A Moment of Silence, Please.... The Passing of a Movie Legend: Sir Sean Connery

Man, what else can 2020 throw at us? I've just barely gotten my mind back in order after the untimely death of Eddie Van Halen... then this morning, I learned the news that Sir Sean Connery has passed away. I kind of - almost - felt like I'd lost a family member. I mean, the first James Bond movies I ever saw starred Connery. I might have been in my tween years or thereabouts, and I think it was the American ABC TV network that often ran James Bond movies on Sunday nights. I caught more than a few that way in my younger days.

So Connery was the man. He was Bond. Even after seeing all the other Bond actors over the years, I still feel it all comes back to Sir Sean. Not just because he was the first, establishing the template against which the others would be compared. While each subsequent Bond actor brought something different to the role, I think Connery exemplified the classic Cold War spy in his tough yet charming way. Not the moody, realistic type of spy, like Richard Burton in The Spy Who Came in From the Cold. James Bond was escapist fare, sometimes veering into dark realism, but essentially a superhero type of character who endured a lot of battering at the hands of supervillains and came out the other end intact, ready to take on another death-defying mission.

Sean Connery was Bond in the films that kicked off the long-running adventure series, thereby becoming the man who first showed us the dangerous and often exotic life of a fictional cinematic spy. The gadgets, the snazzy cars, the beautiful women, vodka martinis, and a whole lotta busting bad guys' chops.

I've seen Connery in a bunch of non-Bond movies over the years and was always pleased with his performances on some level. He definitely had more talent than the 007 films required of him. Two pre-Bond movies I saw him  in were Darby O'Gill and the Little People, and The Frightened City. Sean had yet to hit his stride, so these didn't make much of an impression. He starred in Marnie, The Hill, The Man Who Would be King, and The Anderson Tapes during his run in the Bond flicks, all cool in their own ways. Post-Bond appearances brought a lot more to the table. Zardoz was a weird fantasy mess that left me cold, but his role in Robin and Marian was impeccable... a dramatic turn well worth watching. 

In the 80's, I enjoyed his starring gig in the sci-fi adventure Outland, plus his brief yet cool bit in Time Bandits. He was also in Highlander, The Name of the Rose, and won an Oscar for his work in The Untouchables. The Hunt for Red October and The Russia House brought Connery back into the world of spy thrillers; both were highly successful, extending the man's cred into yet another decade. Those are just the highlights of the many of his movies I've seen.

Connery's face is seen daily around my home. He's pictured in the Bond movie posters, framed Bond movie soundtrack records, and the movie stills on my walls. Look a little closer and you'll also see all the books and CDs and DVDs and more on my shelves. In fact, the only franchise I still like to collect from is that of Bond. I'll always have reminders of the great Scottish actor who was immortalized in the famous 007 role.

A long way from his humble beginnings, when as a teen he worked physical labour jobs to help support his family during WWII. After a stint in the British navy, Connery began lifting weights and placed third in the Mr. Universe contest. Not a bad way to work his way into acting and eventually the finely tailored shoes of MI6 operative James Bond.

Farewell, Sir Sean. You shall be missed.