The man behind the grimace
007 and so much more as Connery helped launch James Bond
from a high-society thrilling Londoner character in a novel
to a tough global sensation.
1. From rag to riches.
Son of a lorry driver and a charlady, Thomas S. Connery was born at Fountainbridge, Edinburgh, on August 25, 1930, and left Darroch school at 13.
At 14 he helped the family with his hard-earned salary full-time as he became a milkman, making deliveries by means of a horse and cart. He got a chance to get another shift as a newspaper delivery boy (over 3h a day!)
he joined the Navy before he turned 17 where he trained to become an anti-aircraft gunner. After two years, he was invalided out with an ulcer. He took any sort of odd jobs to make ends meet such as :
- a bouncer (= as the current Pope), lifeguard, lorry driver, and .... coffin polisher.
- a laborer including digging ditches, shoveling coal, laying bricks, you name it!
- an artist's model for the Edinburgh College of Art, and ... bodybuilder.
- Connery earned extra money during his early acting days by babysitting for journalist Peter Noble
His biographer, John Parker, traces the rise to stardom of the tough Edinburgh street kid, who left school at the age of 13. Arriving in London with gold teeth and tattoos to seek his fortune, Connery fought against snobbery to become a self-taught Shakespearean actor.
- An avid athlete and body-builder, Connery chose to go into acting rather than professional football (with Manchester United!). It was a wise decision in the long run, as Connery would go on to work steadily in theatre and television.
- Then came the big break, while Connery had to come to terms with his troubling newfound fame.
- Many are surprised to learn that Sean Connery was once in a Disney musical, much less that it was his first big role. Not for a small feat, Connery persisted in his dancing lessons for 11 years under the tutelage of a Swedish dance tutor!
2. BOX office 007 franchise .... and pecunious matters - link
- For Dr No (1962 - First film in the 23-run saga) Connery was paid just £15,000 from a $1M budget (net profit x59)
And for 5 times in a row. "Enough" Connery said.
- And the rest is a global brand and a round character: Connery itself.
- for old times’ sake (and an unprecedented fee of $1.25 million plus 10 per cent of the gross receipts), he allowed himself a final fling in Diamonds Are Forever (1971).
- Inflationary times.....
- The boss was able to convince Connery, now 52, to reprise the role one last time, being offered $5 million plus five percent of the U.S. box office. In a wink to Connery's decision to return, the Thunderball remake was called Never Say Never Again, a suggestion made by Connery's wife
Read More: Moore vs. Connery: Why Two James Bond Movies Came Out in 1983 |
- Connery had launched a lawsuit against the producer Cubby Broccoli and United Artists for the then record sum of $225 million. But both sides claimed victory.
PS: He caused an uproar in a December 1987 interview with Barbara Walters in which he said it was OK to hit a woman if she deserved it or needed it to keep her in line.
- He had said similar things in a November 1965 interview with Playboy magazine. here
- His ex-wife's (Diane Cilento) allegations in her 2006 autobiography My Nine Lives, have left an indelible stain on the reputation of Connery
- Arise Sir Sean Connery: The Biography of Britain's Greatest Living Actor by John Parker denies it. (page 135)
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