Sean Connery

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

At the age of nine, Connery supported his impoverished family with a milk run in his hometown of Edinburgh. On his round the Scottish youngster delivered to Fettes School, which according to Ian Fleming, was the same school, which James Bond attended following his expulsion from Eton.

Sean Connery joined the Merchant Navy at the age of 16 but stomach ulcers forced him to leave. He received a disability pension for a period after this.

Connery was once a coffin-polisher. He admitted to regulary bleaching mahogany coffins to make them look like oak.

He has two small tattoos on his right arm. One says "Scotland forever", the other "Mum and Dad." He got them when he enlisted in the Navy.

Sean Connolly entered the amateur Mr Universe competition in 1953 and was unplaced.

While acting in South Pacific in Edinburgh in the 1950s, Sean Connery was targeted by the Valdor gang, one of the most violent in the city. When six gang members followed him up to a 15-foot high balcony, he singlehandedly beat them up. Connery grabbed one by the throat and another by the biceps and cracked their heads together. After, they treated him with great respect.

A young Sean Connery, then a dashing Scottish actor and model, only narrowly missed out on becoming the co-host of Six-Five Special. This groundbreaking show, which  debuted on February 16, 1957 dared to fill the previously sacrosanct "toddler's truce" hour on Saturday evenings with rock and roll music, ultimately saw DJ Pete Murray take the helm.

Sean Connery made his Bond debut in 1962 in Dr No.

Bond author Ian Fleming was not impressed by Connery's casting, saying "I'm looking for Commander Bond, not an overgrown stuntman." 

Sean Connery wears a helmet while operating the jetpack in the film Thunderball because the stuntman refused to fly without one.

Sean Connery was once pulled over and fined by a British traffic officer for speeding. The officer’s name was Sergeant James Bond.

He wore a toupee in all the James Bond movies. Connery started losing his hair at the age of 21. Privately and in most other movies, he wears none.

Sean Connery at the 2008 Edinburgh International Film Festival

Connery turned down the Gandalf role in Lord of the Rings. He said: "I read the book. I read the script. I saw the movie. I still don't understand it." Connery had been offered was 15% of worldwide box office receipts to play Gandalf and the deal would have been worth about $400 million.

Sean Connery also turned down the role of Morpheus in The Matrix because he didn’t understand the script. Seeing his mistakes, he made League of Extraordinary Gentleman... despite not understanding the script.

Sean Connery was considered for the part of Hannibal Lecter in Silence of the Lambs before Anthony Hopkins. Connery turned it down because he thought the script was “disgusting”.

Sean Connery almost landed a role in Skyfall, but the casting crew eventually decided he could never return in a Bond movie as anyone but James Bond.

Sean Connery's death at age 90 was announced on October 31, 2020.  He'd passed away in his sleep that day at his home in the Lyford Cay community of Nassau in the Bahamas. Connery had been suffering from dementia in his final years.

Source IMDB