James Bond Icon Sir Sean Connery Dies Age 90

Oct 31, 2020 by apost team

The first – and for many, the definitive – 007 of the screen has sadly passed on. Sir Sean Connery, one of the movie business's most legendary figures, has died at 90 in the Bahamas. The Scottish actor's iconic career spanned more than six decades and extended far beyond just playing the suave secret spy, even if his seven portrayals of 007 still remain many Bond fans’ favorites. With a shaken martini in hand, we salute Sir Sean and look back at the career of a star who brought us so many magical moments at the movies.

As the BBC reported, Connery’s death was confirmed by his family. He appears to have died in his sleep while in the Bahamas and has apparently been unwell for some time.

Sir Connery was born in Edinburgh, Scotland, in 1930, son of a factory worker and lorry driver. He got his first whiff of show business in the early 1950s when he helped out backstage at a theatre, seeking to improve his income. His manly physique helped him acquire a few acting gigs on TV, and in 1956, he received good reviews for his portrayal of an over-the-hill-prize-fighter in a BBC production of Requiem for a Heavyweight. His first movie role followed in 1956 with No Road Back.

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More film assignments followed, and by the early 1960s, Connery was popular enough to win the top position of a Daily Express poll that asked readers to suggest their top candidate who should James Bond in the movies, according to Variety. He landed the part without a screen test, as Harry Saltzman, of half of the Bond franchise production team, later claimed, the New York Times reports. It was not an entirely safe choice, as Connery was still largely unknown outside of the UK at this time. But his first portrayal of 007 in Dr. No (1962) laid all rumors to rest – Sean Connery was, indeed, the perfect man to play the fearless yet sophisticated double agent.

The Bond films made Connery an international star, and he would play James Bond six more times, culminating in 1983’s Never Say Never Again – the title itself an inside joke on Connery’s previous claim that he would “never again” portray 007 after 1971’s Diamonds Are Forever. Ironically, Ian Fleming, author of the Bond novels, was said to have been initially opposed to the Scottish actor portraying the suave British spy but was quickly won over, so much so that he even added a Scottish heritage to Bond’s character in further novels.

Still, the Bond films are only one part of Connery’s legendary resume. In 1988, five years after his last Bond film, he even won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor in the crime film The Untouchables. Other iconic films of his include Murder On The Orient Express, Robin and Marian with Audrey Hepburn, The Name of the Rose, and, last but not least, Indiana Jones And The Last Crusade, where he played the titular character’s father.

Sean Connery received a lifetime achievement award with a Kennedy Center Honor in 1999, and became Sir Sean Connery when he was knighted by the Queen in 2000. Other accolades include being named 1989’s Sexiest Man Alive by People Magazine and, in 1999, even the Sexiest Man Of The Century.

Rest in peace, Sir Sean Connery.

Connery retired from acting in 2006, but his career will never be forgotten. What is your favorite Sean Connery film? Do you agree that Connery is and remains the best actor to ever portray 007? Tell us in the comments below, and be sure to pass this news on to friends and family members.