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 Sean Connery (real name: Thomas Connery) was born in Fountainbridge (1930), a working class suburb of Edinburgh. At the age of seven he was
already earning money as a milk delivery boy, his daily round taking him past Fettes College which, by a strange coincidence, Ian Flemming chose to make
his fictional hero James Bond, in which role Connery was later to star. Leaving school at thirteen, Connery did various jobs to make ends meet
before joining the navy at seventeen. Discharged for health reasons he worked for the Edinburgh Evening News as a typesetter, was a lifeguard on a beach and toyed with
the idea of becoming a professional footballer. On holiday in London he joined a touring theatre company which, much to his amasement, engaged him for a musical.
Since then he has never left show business. He took lessons in acting and to begin with played only small parts. His first real break came with the television play "Requiem for a
Heavyweight". This brought further contracts in England and the USA, although the films themselves were for the most part mediocre. Stardome came in 1961 when he was cast in
the role of the indestructible James Bond. All the 007 films from "Dr No" to "Never say Never Again" were major box office hits. Connery has also starred in many other hits and
has been voted the sexiest man of the year in 1990. Now resident in Spain, Connery often spends time in Scotland here among other things he has founded the Scottish International
Education Trust dedicated to fostering new talent. In the year 2000 Sean became a Sir in the Queens honours list. He may be a Sir but to everyone he is just plain old Sean one of Scotlands best actors.
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