Sean Connery [1930-2020]: Eternal James Bond [PHOTOS]

Sean connery

Share October 31, 2020 8:55 am Updated at 5:23 pm Share Sean Connery [1930-2020]: Eternal James Bond [PHOTOS] Pauline Froissart Agence France-Presse Stuart Graham Associated Press EDINBURGH – Scottish actor Sean Connery, first and “best” performer of Agent 007 in the James Bond film saga, has died at the age of 90, the BBC reported on Saturday, citing his family.

“Sir Sean” died in the night, in his sleep, surrounded by his family, in Nassau, Bahamas. He had “not been well for quite some time,” his son Jason Connery told the BBC.

The actor had a home in the Bahamas, where he shot one of the James Bond episodes, Operation Thunder , in 1965.

His funeral will be private, his family said, who are planning a memorial service “once the virus is over.”

Sean Connery has had a long career crowned with numerous awards including an Oscar, two Bafta and three Golden Globes.

“He defined an era and a style,” said Briton Daniel Craig, interpreter of the character invented by writer Ian Fleming, whose next installment, Dying Can Wait , is due out in April 2021, in a statement.

“Wherever he is I hope there is a golf club,” added the 52-year-old actor, in a nod to one of the Scot's passions.

According to relatives of Roger Moore, who had also slipped into the costume of the famous secret agent, “Roger has always maintained that Sean was the best James Bond of all time”, they wrote on the Twitter account of the actor who died in 2017.

How infinitely sad to hear the news Sir Sean Connery has passed away. He and Roger were friends for many decades and Roger always maintained Sean was the best ever James Bond. RIP

– Sir Roger Moore (Legacy) (@sirrogermoore) October 31, 2020

George Lazenby, who played 007 in In Her Majesty's Service , said for his part that his predecessor had “inspired” him but had also “captured an era, the sixties”.

Sean Connery during the filming of Never Say Never Again , in 1982 AFP Archives

Born in poverty

Sean Connery was born August 25, 1930 in poverty in the suburbs of Edinburgh in Scotland. He had left school early and enlisted in the Navy at 16.

Returned to civilian life after three years after an ulcer, he had done odd jobs: lifeguard, mason, truck driver but also charcoal deliverer, bodyguard and coffin polisher.

He had also embarked on bodybuilding, finishing third in the Mister Universe 1950 competition, before embracing an acting career.

Taking on the role of 007 for the first time in Dr No in 1962, this charismatic and seductive dark-haired man has played the secret agent six times (not counting the unofficial “Never Again”).

“He was and will always be remembered as the original James Bond whose indelible entry into film history began when he said those unforgettable words – 'My name is Bond … James Bond'”, he said. paid tribute to the producers of the saga Michael Wilson and Barbara Broccoli.

“He is undoubtedly largely responsible for the success of the film series,” they said in a statement.

Sean Connery won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor for his role in The Untouchables, in 1988. AP, Lennox McLendon

For the independence of Scotland

Sean Connery won an Oscar with The Untouchables (1987) and increasingly performed roles of spiritual father, in Highlander (1985), The Name of the Rose (1986) or Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989).

Although retired since 2003, he had remained immensely popular.

“I grew up idolizing #SeanConnery,” actor Hugh Jackman wrote on Twitter, calling him a “legend.”

I grew up idolizing #SeanConnery. A legend on screen, and off. Rest In Peace. pic.twitter.com/OU9QEy5fTB

– Hugh Jackman (@RealHughJackman) October 31, 2020

His fight for the independence of his native Scotland raised some eyebrows and would have delayed until July 2000 his ennoblement by Queen Elizabeth II.

In Scotland, tributes to the native child have multiplied, with ex-Scottish Prime Minister Alex Salmond calling him “the most brilliant Scottish in the world”.

“He was an international legend but first and foremost a patriotic and proud Scottish man,” the current head of the Scottish government, Nicola Sturgeon, said on Twitter.

In Edinburgh, student Hamish MacMillian remembers seeing it in Dr No : “I watched this with my dad when I was ten and I remember it. He was a very charming man, quite the typical British man. ”

For Mara Strange, also interviewed by AFP, the actor was an “icon”, a “model for the Scots”.

Sean Connery was married for the first time to an Australian actress, Diane Cilento, with whom he had a son, Jason, born in 1963. He had married in second marriage the French portrait painter Micheline Roquebrune in 1975.

For the former president of the Cannes Film Festival Gilles Jacob, “Sean Connery had all the British qualities: phlegm, humor, control, golf, understanding, plus, through his wife, all the French qualities: love art, wit, smirk, allure + an international presence. What an actor! What a beautiful life!” he exclaimed on Twitter.