Sean Connery

In November 1962, he secretly married Diane Cilento, a divorced Australian actress. They had a son, Jason Connery, also an actor. They divorced in 1973 and tabloid rumors suggested the reason was that he had abused her.

In 1975, he married Micheline Roquebrune, a French-Moroccan artist. The couple share a similar passion for golf.

He was born on August 25, 1930 in Fountainbridge, Edinburgh, Scotland to Joseph Connery, a truck driver and Euphemia McBain, a cleaning woman. He has a younger brother, Neil Connery.

His parents were poor and lived in a neighborhood filled with the smell of rubber mills and breweries. As an infant, he used to sleep in a bureau drawer because his parents could not afford a crib for him.

He grew up on the streets playing football with the neighborhood boys. In his early years, he was dubbed as the ‘Big Tam’ because of his muscular built and ability to pound his friends.

He received his early education from Tollcross Elementary School. He was good at mathematics and also had a keen interest in reading. He used to go for fishing with his brother and skipped school for amusing extracurricular activities.

At the age of 13, he quit school to earn money for his family and got a job as a milkman in Edinburgh. After three years, he joined the Royal Navy but was discharged after some time on medical grounds due to his stomach ulcers. Upon returning, he served as a truck driver, laborer, lifeguard and a coffin polisher to support his family.

He had a keen interest in bodybuilding. At the age of 23, he traveled to London and took part in Mr. Universe contest on persuasion of his gym friends. He was suggested by one of his competitors to audition for the stage production of ‘South Pacific’. He gave the audition and was selected for a role of one of the Seabees chorus boys in it.

During the production of ‘South Pacific’ at Opera House, Manchester he became friends with Robert Henderson, an American director and actor, who got him parts in Maida Vale Theatre in London.

He worked for TV series and movies alongside theatre to make both ends meet. In 1957, he did minor roles in some of the movies including ‘No Road Back’, ‘Action of the Tiger’ and ‘Time Lock’.

In 1958, he was offered a major role in ‘Another Time, Another Place’ opposite Lana Turner and later in Robert Stevenson's film ‘Darby O'Gill and the Little People’ in 1959. Both the films were quite successful.

In 1961, he was approached for the role of ‘James Bond’ in movies based on Ian Fleming’s best-selling novels, by producers Harry Saltzman and Albert ‘Cubby’ Broccoli. He was reluctant at first but agreed to play the character which eventually made him an icon.

He was regarded as the quintessential British secret agent for his portrayal of the fictional spy James Bond in movies. He was sleek, smooth and confident in his character and James Bond, as portrayed by Connery, was selected as the third-greatest hero in cinema history by the American Film Institute.

He was critically acclaimed for his performance in the 1986 movie ‘The Name of the Rose’ and 1987 film ‘The Untouchables’.