by Conan Simmons – October 31, 2020 – 5:36 pm
Iconic actor Sean Connery passed away today aged 90 in Nassau, Bahamas where he lived for many years. Born in Edinburgh, Scotland on August 25, 1930 Connery would enlist in the Royal Navy afterwards becoming a bodybuilder and competing in the Mr. Universe contest of 1953 earning third place. This led him to enter acting taking small roles mostly on television until 1957 when he made his feature film debut in ‘No Road Back’. That same year he appeared in other films, ‘Hell Drivers’ and ‘Action of the Tiger’.
In 1959 he had roles in ‘Tarzan’s Greatest Adventure’ and the Disney film ‘Darby O’Gill and the Little People’. It was the latter that caught the eye of film producers working on adapting Ian Fleming’s popular spy novels. Sean Connery was cast as the world’s most famous super spy making his first appearance as James Bond, agent 007 in the 1962 film ‘Dr. No’. He reprised the role six more times in ‘From Russia, with Love’, ‘Goldfinger’, ‘Thunderball’, ‘You Only Live Twice’ and the non-franchise 007 film ‘Never Say Never Again’.
Though he will forever be associated with that role Sean Connery took on a great many other roles in many classic films. Starring in mostly action-adventure films he appeared in a couple of the best war movies, ‘The Longest Day’ in 1962 and ‘A Bridge Too Far’ in 1977.
He also worked with some the Hollywood’s greatest directors taking on starring roles in Alfred Hitchcock’s 1964 psychological thriller ‘Marnie’, John Huston’s colonial adventure film ‘The Man Who Would Be King’ in 1975 alongside fellow icon Michael Caine, Terry Gilliam’s fantasy ‘Time Bandits’, and in Steven Spielberg’s movie serial inspired ‘Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade’ playing the father of Harrison Ford’s eponymous character. In 1987 Sean Connery won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor for his role in Brian De Palma’s crime epic ‘The Untouchables’.
There were also film adaptations of classic and popular novels. 1974’s ‘Murder on the Orient Express’ based on Agatha Christie’s famed mystery, ‘In the Name of the Rose’ in 1986 based on Umberto Eco’s debut novel, and 1989’s ‘The Hunt for Red October’ from Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan series.
Aside from big budget critically acclaimed movies Connery also appeared in lower budget fan favorites such as ‘Zardoz’ in 1974 and ‘Highlander’ in 1986 as well as it’s 1991 sequel.
Other notable films include 1965’s World War Two prisoner of war drama ‘The Hill’ and the 1976 historical romance ‘Robin and Marian’ in which Connery took on the role of Robin Hood alongside Audrey Hepburn’s Marian. Connery’s final film was the 2003 fantasy ‘The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen’ adapted from Alan Moore’s graphic novel.
Sean Connery was married twice, most recently to Micheline Roquebrune whom he married in 1975. His previous wife was Diane Cilento from 1962 to 1973, their son is Jason Connery.