Yesterday, on Halloween, came the very sad news that Sean Connery passed away at the age of 90.
While Barry Nelson was the first actor play James Bond -as an American secret agent with Felix Leiter being a British secret agent!- in the TV series Climax’s 1954 adaptation of Casino Royale with Peter Lorre starring as villain Le Chiffre…
… the fact is that most people feel Sean Connery was the “first” -and to many the very best- James Bond. Mr. Connery would play James Bond in a total of seven films, Dr. No (1962), From Russia With Love (1963), Goldfinger (1964), Thunderball (1965), You Only Live Twice (1967), Diamonds are Forever (1971), and the “unofficial” (for a while anyway!) James Bond film Never Say Never Again (1983).
Of course, Mr. Connery’s career, though given a HUGE boost by the role of James Bond, was not limited to this character.
Early in his career and before James Bond he would appear in the delightful Walt Disney musical Darby O’Gill and the Little People (1959)…
…and go up against Tarzan as one of the villains in 1959’s Tarzan’s Greatest Adventure (the trailer pretty much gives away Connery’s fate!)…
In 1964 Mr. Connery would appear in an Alfred Hitchcock directed film, Marnie…
Sadly, in my humble opinion Marnie would mark the start of Alfred Hitchcock’s decline as a director after he reached a peak with both Psycho and The Birds, which came just before this film.
While the role of James Bond certainly propelled Sean Connery into the stratosphere of actors, by the time he embarked on You Only Live Twice, his fifth Bond film, the actor had grown very tired of the role and yearned to move on. He did just that, leaving the role afterwards but subsequently returning for one more film, Diamonds Are Forever -supposedly for quite a good sum of money, which he donated to charity- after the George Lazenby starring On Her Majesty’s Secret Service didn’t do as well as hoped and the producers lost their patience with Lazenby.
The 1970’s presented an interesting time for Mr. Connery, who would appear in an assortment of interesting and at times even odd films. None of which was odder than the John Boorman directed 1974 film Zardoz…
In 1975 Sean Connery, good friend Michael Caine, and Christopher Plummer would star in The Man Who Would Be King, a film that director John Huston had been trying for many years to make, originally with Clark Gable and Humphrey Bogart (!!!) in the titular roles…
That’s not to say all the films he made during this time were good. There were a few clunkers here and there, none more so than the 1979 late era disaster film Meteor…
The 1980’s proved good for Mr. Connery, who would again star in many interesting films. For me, one of his best acting showcases was in the 1981 science fiction film Outland. While I feel the film itself isn’t much more than a decent “B” film which took the “look” of Alien (one could even view Outland as an unofficial film set in the Alien universe before humanity ventured past the Solar System!) and the plot of High Noon, nonetheless Mr. Connery acted his (pardon my French) ass off in the film, giving his Marshall character incredible depth…
Settling into more “elderly” roles, In 1986 Mr. Connery would co-star with Christopher Lambert in the cult classic Highlander…
His role in 1987’s The Untouchables would earn Mr. Connery a well deserved Oscar…
Toward the tail end of the 1980’s Sean Connery would appear as Indiana Jones’ father Henry Jones in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade…
Another decade gone, Mr. Connery’s first film of the 1990’s was the terrific Hunt For Red October…
Mr. Connery would appear in several other films during that decade, some good and some not so good. Perhaps one of the more interesting roles he had during that decade was in 1996’s action/adventure film The Rock opposite Nicholas Cage…
Sean Connery’s character, John Patrick Mason, was in reality a thinly disguised James Bond!
Once the 1990’s were done and we entered the new century, Mr. Connery would appear in only a couple of more films, ending his starring role career with the 2003 film The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen…
Based on an Alan Moore (The Watchmen, From Hell, V for Vendetta) comic book series, The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen was not well received by either critics or audiences, though I felt it was a decent little adventure film that harkened back to the pulp era of action films.
Mr. Connery would lend his voice to a few other projects but he would not return to the screen.
Following his passing, his wife, Micheline Roquebrune, opened up about Mr. Connery’s final days. Sadly, it appears he was suffering from dementia…
Ms. Roquebrune, who is 91 years old, married Mr. Connery in 1975.
Though it is a sad thing to see someone whose work you admire so much pass away, it must be said Sean Connery had one hell of a run and he leaves behind many works that can still be enjoyed today.
Rest in Peace, Mr. Connery. The joy you’ve given me -and countless others!- over the years has been nothing short of wonderful.