Sir Sean Connery (born Thomas Connery; 25 August 1930 – 31 October 2020) was a Scottish actor. He was the first actor to portray fictional British secret agent James Bond on film, starring in seven Bond films between 1962 and 1983. Originating the role in Dr. No, Connery played Bond in six of Eon Productions’ entries and made his final appearance in the Jack Schwartzman-produced Never Say Never Again.
Connery began acting in smaller theatre and television productions until his breakout role as Bond. Although he did not enjoy the off-screen attention the role gave him, the success of the Bond films brought Connery offers from notable directors such as Alfred Hitchcock, Sidney Lumet and John Huston. Their films in which Connery appeared included Marnie (1964), The Hill (1965), Murder on the Orient Express (1974), and The Man Who Would Be King (1975). He also appeared in A Bridge Too Far (1977), Highlander (1986), The Name of the Rose (1986), The Untouchables (1987), Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989), The Hunt for Red October (1990), Dragonheart (1996), The Rock (1996), and Finding Forrester (2000). Connery officially retired from acting in 2006, although he briefly returned for voice-over roles in 2012.
His achievements in film were recognised with an Academy Award, two BAFTA Awards (including the BAFTA Fellowship), and three Golden Globes, including the Cecil B. DeMille Award and a Henrietta Award. In 1987, he was made a Commander of the Order of Arts and Letters in France, and he received the US Kennedy Center Honors lifetime achievement award in 1999. Connery was knighted in the 2000 New Year Honours for services to film drama.
In 2004, a poll in the UK Sunday Herald recognized Connery as “The Greatest Living Scot” and a 2011 EuroMillions survey named him “Scotland’s Greatest Living National Treasure”. He was voted by People magazine as the “Sexiest Man Alive” in 1989 and the “Sexiest Man of the Century” in 1999.
“I take the good with the bad. I can’t love people in slices.”—Sean Connery
“Some age, others mature.”—Sean Connery
“Love may not make the world go round, but I must admit that it makes the ride worthwhile.”—Sean Connery
“There is nothing like a challenge to bring out the best in man.”—Sean Connery
“Laughter kills fear, and without fear there can be no faith.”—Sean Connery
“There’s always a new challenge to keep you motivated.”—Sean Connery
“For without fear of the devil there is no need for God.”—Sean Connery
“I like women. I don’t understand them, but I like them.”—Sean Connery
“More than anything else, I’d like to be an old man with a good face.”—Sean Connery
“I haven’t found anywhere in the world where I want to be all the time.”—Sean Connery
“Only a fool wants what he can not have.”—Sean Connery
“The best of my life is the moving.”—Sean Connery
“Your background and environment is with you for life.”—Sean Connery
“I never trashed a hotel room or did drugs.”—Sean Connery
“I’m an easy target because of my political opinions.”—Sean Connery
“You call it luck. I call it destiny.”—Sean Connery
“The most difficult thing to displace is privilege.”—Sean Connery
“I am not a politician and I have no intention of being one.”—Sean Connery
“May God grant us the wisdom to discover right, the will to choose it, and the strength to make it endure.”—Sean Connery
“They say if you resort to violence, then you’ve already lost.”—Sean Connery
“I hope to work, support my children and die quietly without pain.”—Sean Connery
“There are laws that enslave men, and laws that set them free.”—Sean Connery
“Writers write things to give readers something to read.”—Sean Connery
“Love may not make the world go round, but I must admit that it makes the ride worthwhile.”—Sean Connery
“You risked your life for another. There is no greater love.”—Sean Connery
“If you’re afraid of getting a rotten apple, don’t go to the barrel. Get it off the tree.”—Sean Connery
