Forever 007.
On October 31, local time, the first "007" actor, British actor Sean Connery, died at the age of 90. His son, Jason, said his father died peacefully in his sleep in the Bahamas, having been unwell for some time.
A photograph of Connery's home in the Bahamas during his lifetime.
007 producers Michael G. Wilson and Barbara Brocoli posted in mourning: "We are very shocked by the news of sir Sean Connery's death. As the first generation of James Bond, he was and will always be remembered. He entered the history of cinema when he uttered that memorable sentence, which was unforgettable, 'I am Bond, James Bond'... He portrayed the sexy and charismatic agent with a gritty, witty and witty image that completely changed the world. There is no doubt that a large part of the success of this series of films is due to him, and we will be forever grateful to him. ”
Connery's early life was a miserable career, including milkman and mannequin, and his screen career began in the late 1950s, but it was not until he first played 007 in the 1962 film "Dr. 007" that he began to gain a foothold in Hollywood. He has appeared in 007 films 6 times, and also starred in the 007 sequel 007 "007 Gaiden Cruise Missile" (1983), and the role of 007 is still one of the most popular movie hero avatars. In August, the BBC Times conducted a poll that targeted the vote for the best 007 actor, and in more than 14,000 votes, Connery topped the list with 56% of the vote.
Connery on the 007 set.
In addition, Connery also won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor in 1988 for veteran detective Malone in "The Iron Mask", and still starred in action movies after the age of 70. In the early 1990s, he received radiation therapy for a throat polyp, when news of his death was widely exaggerated. To refute these rumors, Connery flew to David Letterman's late-night show in 1993 to prove he was energetic and healthy. In 2000, he was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II. In 2005, he announced his retirement. His last film role was voiced in the 2012 animated film Sir Billi.
【Junior】
I've been a mannequin and I've polished a coffin
Sean Connery was born on 25 August 1930 to a poor family in the Fountain Bridge district of Edinburgh, Scotland. His father worked in a rubber factory as a truck driver and his mother was a maid. There are only two rooms in the home, there is no bathroom, and the bath must go to the public bathhouse.
On the eve of his 14th birthday, Connery dropped out of school and worked a variety of odd jobs, including a milkman, mason and lifeguard. At the age of 16, he was drafted into the Royal Navy and assigned to an anti-aircraft squadron. But due to a severe stomach ulcer, he retired from the army after three years, accepted government subsidies, and became a coffin polisher.
A nude portrait of Sean Connery before he became famous.
At the time, young Connery developed a keen interest in fitness. In 1950, he participated in the "Mr. Universe" audition in London and won the third place. To support his family, in 1952 he also worked as a mannequin for a gallery in Edinburgh. In 2007, a nude portrait of Sean Connery before he became famous was presented at an art exhibition in Edinburgh, showing Connery in a standing position, his hands crossed with ten fingers clasped in front of his abdomen, and his body lines stiff. The painting has been in the collection of the Edinburgh School of Art for more than 50 years and has rarely been publicly unveiled.
Connery developed a relationship with acting, also in 1952. He was working as a printer at a newspaper in Edinburgh, and a friend told him that a touring company called the South Pacific Cabaret was hiring and that there was a vacancy for a choir. Connery, who was burly and 1.88 meters tall, had no stage experience, but spent two days in acting and singing classes, learned a few tunes, and finally got the job, performing in musicals for 18 months for $35 a week.
Connery's generous pay now gives Connery a taste of sweetness compared to his previous meager income, and most importantly, he has become obsessed with acting and treated it as a permanent job. To make up for his lack of academic education and professional training, Connery read voraciously and worked for several years in various small theater troupes to sharpen his acting skills.
【Fame】
Strong leopard-like self-confidence helped him become 007
In 1961, United American Pictures intended to bring writer Ian Fleming's 007 series of novels to the screen. The casting of "007" is the most headache for the producer.
At that time, the 007 series of novels had not yet spread to the United States, and the producers needed to find an influential actor to play 007. Initially, producer Albert M. R. Brockley and Harry Salzman took Hitchcock's 1959 North by Northwest to benchmark the first 007 film, and Gary Grant, the star of North by Northwest, naturally became the first choice for 007. But Gary Grant was 57 years old at the time and couldn't agree to a contract for multiple films at once, so he declined the invitation.
Later, Steve Reeves, David Nevin, Richard Johnson, Patrick McGall, Trevor Howard, William Franklin, James Mason and other Red Stars of the time were all within the producer's consideration, but they all failed to do so.
At that time, Connery was still a newcomer to the film, and he was even more unknown in Hollywood. In 1957, he replaced Jack Parrance, a boxer by training, and began to emerge in a major role in the BBC drama "King of Fighters". In the same year, he starred in his first film work, playing a gangster with a language barrier in "Diamond Blood". The 1959 film Sleepwalker and the 1961 BBC's Anna Karenina made him gain a lot of popularity and attention, and he became the ideal James Bond in the reader survey of the British Daily Express.
In interviews with producers Brockley and Salzman, he got the role without an audition. During the conversation, they were impressed by Connery's powerful confidence aura, "he strode through their office windows like a leopard".
Connery's outstanding performance conquered the "father of 007" Ian Fleming (pictured right).
Starring Sean Connery as 007, it was a controversial choice at the time, and "Father of 007" Ian Fleming was the first not to agree. Because his 007 is born into high society, well-educated, and comes from a working class background, Connery, who dropped out of school very early, may be rude. In 1963, after the second 007 "Love from Russia" continued to sell well and highly acclaimed double insurance, the audience was extremely recognized by Connery from Scotland, mature and competent, personable, elegant and decisive and full of vitality. Fleming began to change his original intentions, accepting Connery from the bottom of his heart, so he changed 007 to Scottish descent and began to give 007 a symbolic taste package with the film production team.
【Voice】
"Fed up with everything about 007"
Sean Connery signed a contract with United American Pictures for five 007 films in one go. Connery was less than 32 years old when he starred in Dr. 007 in 1962, the youngest of all Bond careers. The film was a huge success after its release, and It is said that Connery receives thousands of letters from fans every week.
Around the same time, the Hong Kong martial arts novelist Gu Long saw connery's "007", and the elegant violence of 007 inspired him to create , and in 1967 published "The Legend of Chu Liuxiang", the first-class thief and the mercurial Chu Liuxiang is the Chinese version of "007".
The success of the 007 series of films spawned a number of copycat spy films full of international storylines, such as The Ipcres Archives (1965), as well as various secret agent-themed series such as "Uncle Bureau Agent" (1964) and "Confused Detective" (1965).
At one point, Connery decided to say goodbye to the role of 007.
In an interview in November 1965, when asked why the 007 film was such a huge success, Connery said: "Timing matters. Bond was a character who emerged after World War II, when people were fed up with rations and monotonous life, "a character who cuts everything apart with his clothes, his car, his wine and his woman". Bond is like a survival tool today. Men want to imitate him while women get excited about him.
Connery's popularity also rose over the next few years with the release of the 007 sequel, along with the film's salary. Connery was paid a pitiful $30,000 for "Dr. No. 007," and rose to $400,000 in 1964 for Hitchcock's "The Thief," after which he received $750,000 per film.
However, Connery did not want to trap his performance in the single image of "007" and tried different types of works such as Fat Powder King Kong (1966), Shakla (1968) and Molly Maguels (1970), but his efforts proved futile and did not shake his place in the public consciousness as a Bond image.
Stills from Connery's comedy film FatPopon.
In 1967, Connery completed "007 Thunder Valley" and completed a five-part contract with United American Pictures. In 1969, the producers threw an olive branch and invited Connery to play "The Queen's Secret Envoy of 007" for $1 million, which was rejected and eventually starred by Australian actor George Lazabe. However, in 1971, under constant lobbying from the producers, Connery starred in "Diamond of 007" for $1.25 million. In 1973, he gave up $5 million to reject "007's Life and Death", passing the baton to the British Roger Moore, saying that he was "fed up with everything about 007," but at the age of 53, he played 007 for the last time in Warner Bros. 's 007".
In fact, Connery was already a little tired of this series. Perhaps from a poor family, Connery prefers the role of a small person at the bottom, is very uncomfortable with 007's high-society identity, and feels that he is always playing a person with a stiff facial expression and a pretentious posture, "If you remove the bells and whistles, he is just a mediocre British policeman." ”
In addition, he had a very unpleasant relationship with two producers, Brockley and Salzman, and experienced a protracted contract and compensation dispute, which he described as "more torturous than a terrible marriage" that most of his later films hired his own accounting team to carefully review the film contract.
【Later years】
Age for him, just added to the charm
In addition to Bond, Connery also starred in many classics. In 1974, he starred as Colonel Abersno in Sidney Lumet's film adaptation Murder on the Orient Express; in Raiders of the Lost Ark 3, it was a creative move to play father and son with Harrison Ford; and at the age of 66, he starred in the action movie "Brave to Die Island"...
Connery starred in stills from the films Raiders of the Lost Ark 3, The Hunt for Red October, and The Name of the Rose.
1988's "The Iron Mask" was a highlight of Connery's performance, playing the veteran cop Malone who was initially reluctant to help Agent Nys, played by Kevin Costner, because it would endanger his own life, saying: "The most important thing for me is to stay alive." In fact, Malone is afraid of his subconscious desire to rebel against the rules. But then he went to Nies and took him to church with him, and he asked Nese, "You said you wanted to know how to bring down Capone." What are you going to do? If you fail, what are you going to do? If you're going to go to war with them, you're going to keep fighting because they're going to fight you to the death. If you want to catch Capone, you have to be stronger than him, he draws the knife, you draw the gun, he hurts your men, you have to slaughter his minions. That's the rule of Chicago, that's how to catch Capone. It is said that the dramatic lines and even the shots were designed by Sean Connery, and it was at his strong recommendation that director Brian de Palma filmed the "propaganda" scene in the church. Connery also won the 60th Academy Awards for Best Supporting Actor for his role as an upright veteran police officer, which was the only Oscar in his acting career. At the award ceremony, he delivered an acceptance speech: "When I competed for this award, I had already decided that if I had enough luck to win this award, I would give it to my wife, who deserved this award. But, tonight, I found out backstage that it's worth $15,000 — and now I'm not quite sure," he joked. "Michelin, I'm just kidding. It's yours. ”
Connery won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role as veteran cop Malone in the film Iron Mask.
Micheline was Connery's second wife, a French female painter. They met during a round of golf. Interestingly, At the time, Michelin didn't know Sean Connery at all because she didn't watch movies. The two bid farewell to their original marriages and married in 1975. However, after the marriage, Michelin found that their decades-long marriage was full of dangers, and she could not let down her vigilance against Connery for a moment, "Other wives can probably be completely at ease after their husbands are 60 years old, but I can't do it, who told me to marry a '007'"
Even after the age of 60, Connery's charm is still unstoppable. In 1999, he was selected by People magazine as the sexiest man of the century. In the 1999 film The Trap, Connorley, 69, is paired with 30-year-old Catherine Zeta Jones, but there is little sense of discord, and age seems to only increase his sensuality and masculinity.
Connery in traditional Scottish dress.
In a career spanning more than 60 years, Sean Connery exudes intoxicating wisdom and courage, even through the wrinkles and thick eyebrows that can vividly interpret elegance and majesty, he is like a bottle of whisky from his native Scottish Highlands, the charm of which grows more mellow over time.
Nicolas Cage, who worked with Connery in Brave Island, posted in memory of Connery, "I admire Sean so much. The happy time I had working with him was very rewarding. His wisdom, humility and regard honesty as supreme have guided me. He was my friend and the greatest teacher in film. He was the first movie star to combine drama, action-adventure and comedy. He did it effortlessly and with dignity. Master, we will miss you. ”
Beijing News reporter Teng Chao
Edited by Huang Jialing Proofreader Wu Xingfa
Source: Beijing News