August 25, 2010. Copyright 2010, Graphic News. All rights reserved

Scottish expatriot famed for his role as suave Secret Agent 007, Sean Connery turns 80
By Susan Shepherd

LONDON, August 25, Graphic News:  When his career was still making its slow progress through bit parts and chorus lines, Thomas Sean Connery, a working class lad from Fountainbridge, Edinburgh, found himself, literally, rearranging the deckchairs on the Titanic. In the 1958 black and white classic, A Night to Remember, starring the hugely popular English actor Kenneth More, the tall, athletic figure of the former Portobello lifeguard can be glimpsed, in seaman's garb, on the crowded deck of the doomed liner -- an appearance so brief it is not even officially credited. Yet it was an apposite piece of casting for the ex-Royal Navy cadet, whose own attempts to go to sea were thwarted, if not by icebergs, by rather more prosaic stomach ulcers. And, topping the bill, playing one of the privileged, first-class passengers, was actress Honor Blackman. Within a decade the two would co-star in Goldfinger (1964), the third of the iconic Bond films, regarded by many as the benchmark for them all.
 
Nicknamed "Big Tam" as he rocketed to over six feet (1.8m) tall in his adolescence, Connery left school at 14 and took on a milk round. His delivery route included Fettes School, where the future Prime Minister Tony Blair would be educated. Years later, Connery would be vocal in his criticism of the Labour leader, particularly over his decision to go to war with Iraq. A longtime supporter of Scottish independence, Connery believes it was his outspoken political views which led to his being turned down twice for a knighthood. He was finally granted the honour, for services to the film industry, in 2000, the Queen performing the ceremony at Holyrood Palace in the Scottish capital, with Connery in full Highland dress. His decision to persevere with acting over sport -- he was a boxer, bodybuilder and keen amateur footballer when he was spotted by a soccer talent scout and offered a potentially lucrative trial with Manchester United -- was eventually justified. "I realised that a top-class footballer could be over the hill by the age of 30, and I was already 23. I decided to become an actor and it turned out to be one of my more intelligent moves", he later reflected.

His breakthrough, as the first screen James Bond in Dr. No (1962), came after he moved to London in search of work. Strong reviews for his portrayal of Count Vronsky opposite Claire Bloom in a BBC TV adaptation of Tolstoy's Anna Karenina led to his audition for Eon Productions -- and producer Cubby Broccoli -- who were seeking their 007. Connery beat David Niven, Rex Harrison and Cary Grant to the role, although Bond's creator, novelist Ian Fleming, was initially doubtful. Connery signed a six-year contract, was coached in the smooth, cultured persona of his new alter ego and won international success. After Dr. No came From Russia With Love (1963), Goldfinger (1964), Thunderball (1965), You Only Live Twice (1967) and Diamonds Are Forever (1971). He reprised the role in 1983 with Never Say Never Again. Connery moved to Spain in the 1970s, then on to the Bahamas, where he still lives today, arguably Scotland's best known "non dom", returning every June for the Edinburgh Film Festival and vowing to come home for good when full independence is achieved.
 
Successfully avoiding typecasting, Connery became known to a younger generation of filmgoers through Steven Spielberg's Indiana Jones movies, playing Harrison Ford's professor father in the third of the series, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989). His other post-Bond successes include the submarine thriller, The Hunt for Red October (1990), The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen (2003) and The Untouchables (1987) with Robert de Niro and Kevin Costner, for which he won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor. He has been married to his second wife, French artist, Micheline Roquebrune, for 35 years and has a son, Jason, also an actor, from his first marriage to Diane Cilento.
/ENDS