Sean Connery, the Movies’ First James Bond, Dead at 90

Sean Connery, the Oscar-winning actor iconic for his portrayal of super spy James Bond in seven films, died Saturday at 90.

The movie star’s death was confirmed by First Minister Nicola Sturgeon of his native Scotland, who tweeted, “I was heartbroken to learn this morning of the passing of Sir Sean Connery. Our nation today mourns one of her best loved sons. Sean was born into a working class Edinburgh family and through talent & sheer hard work, became an international film icon and one of the world’s most accomplished actors. Sean will be remembered best as James Bond — the classic 007 — but his roles were many & varied… The world will miss him. My thoughts and condolences are with Micheline, their children and all the family. RIP Sir Sean Connery.”

Born into poverty as Thomas Sean Connery on August 25, 1930, Connery worked from age 9, becoming a milkman at 13. His hardscrabble life informed his adulthood, leading to a self-admitted temper, but also to a sense of gratitude for small pleasures and to a generosity toward those in need. He famously gave his million-dollar salary from one of his films to the Scottish International Education Trust, established to help the children of his countrymen get a proper education.

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Connery — #24 — in 1950

Post-WWII, at just 16, Connery joined the Royal Navy, but was discharged over an ulcer three years later. He worked polishing furniture — including coffins — and posed nude as an artist’s model, a vocation that came naturally to the amateur bodybuilder. His physique led him to enter the Mr. Universe contest, where in 1953 he caught wind of a touring company of “South Pacific” that was looking for handsome extras.

After a year with the show, and an intensive study of theater, he began making small, sometimes uncredited movie and TV appearances, building to his breakthrough as Mountain McClintock on a “BBC Sunday-Night Theatre” production of “Requiem for a Heavyweight,” a part he inherited at he last minute from Jack Palance.

Connery appeared in series of undistinguished films, landed high-profile work with Disney in “Darby O’Gill and the Little People” (1959), tackled the title role in a TV version of “Macbeth” (1961), and appeared as a no-name in the star-studded “The Longest Day” (1962).

The serious-minded actor became an overnight sex symbol and cinema icon with his performance as James Bond in “Dr. No” (1962). He played the caddish, laddish Agent 007 six more times in the official series, in “From Russia with Love” (1963), “Goldfinger” (1964), “Thunderball” (1965), “You Only Live Twice” (1967), and “Diamonds Are Forever” (1971), and after along absence one more time, in the unofficial entry “Never Say Never Again” (1983).

Between and after Bond, Connery demonstrated his skill as a film actor was not confined to looking good in a tux, logging sometimes classic performances in such films as Hitchcock’s “Marnie” (1964), “The Hill” (1965), “The Molly Maguires” (1970), “The Anderson Tapes” (1971), the original film adaptation of “Murder on the Orient Express” (1974), “The Man Who Would Be King” (1975), “The Great Train Robbery” (1978), “Outland” (1981), “Time Bandits” (1981), “Highlander” (1986), “The Name of the Rose” (1986), “Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade” (1989), “The Hunt for Red October” (1990), “The Russia House” (1990), “The Rock” (1996), and “Finding Forrester” (2000).

Connery was the Best Supporting Actor Oscar for “The Untouchables” (1987) which, like so many of his films, was a monster hit at the box office.

After a bad experience filming “The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen” (2003) — he grumbled in 2005 about “idiots now making films in Hollywood” — Connery announced that he probably would not act again. Aside from appearing in the docudrama “Freedom: A History of the U.S.” (2003) and some voice acting, including for “Sir Billi” (2012), his final performance of any kind, his prediction came true.

Among his many honors, Connery was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II in 2000.

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Connery celebrating his 89th in 2019 with son Jason and Jason’s partner, Fiona Ufton

Roger Moore, who replaced Connery in the Bond series, died at 89 in 2017. Earlier this year, “Goldfinger” actresses Honor Blackman and Margaret Nolan died.

Connery was married to the late, Oscar-nominated Australian actress Diane Cilento from 1962-1973, and is survived by his wife Micheline, to whom he had been married since 1975. He is also survived by his son Jason, his stepson Stephane, and his brother.