Godspeed Sean Connery

There can be no doubt that Sean Connery will always be best remembered as James Bond. He was the first actor to portray 007 on the big screen and for many he remains the definitive Bond. That having been said, he played many other roles in his long career. He received the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role as Jimmy Malone in The Untouchables (1987). He received a BAFTA Award for his role as William of Baskerville in The Name of the Rose (1986). Over the years he played Maj. Gen. Roy Urquhart in A Bridge Too Far  (1977), Juan Sánchez Villa-Lobos Ramírez in Highlander (1986), and Henry Jones Sr. in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989). Sean Connery died on October 31 2020 at the age of 90.

Sean Connery was born on August 25 1930 in Fountainbridge, Edinburgh. He worked as a milkman for St. Cuthbert's Co-operative Society. He was 16 years old when he joined the Royal Navy in 1946. When he was 19 he developed a a duodenal ulcer and was honourably discharged from the navy. After his service he returned to work as a milkman for St. Cuthbert's Co-operative Society, and afterwards worked as a lorry driver, a lifeguard at Portobello swimming baths, and an artist's model. He had taken up bodybuilding when he was 18, and competed in the Mr. Universe contest. In 1951 he went to work helping backstage at the King's Theatre in Edinburgh.

It was in 1953 that Sean Connery was cast as one of the Seabees in a production of South Pacific. By the time the production reached Edinburgh, he had been cast in the role of Marine Cpl. Hamilton Steeves. Mr. Connery made his film debut as an extra in Lilacs in the Spring in 1954. He made his television debut in an episode of Dixon of Dock Green in 1956. In the late Fifties he appeared in small roles in the films No Road Back (1957), Hell Drivers (1957), Action of the Tiger (1957), and Time Lock (1957). Sean Connery had a major role in Another Time, Another Place (1958), followed by a lead role in the Disney movie Darby O'Gill and the Little People (1959). He also appeared in the movie Tarzan's Greatest Adventure (1959). On television he appeared in the TV shows Sailor of Fortune, The Jack Benny Program, BBC Sunday-Night Theatre, ITV Television Playhouse, Armchair Theatre, Disneyland, BBC Sunday-Night Play, An Age of Kings, and ITV Play of the Week.

It was in the early Sixties that Sean Connery was cast in the role of James Bond. During the decade he appeared as 007 in the movies Dr. No (1962), From Russia with Love (1963), Goldfinger (1964), Thunderball (1965), and You Only Live Twice (1967). During the Sixties he appeared in movies beyond the Bond franchise, including The Frightened City (1961), On the Fiddle (1961), The Longest Day (1962), Woman of Straw (1964), Marnie (1964), The Hill (1965), A Fine Madness (1966), Shalako (1968), Krasnaya palatka (1969), and The Molly Maguires (1970). He appeared in such TV productions as Macbeth, Anna Karenina, and Male of the Species. He appeared on the TV show ITV Saturday Night Theatre.

In the Seventies he appeared again as James Bond in Diamonds Are Forever (1971). He played the title character, Daniel Dravot, in The Man Who Would Be King (1975) and Robin Hood in Robin and Marian (1977). He appeared in the films The Anderson Tapes (1971), The Offence (1973), Zardoz (1974), Murder on the Orient Express (1974), Ransom (1974), The Wind and the Lion (1975), The Next Man (1976), A Bridge Too Far (1977), The First Great Train Robbery (1978), Meteor (1979), and Cuba (1979).

The Eighties saw Sean Connery reprise his role of James Bond for one last time in Never Say Never Again (1983). He also played such roles as Ramirez in Highlander (1986), William of Baskerbille in The Name of the Rose (1986), Jimmy Malone in The Untouchables (1988), Henry Jones, Sr. in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989), and Marko Ramius in The Hunt for Red October (1990). He also appeared in the films Outland (1981), Time Bandits (1981), Wrong is Right (1982), Five Days One Summer (1982), Sword of the Valiant: The Legend of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight (1984), The Presidio (1988), Memories of Me (1988), Family Business (1989), and The Russia House (1989).

In the Nineties Mr. Connery appeared in the movies Highlander II: The Quickening (1991), Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves (1991), Medicine Man (1992), Rising Sun (1993), A Good Man in Africa (1994), Just Cause (1995), The Rock (1996), The Avengers (1998), Playing by Heart (1999), Entrapment (1999), and Fielding Forrester (2000). He was the voice of the dragon Draco in Dragonheart (1996).

In the Naughts Sean Connery appeared in the movie The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen (2003). His last role was as the voice of Sir Billi in the animated film Sir Billi (2012).

Sean Connery may be best remembered as James Bond, but he played a wide array of roles throughout his career. He was the choice of many directors for legendary and literary characters, playing everything from Robin Hood to King Agamemnon to Allan Quartermain. He could not only play the suave, charming James Bond, but also widower Mark Rutland in Marnie, Colonel John Arbuthnot of the British Indian Army in Murder on the Orient Express, former British Army sergeant and fortune hunter Daniel Dravot in The Man Who Would Be King, and erudite archaeologist Henry Jones, Sr. in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. And even when a specific film wasn't necessarily good, Sean Connery always was. While Mr. Connery will always be remembered as James Bond, he will also be remembered for having played a wide array of other roles as well.