Sean Connery rose from the slum of Edinburgh, Scotland, to become one of the biggest Hollywood icons of all time. He is best known for his turn as James Bond, but his library of films reads like the Criterion collection. Connery had the ability to elevate a film above a bad script or unsure director through charm and that indomitable voice.
He dominated the screen when he was on it.
“Bond, James Bond.” It’s one of the most memorable movie lines of all time. The American Film Institute ranks the “Dr. No” line as the 22nd greatest line in film history. But more than that, it introduced the world to an icon. It introduced James Bond, the swarthy, cocksure lothario but also Connery. A man who would come to define masculinity in a lot of ways during his prime.
Celebrities, athletes, fellow Bonds, and many many others have offered their sympathies and remembrances to Connery and his family.
But it wasn’t always a sure casting. Ian Fleming, the author of the James Bond novels, hated Connery’s casting. But that would come to change after a day on set.
