Sean Connery Biography

Very few actors ever maintained the staying power of Sean Connery. His rugged, yet debonair, manner graced the screen for over 40 years. In fact, People Magazine named Sean "Sexiest Man Alive" in 1989 — not bad for a man then pushing 60!

A high-school dropout from Edinburgh, Scotland, Connery first worked as a milkman before his masculine good looks earned him a living as a model, chorus boy and Mr. Universe contestant — all the requisites he needed to get into the movies in 1955. He was a journeyman actor in British-made films until hired for the lead in a low-budget film based on Ian Fleming's James Bond. Connery's cool portrayal of the sexy superspy made him a superstar in the '60s. He made seven appearances as Bond, interspersing 007 work with roles in A Fine Madness and Alfred Hitchcock's Marnie.

Finally dropping out of the series in 1971 with Diamonds Are Forever, he needn't have worried about being typecast as Bond. He worked non-stop throughout the '70s, '80s and '90s in such blockbusters as The Man Who Would Be King, Time Bandits, Highlander, The Name of the Rose, and The Rock. And even though he once said , "I have always hated that damn James Bond. I'd like to kill him," Connery was convinced to come back and play 007 one more time in 1983's Never Say Never Again.

Connery approached middle-age with vigor, playing Harrison Ford's strongheaded Dad in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade and winning a Best Supporting Actor Oscar for The Untouchables.

He retired in 2003 after filming The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen. Although he was often approached to come out of retirement, he remained steadfast, only doing occasional voice work.

In 1999, he received a Knighthood from Queen Elizabeth. He has a son, actor Jason Connery from his first marriage, and married his second wife, Micheline, in 1975.

At age 90, Sean Connery died peacefully in his sleep on October 31, 2020 at his home in the Bahamas.