James Bond actor Sean Connery dies at 90

Fountainbridge, Oct 31: James Bond actor Sean Connery has died at the age of 90. According to BBC, the actor passed away overnight in his sleep while in the Bahamas. He had been unwell for quite some time.

Connery was the first actor to portray James Bond in film, starring in seven Bond films (every film from Dr. No to You Only Live Twice, plus Diamonds Are Forever and Never Say Never Again), between 1962 and 1983.

Connery was born on August 25, 1930, to a Catholic factory worker and a Protestant domestic cleaner. He left school at the age 13 with no qualifications and delivered milk, polished coffins and laid bricks, before joining the Royal Navy. But he was invalided out of the service with stomach ulcers only three years later.

Connery was married to actor Diane Cilento from 1962-73. The couple divorced in 1973 and Cilento died in 2011. He is survived by his second wife, painter Micheline Roquebrune, whom he married in 1975 and his son Jason Connery.

He initially made a living by doing odd-jobs like driving trucks, working as a lifeguard and posing as a model at the Edinburgh College of Art. The actor spent his spare time bodybuilding. It was in 1956 that Connery landed his first acting job for BBC production of "Requiem for a Heavyweight".

In a career, spanning several decades, the British star featured in many critically-acclaimed and commercial blockbusters such as "The Hunt for Red October", "Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade", "Murder on the Orient Express" and "The Rock".

He first played the role of James Bond in 1962's "Dr No", which he followed up with "From Russia with Love" (1963), "Goldfinger" (1964), "Thunderball" (1965), "You Only Live Twice"(1967), "Diamonds Are Forever" (1971) and "Never Say Never Again"(1983).

Connery won an Oscar for supporting actor for his turn as a tough Irish cop in Brian De Palma's 1987 "The Untouchables".