Sir Thomas Sean Connery (25 August 1930 – 31 October 2020) was a Scottish actor. Connery was the first actor to portray the fictional British secret agent James Bond in motion pictures, starring in seven Bond films between 1962 and 1983. He originated the role in Dr. No (1962) and continued starring as Bond in the Eon Productions films From Russia with Love (1963), Goldfinger (1964), Thunderball (1965), You Only Live Twice (1967) and Diamonds Are Forever (1971). His final appearance in the franchise was with Never Say Never Again (1983), a non-Eon-produced Bond film.
Connery is also known for his work with directors such as Alfred Hitchcock, Sidney Lumet and John Huston. Their films in which Connery appeared included Marnie (1964), The Hill (1965), The Offence (1973), Murder on the Orient Express (1974) and The Man Who Would Be King (1975). He also acted in Robin and Marian (1976), A Bridge Too Far (1977), Time Bandits (1981), Highlander, The Name of the Rose (both 1986), Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989), The Hunt for Red October (1990), Dragonheart, The Rock (both 1996) and Finding Forrester (2000). His final film roles were The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen (2003) and Sir Billi (2012).
Connery received numerous accolades. For his role in The Untouchables (1987), he received the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor (making him the first Scottish actor to win a major Oscar) and the Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor – Motion Picture. In the same year, Connery received the BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role for his role in The Name of the Rose. As producer of Art, he won the Tony Award for Best Play in 1998. Connery also received honorary awards such as the Cecil B. DeMille Award in 1987, the BAFTA Fellowship in 1998 and the Kennedy Center Honors in 1999. He was made a Commander of the Order of Arts and Letters in France and a knight by Queen Elizabeth II for his services to drama in the 2000 New Year Honours.
Early life and education
thumb|Sean Connery plaque near the site of his birth in [[Fountainbridge, Edinburgh]]
thumb|Connery's birth certificate
Thomas Sean Connery was born at the Royal Maternity Hospital in Edinburgh, Scotland, on 25 August 1930; he was named after his paternal grandfather. Connery was of half-Irish and half-Scottish descent. He was brought up at No. 176 Fountainbridge, a block which has since been demolished. His mother, Euphemia McBain "Effie" McLean, was a cleaning woman. The daughter of Neil McLean and Helen Forbes Ross, she was named after her father's mother, Euphemia McBain, wife of John McLean and daughter of William McBain from Ceres in Fife. Connery's father, Joseph Connery, was a factory worker and lorry driver.
Two of his paternal great-grandparents emigrated to Scotland from Wexford, Ireland, in the mid-19th century, with his great-grandfather James Connery being an Irish Traveller. His father was a Roman Catholic, and his mother was a Protestant. Connery had a younger brother Neil and was generally referred to in his youth as "Tommy". Although he was small in primary school, he grew rapidly around the age of 12, reaching his full adult height of at 18. Connery was known during his teen years as "Big Tam", and he said that he lost his virginity to an adult woman in an ATS uniform at the age of 14. He had an Irish childhood friend named Séamus;
Connery's first job was as a milkman in Edinburgh with St. Cuthbert's Co-operative Society. In 2009, Connery recalled a conversation in a taxi: