RIP Sean Connery: Great James Bond Star and Stylish Icon

By Jill Brooke

RIP Sean Connery, one of the best James Bond actors ever, who died at the age of 90.

For Style Saturday, let’s look at how great he looked in a tuxedo with this red carnation boutonnière from the 1971 film “Diamonds are Forever.”

Light red carnations represent admiration, while dark red denote deep love and affection which is our sentiment for this Oscar-winning actor.

Connery was Bond in the first five film adaptations of author Ian Fleming’s (1908 – 1964) enduring character that he wrote in 1952 – with the film  “Dr. No” premiering in 1962.

Connery’s selection for the role of James Bond owed a lot to Dana Broccoli, wife of producer Albert “Cubby” Broccoli, who is reputed to have been instrumental in persuading her husband that Connery was the right man.

James Bond’s creator, Ian Fleming, originally doubted Connery’s casting, saying, “He’s not what I envisioned of James Bond looks,” and “I’m looking for Commander Bond and not an overgrown stunt-man,”  adding that Connery – who was muscular, 6′ 2″, and a Scot- was unrefined.

But Connery’s sex appeal won over Fleming’s girlfriend Blanche Blackwell who told the writer  that Connery had the requisite sexual charisma, and Fleming changed his mind after the successful movie première. He was so impressed, he wrote Connery’s heritage into the character. In his 1964 novel “You Only Live Twice,”  Fleming wrote that Bond’s father was Scottish and from Glencoe in the Scottish Highlands.

Other films Bond films Connery was in were “From Russia With Love” (1963) – the actor’s personal favorite –  “Goldfinger” (1964), “Thunderball” (1965) and “Never Say Never Again” (1983).

He also starred in “The Untouchables,” where he won an Oscar for best-supporting actor and was Harrison Ford’s erudite dad in “Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade.”  I also so appreciated his work in “The Hunt for Red October.”

His son Stephane lived in my neighborhood and Sean and his wife Micheline would love watching their three granddaughters play sports. He was both a gracious and loving family man. Sean Connery also had another son named Jason.

Connery and his wife  Micheline Roquebrune were married since 1975 and he called her “the love of my life.” They also were passionate art collectors.

He died surrounded by his family at his home in the Bahamas where tropical flowers perfumed the residence. A memorial will be held later in honor of the great actor who was also once named “The Sexiest Man Alive” by People Magazine.

“The wit and charm he portrayed on screen could be measured in megawatts,” Daniel Craig, the current James Bond said of his predecessor.

What style he brought to all he did. What is your favorite Bond film? Perhaps have a James Bond dinner with martinis shaken but not stirred in tribute to this great actor and the fun of 007 movies.

Jill Brooke is a former CNN correspondent, Post columnist and editor-in-chief of Avenue and Travel Savvy magazine. She is an author and the editorial director of FPD.