Meet Bond, James Bond...in his own words

A fictional London casino, Le Cercle. The men in tuxedos and beautiful woman in red. A game of Chemin-de-fer leads to a tense exchange.

And then the immortal line: “Bond, James Bond.”

From the moment he uttered those that iconic words with measured nonchalance in Dr No in 1962, many people have considered Sir Sean Connery to be the quintessential 007. However, the Scot, who was a modest theatre and TV actor at the time, was initially reluctant to commit to the film series.

What’s more, Bond creator Ian Fleming originally wanted David Niven to play the spy and had doubts over Connery’s casting. Thankfully, Connery eventually land the role, and the rest, as the Scottish actor would say, is ‘hish-tory.’

Sir Sean played the super spy in the first five Bond films: Dr No, From Russia with Love (1963), Goldfinger (1964), Thunderball (1965), and You Only Live Twice (1967) – then appeared again in Diamonds Are Forever (1971) and Never Say Never Again (1983).

But despite the global success of Bond both during and after his tenure, it is easy to overlook the rest of Connery’s prolific career. In 1988, he won a Best Supporting Actor Academy Award for for his role in The Untouchables, while his other notable films include Marnie (1964), The Hill (1965), Murder on the Orient Express (1974), The Man Who Would Be King (1975), Robin and Marian (1976), A Bridge Too Far (1977), Time Bandits (1981), The Name of the Rose (1986), Highlander (1986), The Presidio (1988), Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989), The Hunt for Red October (1990), First Knight (1995), Dragonheart (1996), The Rock (1996), The Avengers (1998), Finding Forrester (2000), and The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen (2003).

To celebrate his 90th birthday on Tuesday, the BBC is dedicating a few hours of tonight’s schedules to the much-loved actor. It begins with Sean Connery: In His Own Words (8pm), as friends and actors pay tribute to Connery in a programme first shown to mark his 85th birthday. John Sessions narrates, while Dougray Scott, Robert Carlyle, Pierce Brosnan, Terry Gilliam and George Lucas are some of the big names who discuss the iconic Bond movies.

Then, there’s a chance to see one of Connery’s underrated films – 1999’s Entrapment (9pm). Life could have been different for Connery had Cubby Broccoli’s wife Dana not talked her husband into handing the Scottish actor the role.

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