With the sad passing of screen legend Sean Connery at the age of 90, many will remember him as the first and defining portrayal of the suave secret agent James Bond. But the 007 films are a small part of his 50 plus year career which saw him playing a huge variety of roles across dozens of films.
Starting as a stage actor, he started out in small roles across both film and British TV productions before taking the lead in the first Bond film, Dr. No, and quickly becoming one of the biggest film stars of all time. But though Bond would define his career, in later years Connery had a renaissance starring in a string of critically acclaimed productions cementing his iconic status. Here are some of Connery’s best performances that aren’t James Bond.
This British-American war drama was an uncompromising look inside a British army glasshouse/military prison in the Libyan desert and the brutal punishments carried out on the prisoners. In a role far removed from the glamor of James Bond, Connery starred as Joe Roberts, a tank sergeant convicted of assaulting his commanding officer in defiance of sending his men on a suicide mission. Upon arrival, Roberts clashes with the sadistic Staff Sergeant Williams, played by Ian Hendry, whose ambition is only matched by his cruelty towards the prisoners. Though not an out and out success upon its release, it was well reviewed and won best screenplay at the 1965 Cannes Film Festival.
The classic fantasy adventure may have underperformed at the box office but has since become one of the most loved and enduring cult hits of all time with its tagline “There can be only one.” Connery played Don Juan Sánchez-Villalobos Ramírez, the flamboyant globetrotting mentor of Connor MacLeod. Best known for its flashy direction and incredible soundtrack by Queen, Highlander went on to spawn films, TV series and a video game. Connery returned to the role for the sequel Highlander II: The Quickening making it the only time apart from James Bond that he’s played a role more than once.
Considered one of the greatest movies of the decade, The Untouchables earned Connery his only Oscar win for best supporting actor. Based on the memoir of the same name, the renowned crime film starred Kevin Costner as Elliot Ness as he forms a new team to take on noted gangster Al Capone, played by fellow screen legend Robert De Niro, and his illegal liquor operation. Connery played Jimmy Malone, an Irish-American officer who teams up with Ness after becoming fed up with the rampant corruption in the police. The Untouchables was a huge success, earning over $100 million with Time magazine ranking it as one of the best films of 1987.
The third film in George Lucas and Steven Spielberg’s much loved Indiana Jones franchise saw Connery joining Harrison Ford as Henry Jones Sr, the father of the whip cracking archeologist. The Last Crusade saw Indy rescue his dad from the Nazis and they both search for the Holy Grail and would go on to take an astounding $474 million on its release. Reviews praised the chemistry between the two leads and would earn Connery several BAFTA and Golden Globe nominations. Which is surprising considering that initially Connery turned down the role due to being only 12 years older than Ford.
Based on the Tom Clancy novel, The Hunt for Red October was the first film appearance of Clancy’s leading man Jack Ryan. But it was Connery’s face all over the marketing in his role as Marko Ramius, commanding officer of the Soviet submarine Red October. Set against the tensions of the Cold war, Ramius goes rogue with a nuclear submarine and Jack Ryan must correctly guess his motivations to avert all out nuclear war. The adaptation directed by Die Hard’s John McTiernan earned over $200 million at the box office with renowned critic Roger Ebert calling it “a skillful, efficient film that involves us in the clever and deceptive game being played”.
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