Sean Connery, The End of An Era

WEB DESK: Veteran Hollywood actor Sean Connery, the first actor to play James Bond in the popular series, died at 90 on Saturday. Ian Fleming, the author of the Bond series, was at first not convinced of Sean Connery as Agent 007 but after watching the first film ‘Dr. No’, he wrote Sean Connery’s Scottish ancestry into the character’s backstory. Despite playing the character in six official and n total seven films, Connery’s role as an Irish-American Cop in Brain De Palma’s ‘The Untouchables’ won him his only Academy Award as the Best Actor in a Supporting role.

Sir Thomas Sean Connery was born on 25th August 1930 in Scotland. He began his career in 1954 but after struggling for the initial part of his career, he was selected to play ‘Bond, James Bond’ in ‘Dr. No’ that made him popular around the world.Afterward, he played Agent 007 in six movies out of seven including ‘From Russia With Love‘, ‘Goldfinger’, ‘Thunderball’, ‘You Only Live Twice’, and ‘Diamonds Are Forever’. The only film he missed was ‘On Her Majesty’s Secret Service’ in which George Lazenby played 007, but couldn’t replace Sean Connery.

It was officially the last time he played James Bond but he returned for one last inning in the 1980s with ‘Never Say Never Again’ which was not considered an official James Bond flick as it was produced by another company and was a remake of sorts of ‘Thunderball’.

In 1987, he co-starred with Kevin Costner and Robert De Niro in ‘The Untouchables’ and won his first and only Oscar for Best Supporting Actor.Two years later, he was back as the father of Indiana Jones in ‘Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade’ despite being just twelve years older than Harrison Ford, who played Junior to him.His other hit flicks include ‘Murder on the Orient Express’, ‘The Man Who Would Be King’, ‘Robin and Marian’, ‘The First Great Train Robbery’, ‘The Rock’ and ‘The Entrapment’ to name a few.

And then there was Drago heart where Sean Connery’s presence was unmistakable, despite not appearing on the screen. He voiced the dragon Draco who was modified on his movements as well, giving it the terrifying presence onscreen.

In 2000, Connery produced and acted in ‘Finding Forrester’ at the age of 70. Four years later ‘The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen’ happened which proved to be a box office disaster, and with that, he bid adieu to films.

Although Sir Roger Moore, Timothy Dalton, and Pierce Brosnan also became ‘Agent 007’ in films, many consider Sean Connery the best Bond of all times.

In 2000, Queen Elizabeth knighted Sean Connery and from then on, he was known as Sir Sean Connery. However, with ‘Bond, James Bond’, is how many of his fans would remember him for as long as they live.