademark Scottish accent and his good looks, repeatedly being mentioned as one of the most attractive men alive by magazines even after he was considerably older than more conventional sex symbols. Some consider him more handsome now than when he was younger.

Personal life

Connery was born in Edinburgh, Scotland, to a mixed-religion couple. His father was an Irish Catholic and his mother was Protestant. Neither Tommy (Sean) nor his brother, Neil, were raised Catholic. He joined the Royal Navy after leaving school, and after being discharged on medical grounds went on to a succession of jobs, including labourer and lifeguard. He competed for Scotland in the Mr. Universe competition in 1950, which led to work on the stage, TV, and eventually film.

He has long advocated Scottish independence, and has supported the Scottish National Party, a political party campaigning for Scottish self-government, financially and through personal appearances. This support is illustrated by a comment from his official website:

"While it is generally accepted that his support of Scotland's independence and the Scottish National Party delayed his knighthood for many years, his commitment to Scotland has never wavered. Politics in the United Kingdom often has more intrigue than a James Bond plot. While Scotland is not yet independent, she does have a new parliament. Sir Sean campaigned hard for the yes vote during the Scottish Referendum that created the new Scottish Parliament. He believes firmly that the Scottish Parliament will grow in power and that Scotland will be independent within his lifetime."

Connery used part of the fees from his work as James Bond to establish a charity to support deprived children in Edinburgh as well as Scottish Film production. These charitable works may have earned him a Knighthood earlier, but it was revealed in 1997 that the award had been declined by the Labour government due to his support for the SNP.

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. Sean Connery 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.

He was married to Australian-born actress Diane Cilento from 1962 until 1973. Since 1975, he has been married to French-Moroccan artist Micheline Roquebrune Connery. With Cilento he had a son, Jason Connery, who also became an actor, and was educated at Millfield School in Somerset, England.

In September 2004, media reports indicated that Connery intended to retire after he pulled out of Josiah's Canon, which is to be released in 2005. However, in a December 2004 interview with The Scotsman newspaper from his home in the Bahamas, the then-74 year-old actor denied he was retiring and said he would like to make another movie, but that he is taking a break from acting in order to concentrate on writing his autobiography, but now the book will no longer be written. Just weeks 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 which credited the source as an interview in an unspecified New Zealand newspaper, that he had decided to retire from film making following disillusionment with the "idiots now in Hollywood".

James Bond

Connery is well known to audiences around the world for his role as James Bond. He first appeared as agent 007 in Dr. No (1962) and subsequently played Bond in several sequels.

• From Russia With Love (1963)
• Goldfinger (1964)
• Thunderball (1965)
• You Only Live Twice (1967)
• Diamonds Are Forever (1971)
• Never Say Never Again (1983 unofficial)

Connery was discovered by Harry Saltzman after numerous names as possible contenders for Bond were thrown or ruled out, including Roger Moore, David Niven, Cary Grant, and many others. Ian Fleming, the creator of James Bond pays tribute to Connery in his 1963 novel, On Her Majesty's Secret Service by stating that 007's surname as well as his father, was Scottish.

In 1967 Connery quit the role of Bond, which lead to Albert R. Broccoli hiring George Lazenby to continue the film franchise in 1969's On Her Majesty's Secret Service. After the film's release, however, Lazenby backed out of a seven film contract. Broccoli again asked Connery to return to the role and paid him $1.25 million plus 12.5% of the film's profits, or about $6 million total to do so, at the time the highest salary of any actor. Connery returned one final official time in 1971's Diamonds Are Forever, quitting the role shortly after release.

Due to, and at the height of an ongoing legal battle between Broccoli's EON Productions and Kevin McClory (co-writer of Thunderball), McClory was allowed to create a remake of Thunderball after a 10 year span after the release of Thunderball. In the late 1970s McClory teamed with Connery to write an original James Bond film. The project never got off the ground due to further lawsuits brought about by United Artists; however, in 1983 Connery teamed with McClory again to play the role of secret agent James Bond 007 for the seventh and final time in the unofficial film and remake Never Say Never Again. The title of the film has long believed to have derived from Connery's comments after the release of Diamonds Are Forever who after filming it, claimed he would never play James Bond again. (For the legal battle see the controversy of Thunderball)

In March 2005, it was announced that Connery would return to his most famous role one more time, providing the voice of James Bond for an upcoming video game adaptation of From Russia With Love.

Over 40 years since he first played the role, Connery is still widely regarded as the definitive cinematic incarnation of James Bond, despite credible interpretations of the character by the likes of Roger Moore, Pierce Brosnan, and what many believe to be a more authentic literary performance by Timothy Dalton.

Post-James Bond Career

Although his most famous role was that of James Bond, Sean Connery has also maintained a highly successful career since, much more so than the other actors who assumed the role. As part of the agreement to appear in Diamonds are Forever Connery was given a carte blanche to produce two films at 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 like Murder on the Orient Express and A Bridge Too Far. After the 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 European production The Name of the Rose Connery's interest in more credible material was revived. His 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) and The Hunt for Red October (1990) secured his place as a bankable leading man. He later received a Crystal Globe for outstanding artistic contribution to world cinema. 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 rave reviews for films such as Finding Forrester (2000).

Selected Filmography

• Darby O'Gill and the Little People (1959)
• The Longest Day (1962)
• Dr. No (1962)
• From Russia With Love (1963)
• Marnie (1964)
• Goldfinger (1964)
• The Hill (1965)
• Thunderball (1965)
• A Fine Madness (1966)
• You Only Live Twice (1967)
• Diamonds Are Forever (1971)
• Zardoz (1974)
• Murder on the Orient Express (1974)
• The Wind and the Lion (1975)
• The Man Who Would Be King (1975)
• Robin and Marian (1976)
• A Bridge Too Far (1977)
• The Great Train Robbery (1979)
• Meteor (1979)
• Outland (1981)
• Time Bandits (1981)
• Wrong Is Right (1982)
• Never Say Never Again (1983)
• Highlander (1986)
• The Name of the Rose (1986)
• The Untouchables (1987)
• Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989)
• The Hunt for Red October (1990)
• Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves (1991)
• Medicine Man (1992) (also executive producer)
• Rising Sun (1993) (also executive producer)
• First Knight (1995)
• Dragonheart (1996) (voice only)
• The Rock (1996) (also executive producer)
• The Avengers (1998)
• Playing by Heart (1998)
• Entrapment (1999) (also producer)
• Finding Forrester (2000) (also producer)
• The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen (2003) (also executive producer)

Trivia

• Sean Connery, as a youth, had a job delivering milk to Fettes College, in Edinburgh, Scotland. This was James Bond's second school.

• In the cartoon series Sonic Underground, Sean Connery is the voice of Athair, great-grandfather of Knuckles the Echidna.

• Darrell Hammond plays Sean Connery in the Celebrity Jeopardy sketches on Saturday Night Live. In these sketches, Connery is the contestant on all but 2 episodes, where he verbally insults host Alex Trebek (played by Will Ferrell), and answers no questions right. The sketches aired twice a season on SNL from 1996-2002, and returned once more in 2005.

• Starred in Never Say Never Again with Klaus Maria Brandauer. Ironically, Brandauer was originally considered to play Marko Ramius in The Hunt for Red October.

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