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Sean Connery -

Thomas Sean Connery was born in the Fountainbridge area of Edinburgh, Scotland, on August 25, 1930.

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'No Road Back' (1957) - The first major film role for then-27-year-old Connery was in this British crime film, in which he played a petty criminal with a speech impediment.

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'Action of the Tiger' (1957) - A supporting role for Connery, but a fortuitous one. The film's director, Terence Young, would reunite with the young actor for a not-so-small film called 'Dr. No.'

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'Hell Drivers' (1957) - This gritty film noir featured several actors who went on to enjoy more glittering careers, among them Patrick McGoohan, David McCallum, Jill Ireland, and of course, Connery himself.

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'Another Time, Another Place' (1958) - Pictured with co-star Lana Turner during a break in the filming of 'Another Time, Another Place.' Apparently, Connery had a run-in off set with Turner's then-boyfriend, and was threatened with a gun. Connery grabbed the pistol and wrenched it out of his hand!

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'Darby O'Gill and the Little People' (1959) - A change of genre for Connery, the whimsical Disney tale surrounds a canny Irishman, and his battle of wits with a band of mischievous leprechauns.

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'The Frightened City' (1961) - By now, critics were sitting up and noticing the burgeoning actor. Connery's character in this film was described by Variety as "rugged" but charming, "with an eye for the ladies."

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On the way to stardom - By the beginning of the 1960s, the young actor was on the cusp of super stardom.

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Charitable causes - A British Film Institute handout of Sean Connery in a 1962 promotional film to aid fundraising for the Royal National Institute for the Blind.

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Connery at home - The actor's first film of 1962 was the Second World War epic 'The Longest Day.' After filming had wrapped, Connery returned to London to relax.

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Relaxing - A lover of golf since his late teens, here's Connery leaving his London pad to hit the fairways in the countryside.

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The beginning of Bond - Connery's success in clinching the role of Ian Fleming's secret agent owed much to Dana Broccoli, wife of legendary producer "Cubby" Broccoli, who persuaded her husband that the tall, dark, and dangerous Scotsman was the right man for the part.

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'Dr. No' (1962) -

The casino scene early on in the film, where Connery's 007 utters the famous line, "The name's Bond, James Bond," for the first time.

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'Dr. No' (1962) - Bond's first outing is also memorable for his beachfront meeting with Honey Rider (Ursula Andress)... and the famous bikini!

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'From Russia With Love' (1963) - Connery's second role as the tall, dark, and dangerous MI6 agent was an even bigger hit. This movie took more than US$78 million in worldwide box-office receipts. That's over US$650 million in today's figures, adjusted for inflation.

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'Marnie' (1964) - Many equate Connery's 1960's film career as being about Bond. That being said, he made several movies between his stints as 007. One of these was this psychological thriller directed by Alfred Hitchcock, and co-starring Tippi Hedren.

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Wheels of fortune - Enjoying some downtime between Bond.

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'Goldfinger' (1964) -

The majority of movie critics cite this third movie in the 007 series as the best of Connery's Bond interpretations, a claim no doubt reinforced by the celebrated gold body paint death scene.

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Meet and greet - Honor Blackman meets Connery and quickly gets on good terms with him during a press conference at Pinewood Studios to publicize 'Goldfinger.'

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'The Hill' (1965) - Directed by Sidney Lumet, this Second World War prison drama received a slew of BAFTA nominations and was screened at the Cannes Film Festival. It allowed Connery to expand his acting range far beyond Bond, and called for a change of pace the actor was yearning for.

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'Thunderball' (1965) -

Another major success at the box office, a fair bit of this fourth Bond outing takes place on or under the water. Pictured is a rare production still showing Connery and co-star Claudine Auger shooting the movie's end sequence in a water tank.

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'You Only Live Twice' (1967) - Connery continued to make other films between his commitment to 007, but audiences everywhere couldn't wait to see the fifth in the series. The set piece featuring the autogyro "Little Nelly" is especially memorable.

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'You Only Live Twice' (1967) -

During filming, it was announced that Connery would be quitting the role of 007. However, he would later change his mind.

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Working into the 1970s - He worked through 1968-1970 on various films, none of which caught the imagination of critics or the public alike, although 'Red Tent' (1969) was nominated for a Golden Globe.

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'The Anderson Tapes' (1971) - This intriguing crime thriller saw Connery play Duke Anderson, a thief who leads an audacious heist on an entire apartment block. The role placed a post-Bond Connery among some of America's top-ranked male movie stars...

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Bond is back! - ...Then Bond made a comeback! Connery returned to the screen as 007, lured by a huge fee.

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'Diamonds Are Forever' (1971) - Not Connery's best Bond, 'Diamonds Are Forever' garnered mixed reviews with many critics, noting the actor's lackluster performance. In fact, the most positive reaction was reserved for the Las Vegas car chase sequence.

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'The Offence' (1973) - Arguably Sean Connery's most underrated performance is in this unsettling drama, where he plays a police detective who kills a suspected child molester while in custody. It was a critical success but a commercial failure. However, the movie finally shook off Connery's cool, calculated, super sophisticated Bond persona.

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'Zardoz' (1974) - This sci-fi fantasy was unlike anything Connery had previously done, and left critics scratching their heads. It was best described as "wonderfully eccentric and visually exciting," by Channel 4. A commercial failure, it's since developed a cult following.

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'The Wind and the Lion' (1975) -

Connery was back on form with this historical adventure. Set in Morocco in the early 20th century, the film, directed by John Milius, was nominated for two Academy Awards.

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'The Man Who Would Be King' (1975) -

Starring opposite Michael Caine, Connery similarly excelled in this adventure film, directed by the highly regarded John Huston.

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'The Man Who Would Be King' (1975) - Set in late 19th-century British India, the film follows two ex-soldiers in search of adventure. Eventually, one is taken by locals for a god and made their king. The film was nominated for four Academy Awards.

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'Robin and Marian' (1976) -

The pairing of Connery with Audrey Hepburn as an older Robin Hood and Marian was inspirational and added new perspective to the well-worn legend. The film marked Hepburn's return to the screen after an eight-year absence.

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'A Bridge Too Far' (1977) -

Joining an ensemble A-list cast for this epic war film saw Connery play Major General Roy Urquhart in a true story about the 1944 Operation Market Garden debacle. Richard Attenborough directed.

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'The First Great Train Robbery' (1978) -

High production values, especially the attention paid to Victorian period detail, helped make this story about two gentlemen train robbers a runaway success. Donald Sutherland costarred.

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Caine, Connery, and Moore - Three of the UK's most respected actors—two of them ex-Bond's—share a joke at an Academy Award ceremony.

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'Outland' (1981) -

This dark, claustrophobic sci-fi thriller has been described as a space Western for its thematic resemblance to the 1952 film 'High Noon.' Connery is the lawman assigned to investigate sinister goings-on at a titanium ore mining outpost located on Jupiter's moon, Io. It's creepy stuff, for which Connery was nominated for a Saturn Award for Best Actor.

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Second marriage -

Connery was married to Moroccan-French painter Micheline Roquebrune from 1975 until his death in 2020. They are pictured together in 1983. His first wife was Diane Cilento.

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'Never Say Never Again' (1983) - Connery's final turn as 007, albeit unofficially, was a critical and commercial success. Effectively a remake of 'Thunderball,' the actor played an older Bond, with characteristic charm and charisma.

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'The Name of the Rose' (1986) -

Enjoying something of a 1980's renaissance, Connery won a BAFTA Award for Best Actor in this hugely appealing historical whodunnit, based on the novel by Umberto Eco.

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'The Untouchables' (1987) - Continuing his winning streak, Connery walked off with the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role as Jimmy Malone in this all-star, smash-hit gangster film.

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Oscar winner - Sean Connery holds up his Oscar after winning the Best Supporting Actor at the 60th Academy Awards in Los Angeles, California.

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'The Presidio' (1988) - Connery, booted and suited, looked the part in this crime drama, but the film received mixed reviews.

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'Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade' (1989) - The actor wrapped up the 1980s with another star turn, this time as the father of Harrison Ford's swashbuckling character. Connery received BAFTA and Golden Globe nominations for his efforts.

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'The Hunt for Red October' (1990) - Commencing the 1990s as he'd left the '80s, Connery was nominated as Best Actor by BAFTA for his commanding role as the rogue captain of a Soviet submarine.

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'The Russia House' (1990) - Partly filmed in the Soviet Union before its dissolution in 1991, 'The Russia House' is a realistic spy drama that was praised, among other reasons, for Connery's fine portrayal as a publisher caught in the middle of CIA shenanigans in Moscow.

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'Medicine Man' (1992) - Set in the Amazonian rainforest, Connery's role as pony-tailed researcher Robert Campbell attempting to find a cure for cancer was not enough to gain immunity from the critics. However, the film managed to recuperate its expenses.

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More honors - Connery shows off the Cecil B. DeMille Golden Globe award he won for lifetime achievement at the 53rd Annual Golden Globe Awards, in January 1996.

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'Entrapment' (1999) -

A box-office hit, this stylish caper was given the thumbs-up by most critics, with praise divided equally between Connery's sly crook, and Catherine Zeta-Jones's lithe investigator.

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Arise, Sir Sean Connery! - Connery was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II in the Picture Gallery of Holyrood Palace, Scotland, on July 5, 2000.

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Retirement from acting - The actor at 34th AFI Life Achievement Award Honoring Sir Sean Connery, held at the Kodak Theatre. During his acceptance speech, Connery announced his retirement from the profession.

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A true Scot -

Connery was a member of the Scottish National Party, which he supported and partly financed through personal appearances.

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Academic award - Sir Sean Connery collects an honorary doctorate at Edinburgh's Napier University, during a ceremony in June 2009.

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Life after retirement -

Connery at the 2015 US Open in New York.

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Out and about -

The late actor spotted out for a stroll with his wife, Micheline, in New York City, during a rare public appearance in May 2017. Sadly, just a few years later the world would lose Sean Connery on October 31, 2020.

See also: Then and now: How cinema's finest actors have aged

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