Remembering cinema’s most iconic Scottish gentleman
After rumors about his demise spread in some corners of the internet earlier this week, it has now been confirmed that Sir Sean Connery has died at the age of 90.
In honor of one of the most iconic actors to have ever graced the big screen, we list some facts about the late gentleman that most people probably never knew.
He was the first actor to have ever brought James Bond to life on the big screen. Ok, this is probably something many people know about Connery, but it’s still worth mentioning. The Scottish actor appeared in seven of Ian Flemming’s spy thrillers from 1962 to 1971, and then again in 1983.
One of his first major breaks in film was in a Disney movie. In 1959, Connery appeared in Darby O’Gill and the Little People, a story about an Irishman and his quest to beat leprechauns. Well, it was not exactly like the Disney movies of today, but it nevertheless was a Walt Disney Productions film.
The last time he played James Bond was for a video game. A little over 20 years after he last appeared in a James Bond film, Connery reprised his most iconic role for an Electronic Arts adaptation of From Russia with Love. The 2005 video game James Bond 007: From Russia with Love featured Connery’s voice recorded by Terry Manning from his home in the Bahamas.
He appeared in two Hitchcock films. It’s always amazing to realize how some of the best names in film have, in one way or another, worked together. In the case of Connery, he had a chance to be in two of the legendary English director, screenwriter, and producer Alfred Hitchcock’s films: Marnie in 1964 and The Hill in 1965.
He was offered two very iconic roles, both of which he turned down. If you are an actor of his caliber, for sure it’s easy to refuse certain roles. But Connery’s reasons for turning down the role of Gandalf in The Lord of the Rings series by Peter Jackson and the Architect in The Matrix seem simple enough. He supposedly refused the roles because he found it difficult to understand the script.
He only has one Oscar. Don’t get us wrong, Connery received a number of awards throughout his long acting career, including a number of BAFTAs and Golden Globes and even an MTV Movie Award for his role in The Rock (1996). But his only Oscar was, surprisingly, for Best Supporting Actor for the film The Untouchables (1987). It was also the only Best Supporting Award he ever received.
He has a bronze bust in Estonia. That’s very far from Scotland or his retirement home in the Bahamas, sure. But in 2010, a bust sculpture of Connery made in bronze was put up in the Estonian capital of Tallinn, outside the Tallinn Scottish Club.