Fleming reviled him, referring to Connery as “the working-class Scot” and telling producers: “I’m looking for Commander Bond, not an overgrown stunt-man”. He didn’t have the acting experience of Cary Grant or David Niven. At least a decade younger than most of the serious candidates, he was a rank outsider for the part. Sean Connery: an exponent of tailoring at its finest - and in its heyday, perhapsĪnd so along came Connery. Even Roger Moore, a future 007, was considered - although Broccoli considered him “too young, and perhaps a shade too pretty”. No, Terence Young, was pushing for Shakespearean actor Richard Johnson to take the role. Other names were kicked around - including Patrick McGoohan of The Prisoner fame and David Niven (who was also over 50-years-old at the time). No as the first film in a franchise - and were forced to drop their top choice for Bond. Saltzman and Broccoli, however, still envisioned Dr. Grant was already 58-years-old, and refused to commit to a series of pictures. The contract was written up, and all but signed, when the Hollywood leading man revealed he would only make one film. (Plans to use Thunderball as the first film fell through due to legal disputes.) The newly-minted Eon Productions began work in earnest, laying the foundations for a franchise and searching for that most important, most elusive piece of the puzzle their protagonist.Īfter due consideration, Cary Grant was chosen - and given the part. Saltzman and Broccoli, already seasoned producers, had won the rights to Ian Fleming’s popular 007 novels - and just received authorisation from United Artists to bring Dr. “Cubby” Broccoli were busy wrangling a man of their own. But, while the Scotsman was busy making a name for himself, producers Harry Saltzman and Albert R. Over the next decade, Connery picked up bit-parts in many diverse films - from thriller Time Lock and adventure epic Tarzans’s Greatest Adventure to 1961 comedy caper On the Fiddle. Connery went along, was initially placed in the chorus, and worked his way up to understudy of the lead. A fellow muscleman mentioned that the King’s Theatre was holding open auditions - for a production of Rodgers and Hammerstein’s South Pacific. In 1953, the young Scotsman found himself in London attending a bodybuilding competition. And it would be this brawny, powerful pastime that would introduce Connery to the acting profession. It was an interest he developed during his teenage years a hobby maintained during a stint in the Navy and a slew of subsequent, singular jobs including lifeguard, artist’s model and coffin polisher. Instead, it was the iron-pumping, muscle-sculpting art of bodybuilding.
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