Video: In memory of the great Sean Connery: How the actor was radically different from his famous movie hero James Bond
2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55
On August 25, the famous British actor, Oscar winner Sean Connery celebrated his 90th birthday. Today he is called not only one of the best actors of our time, but also one of the most outstanding actors of all time. There are more than 70 positions in his filmography. And although there were much stronger acting jobs among them, the most successful was the role of James Bond, in which Sean Connery appeared on screens in different parts of Bond for 20 years! Behind the scenes, he had a lot in common with Bond, but most importantly, they were complete opposites …
Sean Connery became the first actor to play James Bond, and, according to most viewers, the best of all. He appeared in this image in 7 Bond films. When the British magazine Radio Times recently conducted a poll on the best film incarnation of James Bond, in which 14,000 readers took part, Sean Connery received the majority of votes. The editor-in-chief of the magazine said in this regard: "". It seems, indeed, that whatever he touches turns to gold.
As a child, Thomas Sean Connery hardly had anything in common with his movie hero. He grew up in a family of a laborer and a cleaning lady, and his baby bed was replaced by a wardrobe drawer in his parents' bedroom. From the age of 8 he worked as a milkman - before the start of classes he delivered orders to apartments, and after school he worked part-time in a butcher's shop and sold newspapers. At the age of 13, he had to drop out of school because his father was seriously injured at work, and the boy took a full-time job.
The author of the James Bond series, Ian Fleming, served in British naval intelligence before becoming a writer, but Sean Connery could hardly have served anywhere, unlike his hero. At the age of 17, he became a sailor in the Royal Navy of Great Britain, but soon realized that, with his independent character, he was simply unable to carry out anyone's orders. A few months later, due to health problems, he was discharged without the right to be reinstated in military service. After that, he changed several professions - he was a street worker, and a road builder, and a lifeguard in the pool, and a sitter, and even a coffin polisher!
The actor also had such advantages that allowed him to get into this image with one hundred percent accuracy: from his youth he worked in the gym, was fond of bodybuilding, was athletic, and remained in very good physical shape until old age. Well, one cannot but say about its attractiveness: in 1953, he took part in the "Mister Universe" competition and took third place in it. After that, a theater producer drew attention to him and invited him to a casting in the corps de ballet.
The actor talked about this later, barely holding back his laughter: "". At the same time, Sean Connery decided to conquer the world of cinema, but his first auditions were a failure, and several directors turned him down.
For a long time, no one believed in his talent, and although he began acting in the second half of the 1950s, resounding success came to him only at the age of 32, when the actor first appeared on the screens in the image of James Bond in the film "Doctor No". I must say that of all the contenders for this role, Sean Connery was not even in the top ten. He seemed to the producers to be a commoner with no good manners, moreover, with a strong Scottish accent. But when a newspaper polled and posted photos of several candidates for the role of 007, readers voted for Sean Connery. At first, the writer Ian Fleming did not see his hero in the actor - Connery began to go bald at the age of 21, and Bond could not have a receding hairline. But when the actor was put on a wig, Fleming changed his anger to mercy. As a result, in all parts of the Bond film, Connery appeared in wigs.
Like his movie hero, the actor has always enjoyed great success with women and easily conquered even the most inaccessible beauties. He was credited with romances with singer Lana Wood, photojournalist Julie Hamilton, actresses Shelley Winters, Ursula Andress and Brigitte Bardot. He easily started romances and said goodbye to his chosen ones with the same ease - just like his James Bond. This continued until, at the age of 32, the actor decided to marry.
Australian actress Diane Cilento became the first wife of Sean Connery. The couple had a son, Jason, who also became an actor in the future. The couple lived together for about 10 years, and then their marriage broke up. In 1975 the actor married for the second time. His chosen one was the artist Micheline Roquebrune, a Frenchwoman of Moroccan descent. The second wife made him change dramatically and reconsider his views on life. From the moment of meeting with Micheline, other women for the former womanizer simply ceased to exist. For 45 years, he remains by her side, never tired of confessing his love to her.
Sean Connery differs from his character not only in enviable constancy in relationships, but also in his peacefulness. Over the years, James Bond began to annoy him in earnest. The actor admits: "".
The actor disliked his most famous movie hero also because he significantly limited the range of his creative possibilities. Sean Connery was identified with this image by both the audience and the directors, which deprived him of many interesting roles. He regretted being known around the world primarily as James Bond, although he won an Oscar and a Golden Globe in 1987 for The Untouchables in the Best Supporting Actor nomination, and the BAFTA "- for the film" The Name of the Rose "as the best actor. Due to health problems, Sean Connery has not acted in films for 17 years, but during this time his popularity has not diminished in the least. Even today he remains a standard for many - no longer as an agent 007, but as an actor of the highest class and a real gentleman.
A film epic dedicated to agent 007 almost broke the lives of several actresses: Happy and unhappy Bond girls.
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