"Scotland forever"

Hello everybody. In my previous posts I've written about emblems of Scottish culture such as the bagpipe or kilts and outlined how many impressive and beautiful castles can still be visited in the marvellous green Scottish lands. But Scotland is not only well known for its rich culture or beautiful landscapes..Scotland also owes its eminence to famous poeple that proudly represent their nation. Today I'd like to introduce you to one of these let's say “Scottish ambassadors”..some of you might also know him for this short number combination: 007. Indeed, we are talking about Sean Connery. I think most of us probably only know him from embodying this charming killer, called James Bond, he played from 1962-1983 (starring in seven Bond films). However, in this post I would like to take a closer look upon his life and his connection to Scotland, rather than concentrating exclusively on his (remarkable) film career and provide you with some interesting details about Sean Connery you might not yet have been aware of.

He was born in 1930 in Edinburgh. Even every famous person has to start out small, so you might be surprised to hear that Connery's first job was that of a milkman. Later he joined the Royal Navy, a time during which he got two tattoos both of which represent his two lifelong comittments: family and Scotland. The first one says “Mum and Dad” and the second one is as well self-explanatory as it reads: “Scotland forever”. So as you can already imagine, Sean Connery has always had a deep connection to his home country.

Connery began bodybuilding at the age of 18 and trained heavily during a certain period. On his official website it says that he was third in the 1950 Mr. Universe contest.

He slowly began his acting career at the age of twenty but it was of course the Bond series that made him a star. But what you may not have known: Connery didn't actually appreciate being associated with Bond constantly. He is supposed to have said: "I have always hated that damned James Bond. I'd like to kill him". It was clearly upsetting him that people only seemed to think of the Bond character when they saw him. But even after James Bond he was starring in many other successful productions such as “The Name of the Rose”, or when he played the father in one of the Indiana Jones films, “Hunt for Red October” and one of the more recent ones “The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen” (2003). Nowadays, Connery is retired from the film industry. Apparently his disillusionment with the "idiots now making films in Hollywood" was cited as a reason for his eventual decision to retire from film-making.

So I think basically everybody agrees upon the fact that Connery is an outstanding actor, but besides his acting skills he is also known to be passionate about his Scottish origin.

Throughout his whole life, Sir Sean Connery has been an ardent supporter of Scotland and has always been in favour of Scotland's independence. Connery is a member of the Scottish National Party (SNP), a centre-left political party campaigning for Scottish Independence, and has supported the party financially and through personal appearances.

One little known fact is that Sir Sean's (he was knighted in 2000) donated his entire salary (well over $1 million) from his Bond film Diamonds Are Forever to the Scottish International Educational Trust which he co-founded.

Today, Connery is living in the Bahamas and is said not to want to return to Scotland until it is an independent country. He believes firmly that the Scottish Parliament will grow in power and that Scotland will be independent within his lifetime.

In 2009 he realised his autobiography “Being a Scot”. And as you can see on the following pictures Connery is also a fervent advocate of Kilts.

I hope you enjoyed reading some hopefully new information about Sean Connery. One last interesting detail:

In 1989, at almost 60 years of age he was voted People Magazine's "Sexiest Man Alive." When advised of the award, Connery seemed to be unaffected as he replied, "Well there aren't many sexy dead men, are there."

alerei