Sir Thomas Sean Connery
Bond. James Bond.
Photo Credit: Far Out Magazine UK
I just found out about the passing of actor Sean Connery. There are certain actors I have a thing for and he is one of them. Our birthdays are five days apart and we both have Scottish (and Irish) ancestry. He enlisted in the Royal Navy at the age of 16, was assigned to the HMS Formidable as an Able Seaman and was medically discharged at 19 for ulcers.
Image Credit: Time
One of his early endeavors was as an artist’s model. He was into bodybuilding and was in a Mr. Universe contest, though the actual year is disputed. He was a footballer, playing for Bonnyrigg Rose and was once offered a contract to play professionally:
“[I] realised that a top-class footballer could be over the hill by the age of 30 and I was already 23. I decided to become an actor and it turned out to be one of my more intelligent moves.”
He was a member of the Scottish National Party and campaigned for Scottish Independence, financially supporting the party until the UK passed legislation to prohibit overseas funding. One of his two tattoos was “Scotland Forever.”
He managed to make it all the way to 90 but, according to his son Jason, he had been unwell for some time. He passed peacefully in his sleep at his home in the Bahamas. I think it altogether fitting and proper that Sir Sean left on Halloween during a full Blue Moon. Godspeed. ~Vic
Image Credit: Reddit
Career Highlights:
His acting debut (uncredited) was in the UK film Lilacs in the Spring (titled Let’s Make Up in the US) in 1954, a British musical starring Errol Flynn. On UK TV, he played MacBeth, Alexander the Great and Count Vronsky. His first appearance on US TV was on The Jack Benny Program in 1957. His first credited film roll in the US was a UK/US collaboration in the movie Action of the Tiger, also in 1957. He was the first James Bond (and some say the only one), he played a savage in the distant future, became Robin Hood, was a Marshal in outer space, was King Agamemnon, was a sword-wielding immortal, did a turn as a Franciscan friar, was an Untouchable, a Provost Marshall in San Francisco, was the father of Indiana Jones, a Russian submarine Captain, appeared as King Richard, became a doctor, was a detective, a professor, played King Arthur, played an ex-con & an art thief, was a reclusive author and, was the voice of The Last Dragon. He was only in one Western in 1968. His last time on the big screen was in 2003 playing Allan Quatermain in The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen and his last time on TV was playing character John Muir in an episode of the documentary Freedom: A History of US, also in 2003. He did voice work up to 2012.
Awards:
♥ 1987 Academy Award (Best Supporting Actor/The Untouchables)
♥ 1987 BAFTA (Best Actor/The Name of the Rose)
♥ 1998 BAFTA Fellowship
♥ 1972 Golden Globe (Henrietta Award/World Film Favorite-Male)
♥ 1987 Golden Globe (Best Supporting Actor/The Untouchables)
♥ 1995 Golden Globe (Cecil B. DeMille Award)
Photo Credit: Pinterest
Nominations:
♦ 1987 BAFTA (Best Supporting Actor/The Untouchables)
♦ 1989 BAFTA (Best Supporting Actor/Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade)
♦ 1990 BAFTA (Best Actor/The Hunt for Red October)
♦ 1965 Golden Globe (Henrietta Award/World Film Favorite-Male)
♦ 1968 Golden Globe (Henrietta Award/World Film Favorite-Male)
♦ 1989 Golden Globe (Best Supporting Actor/Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade)
www.seanconnery.com (Web Archive)
Additional Reading & Sources:
BBC News
Belly Buzz (Web Archive of Connery’s Military Service)
List of Work (IMDb)
List of Work (Wikipedia)
Muscle Memory (As Tom Connery)
Scottish Junior Football Association (Web Archive)
Scottish Roots
Talk-Talk UK (Archive Today Copy of Connery’s Biography)
November 1, 2020 at 12:11 AM
My wife told me of his passing earlier in the day. He was one of our favorites and will be missed.
November 1, 2020 at 1:34 AM
Yeah. It was his time.
November 1, 2020 at 12:54 AM
He was a man’s man no doubt…a throwback…He was a good actor. I’m glad he had a long life.
He was THE James Bond…not the short blonde dude.
November 1, 2020 at 1:05 AM
LOL! I knew you were going to say that!
He was quite an interesting man. I’ve always been fascinated with him.
November 1, 2020 at 1:13 AM
What part? About the oompa loompa who plays him now?
Yes he was a really good actor.
November 1, 2020 at 1:29 AM
LOL! You are so bad.
Didn’t you say you liked Brosnan and Dalton? Moore?
November 1, 2020 at 1:35 AM
Yes I am!
Yes I like them alright…the ones I really like the best are of course Sean and Roger…but Sean is number 1…Dalton could have been really good…he should have done more.
November 1, 2020 at 3:41 AM
I thought I remembered that.
November 1, 2020 at 5:26 AM
RIP. He’s certainly iconic. A lot of Scots adore him… I’m not quite as sure. He made a lot of noise about independence, from his tax haven in the Bahamas
November 1, 2020 at 9:00 PM
I wouldn’t fault anyone moving somewhere to keep the damn government out of the back pocket of one’s financials. I have Libertarian leanings…lots of freedom, personal responsibility and small government. I can’t speak for anyone else’s government but, ours has mucked up society with “programs”…to the tune of 23+ trillion in debt. I’m all about an honest living and keeping one’s rewards for hard work. Communities free from needless intervention take care of their own. I’ve witnessed it.
I don’t know but, I suspect that he really wanted his home country out of the coffers of London. He did his level best to support the SNP, financially, even from the Bahamas…until the UK stopped him. He definitely wasn’t a globalist.
November 2, 2020 at 4:57 AM
All fair points, and I’m in no way a supporter of the UK govt, especially not this current shower… Still, tax is to an extent controlled by the Scottish govt, which has been SNP for a good long time.
To me he represented the misty-eyed Scottish nationalism, Braveheart shouting ‘Freedom’ and all that. Still he was a huge figure in Scotland and around the world, a good ambassador, and certainly one of our most famous sons.
November 2, 2020 at 2:35 PM
You’ve got “nutters” (using a UK term?) in government just like we do? LOL! Most of them are “mental” (another UK term?). I’ve read some stuff about Nicola Sturgeon and Boris but, it’s not my place to comment on her…or him. I keep running across non-American bloggers that love to rag on Trump. I’m no Trump fan but…not your circus, not your monkeys. STFU.
I can only guess that maybe his beloved SNP turned on him? Politics is a nasty business. In order to be successful, you will need a strong stomach and lack a moral compass.
I don’t have a problem with Nationalism or, in our case, here, state-ism. Communities and/or states and/or nations and/or regions can take care of their own without interference “from outside.” I have no patience for these arrogant, globalist oligarchs that want to dictate to the rest of us on the planet what “they” think we should or should not be doing. Who died and made them god? Piss off.
You have some other Scots I like…John Barrowman (a year younger than I am), Karen Gillan, Ian Buchanan, Gerard Butler (three years younger than I am), David Tennant, Emma Thompson (half-Scottish), Hamish Clark (a year older), Ruth Connell (she is a scream), Billy Connolly (also a scream)…looking at the list on Wikipedia…LOL…Tony Curran (Van Gogh)…I could go on and on…
November 2, 2020 at 10:24 PM
Well today I have learned that Emma Thompson is half-Scottish… For a small country we do get about!
I don’t think I will ever bring up politics in my blog (unless the #1 single in question requires it – some do!) I would say that the US is such an influence on the world, and your current but maybe not for much longer president such a ‘character’, I can understand some bloggers having an opinion. But we should always keep it respectful!
November 2, 2020 at 11:56 PM
Yep! Through her mother…whom is an actress, herself.
I was trying to calculate in my head the percentage of Scots in the entertainment industry. That was a long list.
I don’t do political posts and I would never waste space on my blog to talk about another country’s leader. I LOATHE politics. It is so pervasive, it trickles down into work places, into the middle of families and in your face on the TV. *sigh*
Honestly, we need to get MORE nationalistic and leave the rest of the other countries be. But, there are those, here, that control strings via the dollar’s reserve currency status, military interventions, spying, coups, assassinations…ad nauseum. Sadly, I know what my country does.
Just out of curiosity, what is the deal with your Brexit thing? I can’t make heads or tails out of it.
Respect is key! <3
November 3, 2020 at 8:27 AM
God, I would need a long time to attempt to explain Brexit properly… Not sure I can. It started out as a lot of noise and tub-thumping from right-wing politicians, it was put to a referendum (not a legally binding vote, mind) and it won because said politicians played on certain people’s fears and ignorance. They didn’t expect to win, but they did, and now they have no clue as to how to go about negotiating an exit deal with the EU. So we’re just leaving without one, amid a global pandemic, and it’s an almighty mess.
Or put it this way: Brexit is like the English version of Scottish independence (Sean Connery, Braveheart and all that). A misty-eyed, nostalgic dream of a blissful, ‘free’ country that never existed in the first place…
November 8, 2020 at 3:05 PM
Yikes. I missed this. Sorry!
What was the fear that was played on?
Yeah. The whole island has been invaded, repeatedly.
November 9, 2020 at 5:51 AM
Yeah, sometimes I don’t get notified about your comments either…
Oh you know, fears of immigrants, of British culture being diluted, of money being syphoned off by Europe… Much of it unfounded.
November 9, 2020 at 1:14 PM
Wow. That sounds very similar to our politics. Hmmm…frighten the people and push thru policies.
You cleared that up pretty quickly. Thank you.
November 1, 2020 at 9:59 AM
Nicely done. I posted this tribute to my FB page.
November 1, 2020 at 9:01 PM
Wow! Thanks, Mama Linda! I’m honored…and I just did an update with more info.
November 2, 2020 at 11:13 AM
Thank you. He was a Man’s Man!
November 2, 2020 at 3:49 PM
Yes, he was. <3
November 3, 2020 at 11:29 AM
Rest in Peace, Sean. I’m happy for him though. He lived a good life and passed away painlessly (I hope).