Posted By Dan Greenfield on Aug 25, 2022 | 2 comments

The late, great actor was born 92 years ago on Aug. 25, 1930…

Dr. No

By PETER BOSCH

Thomas Sean Connery was born in Edinburgh, Scotland in 1930, and though he held many regular jobs early in his life, as well as a stint in the Royal Navy, he turned toward the arts with great interest. His first theatrical work was working backstage at the King’s Theatre in Edinburgh and then got a part in the chorus of the United Kingdom’s touring production of South Pacific, eventually moving up to speaking roles in the musical, as well as parts on television.

In 1954, Connery started his screen career, first as an extra in a film Errol Flynn made in the UK, Lilacs in the Spring, and then on various television shows (including playing the washed-up boxer Mountain McClintock in a 1957 British version of Rod Serling’s Requiem for a Heavyweight. Connery’s breakthrough to major film roles began with Another Time, Another Place (1958) and Walt Disney’s Darby O’Gill and the Little People (1959). These parts eventually led to him being cast as James Bond in Dr. No (1962), a role that made him a superstar across the world.

Connery’s other 007 films — From Russia with Love (1963), Goldfinger (1964), Thunderball (1965) and You Only Live Twice (1967) — cemented his place with fans who still think of him as the best Bond of them all. You Only Live Twice was to be the last time he would appear in the role, but he was convinced by the producers to return four years later in Diamonds Are Forever (1971) for $1.25 million (a hefty sum at the time). After that, he would play Bond one last time (for $3 million), in Never Say Never Again (1983), a revision of Thunderball.

Connery and the women of Thunderball (L-R): Luciana Paluzzi, Martine Beswick, Claudine Auger and Molly Peters

Connery was very serious about his acting career and did not want to become typecast as other actors had been by doing iconic roles in films or on television. He had a simple but unique solution to achieving that end. He removed his Bond toupee and grew a mustache (and a beard, on occasion). With performances in major films Murder on the Orient Express (1974), The Wind and the Lion (1975), The Man Who Would Be King (1975), and the wonderful Robin and Marian (1976), in which he was teamed with Audrey Hepburn, he was able to quickly dispel every last remnant of James Bond. And, in 1987, he won the Best Supporting Oscar for The Untouchables. Two years later, he would delight as Harrison Ford’s father in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989).

Robin and Marian

On July 5, 2000, he was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II and became Sir Sean Connery. By the mid-2000s he decided to retire from acting (though he did do a voiceover in the animated film Sir Billi in 2012).

Connery died in his sleep at age 90 on October 31, 2020.

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MORE

— SEAN CONNERY: He Was the Greatest JAMES BOND of Them All. Click here.

— 13 COVERS: Sean Connery’s JAMES BOND Around the World. Click here.

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PETER BOSCH’s first book, American TV Comic Books: 1940s-1980s – From the Small Screen to the Printed Page, has just been published by TwoMorrows. He has written articles and conducted celebrity interviews for various magazines and newspapers. Peter lives in Hollywood.