Remembering Sean Connery, The First-Ever James Bond
An iconic figure of world cinemas has just passed: Scottish actor Sean Connery, the very first James Bond of the 007 Bond franchise, passed away in his sleep in Nassau, the Bahamas.
His death, at age 90, was confirmed over the weekend by his family. Connery had a long and fruitful career as a respected actor and star, with "Bond, James Bond" as his character's familiar self-introduction. And even with the parade of actors that soon played the role of Bond, no else had played the part as perfectly as Connery.
The actor was tall, dark and dashing, making for the perfect embodiment of novelist Ian Fleming's suave secret agent, where he was featured in the first five Bond films.
He was a top box-office star in both Britain and the United States in 1965, after his success in the films "From Russia With Love" (1963), "Goldfinger" (1964) and "Thunderball" (1965). However, he grew tired of the role in 1967, and was soon replaced by Australian actor and model George Lazenby in "On Her Majesty's Secret Service" (1969).
In addition to his accolades for outstanding performance as the charming secret agent, Connery was also honored for his acting as the incorruptible Malone in The Untouchables with an Oscar win for best supporting actor.
There are countless film productions in which the Scottish actor participated from the 60s to today, alongside well-known directors, actors and actresses. Connery did not want to be typecast as just the secret agent of his British majesty and worked alongside great directors such as Sidney Lumet in "Murder on the Orient Express" (2017) with the master of mystery, film auteur Alfred Hitchcock in" Marnie" (1964), while he also revealed his melancholy streak in "Robin and Marian"(1976), sharing the screen with the divine Audrey Hepburn.
We then arrive at Harrison Ford in "Indiana Jones at the Last Crusade" (1989). However, his proclivity for espionage remains and Connery still chose to play action movies with a high level of intrigue, as in "Hunt for Red October" (1990). His retirement took place in 2003 with "The Legend of Extraordinary Men" , followed by a refusal to step into the role of Gandalf in " The Lord of the Rings" series.
