ChalibraDigital: Meet the first James Bond (007) – Things You May Not Know About Sean Connery

Sir Thomas Sean Connery was born in August 25, 1930 at Fountainbridge, Edinburgh, Scotland, UK. He will turn 86 years this year.
He has been married twice to, now divorced wife, Diane Cilento (1962 – 1973) and Micheline Roquebrune, a painter (1975 till date).
He was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II in July 2000.
He attained his adult height of 6ft 2 inches tall (188cm) at age 18.
He started balding at age 21. This forced him to wear a toupee during each of the bond movies.
His first job was as a milkman. He then joined the Royal Navy but was later

Sean Connery

discharged from the navy on medical grounds because of Duodenal Ulcer, a condition that affected most of the males in previous generations of his family. Other jobs he equally did were: being a lorry driver, a lifeguard at Portobello swimming baths, a labourer, an artist model for the Edinburgh College of Art, a coffin polisher and even a baby sitter for journalist Peter Noble and his actress wife Mary which earned him 10 shillings a night.
In other to earn some extra money, Connery helped out in backstage at the King’s Theatre in 1951. He was handed a small part as one of the Seabees chorus boys.
He was attacked by a notorious Valdor gang, a very ruthless gang in the city in his time. He was followed by 6 of the gang members to a high balcony at Palais and ended up beating all of them single-handedly. He earned the reputation of “Hard Man” from the gang after the ordeal.
Connery was a keen footballer. He played for Bonnyrigg Rose and was offered a trial with East Fife. Funny enough, Connery would have played for Manchester United had he signed a £25 a week contract. Though tempted to accept the offer, he had to turn it down because he believed he would have probably have a short career. He was 23 years at the time and opted for acting instead.
His breakthrough finally came when he was given the role of James Bond. At first, he was reluctant to commit to a film series but realised that his career would benefit greatly if the film were to succeed.

Sean Connery's first James Bond movie - Dr No (1962)
Sean Connery became the first actor to portray as Ian Fleming’s James Bond (Eon productions) with his first movie “Dr No” in 1962, followed by From Russia with love (1964), Goldfinger (1964), Thunderball (1967), You only live twice (1967), Diamonds are forever (1971) and Never say again (1983). All 7 films were commercially successful.
Apart from the Bond series, he has acted in other celebrated movies like Marnie, The Hill, The man who would be king and in recent times The hunt for Red October, Indiana Jones and the last crusade, The Rock etc. He equally voiced the dragon in Dragonheart in 1996.

Sean Connery in Goldfinger (1964)
Connery was offered the role of Gandalf in The Lord of the Rings series but declined it due to not understanding what the script was about. If he had accepted, he would have earned up to $400 million for the trilogy.
He retired from acting career on June 8, 2006 but still does voice acting.
He, as James Bond, was selected as the 3rd greatest hero in cinema history by the American Institute under the 'Actor' category. He follows behind Indiana Jones (Harrison Ford as 2nd) and Atticus Finch (Gregory Peck as 1st). For villain category, it was Dr. Hannibal Lecter (Anthony Hopkins - 1st), Norman Bates (Anthony Hopkins - 2nd) and Darth Vader (David Prowse - voiced by James Earl Jones - as 3rd)

L-R: Jason Connery (Son) & Neil Connery (Brother)
His has only one offspring, Jason Connery, and a brother, Neil Connery.