In pictures: Sir Sean Connery
- Published
Sir Sean Connery was the first actor to play the fictional secret agent on film, appearing with Ursula Andress in the first Bond film, Dr No, in 1962.
He was regarded by many as the greatest ever James Bond.
From Russia With Love came in 1963. Director Terence Young is seen here fine-tuning a love scene in a rehearsal between Connery and Italian actress Daniela Bianchi.
He starred in six official Bond films - or seven if you include 1983's Never Say Never Again, which wasn't produced by Eon. Honor Blackman was one of the Bond girls in 1964's Goldfinger.
He set the template for Bond as the suave, dashing hero who was surrounded by beautiful women - such as here in 1967's You Only Live Twice.
Before becoming Bond, he made his name as an actor in the 1950s and early 60s. His pre-007 roles included Count Vronsky in Anna Karenina on the BBC in 1961.
Beyond Bond, he continued to enjoy an action-packed career, and is seen here with Charlotte Rampling in the 1974 sci-fi film Zardoz.
He won an Oscar for best supporting actor for his role in The Untouchables in 1988.
His other film credits included The Name of the Rose, Indiana Jones, The Hunt for Red October, The Rock and The Avengers - in which he is pictured with Ralph Fiennes.
When he walked the red carpet at the Cannes Film Festival in 1999 with wife Micheline (left) and Catherine Zeta Jones to promote the film Entrapment, fans showed their love by bringing a banner reading: "Sean 007 the most talented."
Connery was the recipient of the American Film Institute's Life Achievement Award in 2006 - presented by his Indiana Jones co-star Harrison Ford.
The star was famously proud of his Scottish roots, and celebrated that with his 2008 book Being A Scot.
- Published31 October 2020
- Published31 October 2020
