Sir Sean Connery RIP

**kingandrew** · 31st October 20, 07:42 AM

I don't know if the Kilts in the Media section is the best place to post this, and the Mods are invited to move it to where they deem it best fits.

However, the sad news has just been reported that Sir Sean, the famous actor and Scottish patriot, breathed his last in the Bahamas on Saturday, after an extended illness. He was 90.

Here is the obit from the New York times: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/10/31/m...nery-dead.html

I'm sure the Rabble will have much to say to mark the passing of such a beloved figure. We will certainly all remember him.

Andrew

**n1kaw** · 31st October 20, 08:30 AM

Very sad day, indeed. While he was not, in person, "James Bond", he gave life and personality to the character and is the embodiment of the franchise IMHO. More importantly, he appears to have been, after a period of hubris and typical youthful foolishness, a genuinely decent human being. A friend of mine is a corporate pilot and frequently flew the Connery family between Florida and their Bahamas home. He said Sean was a deceptively warm and charming person, always aware of those around him. Many "stars" are jerks. He wasn't. We've lost an icon. I'm wearing my kilt today in his honor.

**Ivor** · 31st October 20, 11:48 AM

Farewell to a true believer in a Scottish nation. He will be missed.

**DyerStraits** · 31st October 20, 03:26 PM

My girlfriend gave me the sad news this morning. I put on my Lamont kilt and wore it with a black hose, black fur dress sporran and a black jumper. As I write this I am also reading various reports and tributes online as I have a generous dram of Single Malt.

I met Sir Sean when he was in Chicago doing "The Untouchables", for which he received an Academy Award. I was fresh out of college, working as a sales assistant in the golf department at a large sporting goods store that had given gift certificates to the film's cast and crew. It was a quiet weekday and I was chatting with a co-worker when we heard, or felt, a ripple of excitement in the next room, then we turned, and he was walking straight towards us--to buy golf equipment, of course, which I happily sold him. Unforgettable.

**OC Richard** · 31st October 20, 04:00 PM

A sad day indeed.

He was an icon. He launched the Bond franchise, though one of the people involved didn't want Connery, saying he was "too tall, too dark, and too Scottish".

He had that thing that the very best actors have- Jack Nicholson is another who comes to mind- that in any role he seeming to be merely playing himself while simultaneously perfectly becoming the character.

What's stunning to me is the list of roles he turned down, iconic roles like Dumbledore and Gandalf.

As an odd personal note his mother and my grandmother were both named Euphemia.

**DyerStraits** · 31st October 20, 05:17 PM

Originally Posted by OC Richard

A sad day indeed.

He was an icon. He launched the Bond franchise, though one of the people involved didn't want Connery, saying he was "too tall, too dark, and too Scottish".

He had that thing that the very best actors have- Jack Nicholson is another who comes to mind- that in any role he seeming to be merely playing himself while simultaneously perfectly becoming the character.

What's stunning to me is the list of roles he turned down, iconic roles like Dumbledore and Gandalf.

As an odd personal note his mother and my grandmother were both named Euphemia.

If I recall correctly, Roger Moore was actually the first choice for the Bond role, but he was already committed to doing "The Saint". I absolutely LOVE Sir Roger in "The Saint", but personally feel he was a bit too refined--in a blond, blue-eyed, manor-born sort of way--for the Bond role (the beauty of Daniel Craig's Bond, in my opinion, is that it effectively does combine the key qualities of Connery and Moore). With all of the Bond actors, it is essential to see their work in other films to fully appreciate their talent--perhaps none more so than Connery.

**Me cousin Jack** · 1st November 20, 06:24 AM

“Shaken, not stirred”

**DyerStraits** · 1st November 20, 09:01 AM

Originally Posted by Me cousin Jack

“Shaken, not stirred”

The friction caused by shaking a martini instead of stirring it "bruises" the ice and "heats" it ever so slightly, causing the ice to melt a bit, which waters the mixture down a bit, making it less potent. Bond orders his martinis this way because it helps him keep his "edge".

The irony of course is that Connery himself didn't like martinis, and was mostly a beer drinker--Scotch Ale, for example...

**Me cousin Jack** · 1st November 20, 05:09 PM

Originally Posted by DyerStraits

The friction caused by shaking a martini instead of stirring it "bruises" the ice and "heats" it ever so slightly, causing the ice to melt a bit, which waters the mixture down a bit, making it less potent. Bond orders his martinis this way because it helps him keep his "edge".

The irony of course is that Connery himself didn't like martinis, and was mostly a beer drinker--Scotch Ale, for example...

Interesting, thanks. I look forward to a Bond movie marathon.

**DyerStraits** · 1st November 20, 06:57 PM

Originally Posted by Me cousin Jack

Interesting, thanks. I look forward to a Bond movie marathon.

As do I! But even more so a comprehensive non-Bond marathon of Sir Sean's other fine efforts-I am especially fond of "Marnie", "The Untouchables" and "The Hunt For Red October", but am frankly ashamed of not yet having seen "The Offence", "The Name Of The Rose", "The Man Who Would Be King", "Finding Forester", et al., in their entirety. He was absolutely a consummate Actor's Actor, and left an arguably underappreciated body of high-craft work that proves it. Bring It On.