Sean Connery has died aged 90 - a good innings, so we shouldnt feel too sad. However, he means a lot to me, and I want to share some personal opinions and a few things that may not feature in the obituaries.
Sean Connery has a connection with Vietnam. When I visited the Furama Resort, a beach hotel in Danang, around 2005, there was a sign telling us that Sean Connery reckoned it to be the best hotel hed ever stayed in. I tried, today, to verify this on the internet but found nothing. However, I have a clear memory of Mr Connerys fulsome endorsement.
Sean Connery has a connection with me! On at least five occasions, a stranger has remarked on my facial resemblance to Sean Connery, which I have taken as a huge compliment.
I have a distant memory of sketch on TV, where a woman pronounces Connerys name as CANARY. A logical pronunciation, albeit hilariously wrong.
But it is, of course, as an actor that I remember him most. Was he a great actor? People make fun of him because of his indelible Scottish accent. Whatever role he played – James
Bond, King Arthur, Indiana Joness father, a Russian submarine captain - he sounded like Sean Connery from Scotland. In 1988 he won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor in ‘The Untouchables – for playing an who spoke with a Scottish accent! This earned him another award - first place in an Empire magazine poll for worst ever film accent.
However, between 1954 (‘Lilacs in the Spring) and 2003 (‘Alan Quatermain), Sean Connery was never out of work and became one the and most sought after actors in the movie world. Clearly, there was something special about him.
I once heard that a successful actor needs three things: an interesting voice, an interesting face and acting intelligence.
Well, Sean Connerys voice – although it never varied – was powerful, manly and distinctive. Born in Edinburgh, he did not have a typical Edinburgh accent. And the rather strange lisp that Connery is so famous for is peculiarly his own.
He had a most interesting face. The young Sean Connery (as in ‘Dr No) was ruggedly handsome, while the older Connery countenance (‘Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade) was weathered and creased yet still virile.
There is no doubt that Sean Connery was an actor of great intelligence. He played a huge number of widely differing roles, and I cannot remember him ever being less than very competent.
I would like to mention one other thing that made Sean Connery stand out: his presence. Some actors are able to dominate a movie through sheer force of personality, and Sean Connery was one of these. John Wayne was another one. Neither of these actors were adaptable - they always played themselves more or less – but they dominated the movies they were in because of the way they looked and moved and sounded. In ‘The Hunt for Red October, Sean Connery has very little to say or do, but his portrayal of the Russian Marko Ramius is unforgettably powerful.
I think ‘Goldfinger and ‘From Russia With Love are the two best Bond movies. When, in 1964, aged 12, I watched ‘Goldfinger at the Odeon cinema in my native Reading, I was thrilled to bits. James Bond was my hero, the sort of man I aspired to I doubt if Ive
ever enjoyed a movie more. There have been two other very good James Bonds – Daniel Craig and Pierce Brosnan – but, for me, Sean Connery is the definitive 007.
I love the scene in ‘From Russia with Love when Bond is reporting from Russia to his paymasters in London. M, Moneypenny and other officials are listening to Bonds taped interview with Tatiana Romanov, the Russian spy who has fallen for him. While giving important information, she asks Bond: ‘Will you make love to me all the time in England? Sean Connerys deadpan and dismissive reply - ‘Day and night - is brilliantly comic.
Connery utters numerous double entendres as James Bond, but the best occurs in ‘Goldfinger. Bond is canoodling in bed with Shirley Eaton when M telephones.
