Sir Thomas Sean Connery (born 25 August 1930) is a retired Scottish actor and producer, who has won an Academy Award, two BAFTA Awards, one being a BAFTA Academy Fellowship Award, and three Golden Globes, including the Cecil B. DeMille Award and a Henrietta Award. Connery was the first actor to portray the character James Bond in film, starring in seven Bond films (every film from Dr. No to You Only Live Twice, plus Diamonds Are Forever and Never Say Never Again), between 1962 and 1983.[1] In 1988, Connery won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role in The Untouchables. His films also include Marnie, The Name of the Rose, The Man Who Would Be King, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, The Hunt for Red October, Finding Forrester, Highlander, Murder on the Orient Express, Dragonheart, and The Rock. Connery has been polled in The Sunday Herald as "The Greatest Living Scot"[2] and in a EuroMillions survey as "Scotland's Greatest Living National Treasure".[3] He was voted by People magazine as both the “Sexiest Man Alive” in 1989 and the “Sexiest Man of the Century” in 1999.[4] Connery was knighted in the 2000 New Year Honours for services to film drama.[5] Retirement When Connery received the American Film Institute's Lifetime Achievement Award on 8 June 2006, he confirmed his retirement from acting. On 7 June 2007, he denied rumours that he would appear in the fourth Indiana Jones film, stating that "retirement is just too much damned fun".[70] Connery returned to voice acting, playing the title character in the animated short Sir Billi the Vet, and in 2005 he recorded voiceovers for a new video game version of his Bond film From Russia with Love.[71] In an interview on the game disc, Connery stated that he was very happy that the producers of the game (EA Games) had approached him to voice Bond and that he hoped to do another one in the near future. In 2010, he reprised his role in an expanded 80-minute version of Sir Billi, serving also as executive producer.[72] In 2010, a bronze bust sculpture of Connery was placed in Tallinn, the capital of Estonia.[73] Personal life Connery's former wife, Diane Cilento During the production of South Pacific in the mid-1950s, Connery dated a "dark-haired beauty with a ballerina's figure", Carol Sopel, but was warned off by her Jewish family.[74] He then dated Julie Hamilton, daughter of documentary filmmaker and feminist Jill Craigie. Given Connery's rugged appearance and rough charm, Hamilton initially thought he was an appalling person and was not attracted to him until she saw him in a kilt, declaring him to be the most beautiful thing she'd ever seen in her life.[75] He also shared a mutual attraction with jazz singer Maxine Daniels, whom he met at the Empire Theatre. He made a pass at her, but she informed him that she was already happily married with a baby daughter.[76] Connery was married to actress Diane Cilento from 1962 to 1973. Connery was knighted by Elizabeth II at an investiture ceremony at Holyrood Palace in Edinburgh on 5 July 2000.[84] He had been nominated for a knighthood in 1997 and 1998, but these nominations were reported to have been vetoed by Donald Dewar due to Connery's political views.[55][85] Sean Connery has a villa in Kranidi, Greece. His neighbour is Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands, with whom he shares a helicopter platform.[86] Michael Caine (who co-starred with Connery in The Man Who Would Be King in 1975) is among Connery's closest friends.[87] Connery is a keen supporter of Scottish Premiership football club Rangers F.C., having changed his allegiance from Celtic.[88] Political opinions Connery is a member of the Scottish National Party (SNP),[89][90] a centre-left political party campaigning for Scottish independence from the United Kingdom, and has supported the party financially[91] and through personal appearances. His funding of the SNP ceased in 2001, when the UK Parliament passed legislation that prohibited overseas funding of political activities in the UK.[91] Taxes controversy In response to accusations that he is a tax exile, Connery released documents in 2003 showing that he had paid £3.7 million in UK taxes between 1997/98 and 2002/03; critics pointed out that had he been continuously resident in the UK for tax purposes, his tax rate would have been far higher.[92][93] In the run-up to the 2014 Scottish independence referendum, Connery's brother Neil said that Connery would not come to Scotland to rally independence supporters since his tax exile status greatly limited the number of days he could spend in the country.[94] After Connery sold his Marbella villa in 1999, Spanish authorities launched an investigation into alleged tax evasion by him and his wife, alleging that the Spanish treasury had been defrauded of £5.5 million. Connery was subsequently cleared by the Spanish officials but his wife and 16 others were charged with attempting to defraud the Spanish treasury.[95][96]

• published: 02 Jul 2019
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