Sean Connery

Sean Connery (1930–2020) was a Scottish actor whose performance as James Bond transformed both his own career and the global image of British screen masculinity. Although he had worked in theatre, television and film before 1962, Dr. No made him an international star, introducing the cinematic Bond as simultaneously polished and physical, socially mobile and faintly dangerous.

Connery played Bond across seven films, but his career extended far beyond the franchise through collaborations with directors including Alfred Hitchcock, Sidney Lumet, John Huston and Brian De Palma. Roles in films such as The Hill, The Man Who Would Be King, The Name of the Rose and The Untouchables demonstrated a range that resisted the Bond image even as it remained permanently attached to him; The Untouchables brought him the Academy Award for best supporting actor.