From humble beginnings as a school dropout, Sean Connery (born 1930) became a major movie star at the age of 32 when he was cast as the sophisticated secret agent James Bond. Connery went on to distinguish himself in a number of major motion pictures, including his Oscar-winning performance in The Untouchables.

An unlikely candidate to play Ian Fleming's snobbish 007, Connery became so well known as this character that he nearly didn't break out of the mold. Despite his many years of work on the stage and screen, Connery was still being thought of as "the guy who played James Bond" into the early 1980s. But throughout his career, the stubborn Scot has taken on movie roles that interested him, regardless of how they fit his image. As a result of this shrewd thinking, he now has quite an impressive list of roles in his repertoire and critics talk more...