Sean Connery
- In full:
- Sir Sean Connery
- Original name:
- Thomas Connery
- Died:
- October 31, 2020, Nassau, Bahamas (aged 90)
- Awards And Honors:
- Kennedy Center Honors (1999)
- Academy Award (1988)
- BAFTA (1986)
- Academy Award (1988): Actor in a Supporting Role
- Cecil B. DeMille Award (1996)
- Golden Globe Award (1988): Best Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture
- Golden Globe Award (1972): World Film Favorites
- Tony Award (1998): Best Play
- Married To:
- Micheline Roquebrune (married 1975)
- Diane Cilento (1962–1973)
- Movies/Tv Shows (Acted In):
- "Sir Billi" (2012)
- "A Good Man in Africa" (1994)
- "The Hunt for Red October" (1990)
- "Dr. No" (1962)
- "Freedom: A History of US" (2003)
- "The Longest Day" (1962)
- "The Offence" (1973)
- "The Rock" (1996)
- "Tarzan's Greatest Adventure" (1959)
- "Dixon of Dock Green" (1956)
- "Highlander" (1986)
- "Sailor of Fortune" (1956)
- "Cuba" (1979)
- "The First Great Train Robbery" (1978)
- "Der Name der Rose" (1986)
- "Disneyland" (1959)
- "On the Fiddle" (1961)
- "The Red Tent" (1969)
- "Darby O'Gill and the Little People" (1959)
- "Ransom" (1975)
- "The Jack Benny Program" (1957)
- "The Hill" (1965)
- "The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen" (2003)
- "Diamonds Are Forever" (1971)
- "Armchair Theatre" (1958)
- "Hell Drivers" (1957)
- "Marnie" (1964)
- "The Frightened City" (1961)
- "The Molly Maguires" (1970)
- "The Presidio" (1988)
- "The Wind and the Lion" (1975)
- "A Bridge Too Far" (1977)
- "Goldfinger" (1964)
- "Family Business" (1989)
- "Wrong Is Right" (1982)
- "Entrapment" (1999)
- "Playing by Heart" (1998)
- "The Anderson Tapes" (1971)
- "BBC Sunday-Night Theatre" (1957)
- "Another Time, Another Place" (1958)
- "Five Days One Summer" (1982)
- "Sword of the Valiant: The Legend of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight" (1984)
- "The Man Who Would Be King" (1975)
- "Shalako" (1968)
- "Highlander II: The Quickening" (1991)
- "Meteor" (1979)
- "A Fine Madness" (1966)
- "Never Say Never Again" (1983)
- "First Knight" (1995)
- "Murder on the Orient Express" (1974)
- "From Russia with Love" (1963)
- "Action of the Tiger" (1957)
- "Zardoz" (1974)
- "Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade" (1989)
- "You Only Live Twice" (1967)
- "ITV Play of the Week" (1956–1960)
- "Rising Sun" (1993)
- "The Untouchables" (1987)
- "DragonHeart" (1996)
- "Woman of Straw" (1964)
- "The Russia House" (1990)
- "ITV Television Playhouse" (1957)
- "Medicine Man" (1992)
- "BBC Sunday-Night Play" (1960)
- "Time Bandits" (1981)
- "Finding Forrester" (2000)
- "Robin and Marian" (1976)
- "No Road Back" (1957)
- "The Next Man" (1976)
- "An Age of Kings" (1960)
- "The Avengers" (1998)
- "Thunderball" (1965)
- "Just Cause" (1995)
- "ITV Saturday Night Theatre" (1969)
- "Time Lock" (1957)
- "Outland" (1981)
- Movies/Tv Shows (Directed):
- "The Bowler and the Bunnet" (1967)
- On the Web:
- American Film Institute - Sir Sean Connery (Apr. 25, 2025)
Sean Connery (born August 25, 1930, Edinburgh, Scotland—died October 31, 2020, Nassau, Bahamas) was a Scottish-born actor whose popularity in James Bond spy thrillers led to a successful decades-long film career.
Connery grew up in a working-class family. After a three-year stint in the Royal Navy and a series of odd jobs, he began practicing bodybuilding and became a model for student artists and men’s fashion catalogs. He competed in the 1953 Mr. Universe contest, which in turn led to work as an extra in stage productions. In 1954 he landed a small part in a touring production of the Rodgers and Hammerstein musical South Pacific and eventually took the leading role. More stage and television work followed, including a much-praised performance as washed-up boxer Mountain Rivera in the BBC television production of Rod Serling’s Requiem for a Heavyweight in 1957. Connery made his film debut in Lilacs in the Spring (1954; U.S. title Let’s Make Up) and received top billing for the first time in the comedy On the Fiddle (1961; also released as Operation Snafu). His other notable films of the period included the Disney fantasy Darby O’Gill and the Little People (1959) and the World War II epic The Longest Day (1962).
In 1962 Connery was cast in the role of James Bond, Agent 007 of the British Secret Intelligence Service, in the screen adaptation of Ian Fleming’s spy thriller Dr. No. The immense success of the film and its immediate sequels, From Russia with Love (1963) and Goldfinger (1964), established the James Bond films as a worldwide phenomenon and Connery as an international celebrity. Not wanting to be typecast as the superspy, Connery continued to take other acting roles, notably in Alfred Hitchcock’s psychological thriller Marnie (1964). After completing the next two James Bond films, Thunderball (1965) and You Only Live Twice (1967), Connery renounced the role of Bond. Four years later, however, he was persuaded to return to the role for Diamonds Are Forever (1971), which he declared was his last movie as Bond.
He spent the 1970s playing mostly in period dramas and science-fiction films, the best among them being The Molly Maguires (1970), Zardoz (1974), Murder on the Orient Express (1974), The Man Who Would Be King (1975), The Wind and the Lion (1975), Robin and Marian (1976), and The First Great Train Robbery (1978; also released as The Great Train Robbery). In 1981 he made a memorable appearance as King Agamemnon in Terry Gilliam’s time-travel fantasy Time Bandits, and two years later he delighted Bond fans by returning to the role of 007 in the slyly titled Never Say Never Again (1983).
Two films in the mid-1980s reestablished him as a major star. He won a British Academy Film Award for his portrayal of a monk turned detective in the film adaptation of Umberto Eco’s The Name of the Rose (1986) and followed this with a best supporting actor Academy Award for his role as a veteran Chicago cop in pursuit of Al Capone in The Untouchables (1987). In Steven Spielberg’s Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989) Connery played the title figure’s father, and in The Hunt for Red October (1990) he played a defecting Soviet submarine captain. Connery’s memorable films of the 1990s included Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves (1991), First Knight (1995), The Rock (1996), Dragonheart (1996), and Entrapment (1999). Connery officially retired from acting following his appearance in the film adaptation (2003) of the comic-book series The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, though he went on to perform various voice roles.
Connery received a Kennedy Center Honor for lifetime achievement in 1999 and was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II in 2000. In addition to his film work, Connery was an outspoken advocate of Scottish independence, strongly supporting the Scottish National Party.