Sean Connery: Shaken, not stirred

Very rarely does an actor develop a character which is derived from a role he has played out in a film.

Not just James Bond, for which he created such a benchmark that every subsequent actor who played James Bond had the challenge of being compared to the performances by Sean Connery. And while there have been five major actors who played James Bond, Connery’s performances remained untouchable. He had set the gold standard. The only one who may have come close was Timothy Dalton but that is again a subjective view.

The problem perhaps that Connery created for himself is that by living out and playing James Bond, he was hardly accepted in any other role, though his performances in The Untouchables ( for which he won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor) , Hunt for the Red October, The name of the Rose and Indana Jones and the Last Crusade were outstanding performances and he won some award or the other for his roles in these films. And none for playing James Bond.

In fact it is said that he was so tired of playing Bond that his friends did not raise the issue of Bond in his presence. As a matter of fact, he had once remarked that he was fed up playing Bond and would be very upset when people turned to him and said “That’s James Bond” when he would walk down the street.

Despite his Bond image, he was not the first choice for playing Bond. And he was not very keen to play Bond either since he realised that if the first Bond film, Dr No was a success, he would have an image problem and get into other roles in future. Iam Fleming, the creator of James Bond, had rejected Sean Connery by saying that he was looking for a Commander Bond, and not an overgrown stuntman! Post his success in Dr No, the first James Bond film, Fleming had virtually created a Bond out of Sean Connery in his You Only Live Twice.

Connery owes his success as Bond to Terence Young, who actually took him under his wings and taught him to walk, talk and eat. Connery was a great hit since his first appearance as Bond in Dr No (1962), followed by From Russia With Love (1963), Goldfinger (1964) Thunderball (1965), You Only Live Twice (1967), followed by a short break in Diamonds Are Forever (1971) and finally in Never Say Never Again in 1983. In these twenty years, he has remained the biggest male sex symbol, had the most attractive female actors to pair with, from Ursula Andress in Dr No to Honor Blckman in Goldfinger, used the finest weapons, Beretta 418 and Walther PPK. Add to that the best of villains like Blofeld and Scaramanga.

As in his role as James Bond, Sir Connery was a man who lived by his own rules. He perhaps cared little for the world outside him, had strong political views and very loyal to his beliefs.

Such legends never die. They have No Time To Die!