Suave Facts About Sean Connery, Hollywood Rogue

Sean Connery's Twisted Secrets
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Suave Facts About Sean Connery, Hollywood Rogue
May 20
PEOPLE
Scott Mazza
Connery, Sean Connery. Known for his paradoxical mixture of rough-and-tumble Scotsman combined with graceful self-possession, Connery was highly esteemed in the film world before his recent passing—but his life was not without a handful of scandals and adventures. Get ready to take these suave facts about Sean Connery shaken, not stirred.
1. He Was A Man Of Many Names
Long before he was James Bond , he was Thomas Sean Connery. At first, friends called him “Tommy,” but he eventually chose to go by his middle name, Sean. More remarkable was his other nickname, “Big Tam,” which friends gave to him because of his size. At 12, Connery was already towering over his peers. By the time he was 18, he had reached his full height—a sturdy 6’2” tall.
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2. He Started Young
Sean Connery was born to a working class family in Scotland—his father was a factory worker and truck driver and his mother was a cleaning woman. Young Sean also rolled up his sleeves and got to work and help the family. Before he was even 16 years old, he got his first job, as a milkman in his hometown of Edinburgh.
Connery never stopped working after that. However, it was a long and bumpy road before he found his calling…
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3. …In More Ways Than One
Connery was definitely a ladies’ man—and he got started very early. The actor revealed that he lost his virginity when he was 14 years old to an older woman who was working for the ATS (Auxiliary Territory Service), a woman’s branch of the British Army that operated during WWII. She might have had an influence on him in other ways, too…
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4. He Became A Sailor
Connery had been too young to enlist and serve his country during WWII, but that didn’t stop him from joining the Royal Navy the moment that he turned 16 years old. He jumped right into the culture, immediately getting two tattoos. One tattoo was a tribute to his family, while the other read “Scotland Forever". Most people have an awkward teenage phase, but Connery was already a 6’2” tall tattooed lothario at 16…life isn’t fair.
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5. It Was A Devastating Hardship
Connery threw himself into his new life as a Navy man, training at the gunnery school and working with an anti-aircraft crew. Three years in, and Connery was totally dedicated— until it was suddenly all ripped away from him.  He began suffering from a painful duodenal ulcer, and the Royal Navy discharged him as a result. Still just a teen, he kept searching for his place in the world.
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6. He Did A Bit Of Everything
After the Navy discharged him, Connery returned to Edinburgh, where he worked as a truck driver, lifeguard, coffin polisher, and as a model at the local art school. It made sense, as Connery spent most of his spare time working on his physique. He was a bodybuilder in those days, and even entered competitions. He never made it far, because one of his other passions got in the way…
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7. His Physicality Won Him A Lot Of Attention
Most of the American bodybuilders that Connery faced in competition refused to participate in any other physical activity that would affect their muscle mass. However, like many Scots his age, Connery couldn’t be torn away the football field. He played with a couple of teams, and he must have been good, because one day, a life-changing offer arrived at his feet.
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8. He Was Almost A Red Devil
When he was 23 years old, the manager of the Manchester United football team offered Sean Connery a spot on the legendary club—a dream come true for any young footballer in the UK. However, Connery’s elated reaction soon turned to doubt. It would be a lot of money for a poor kid from Edinburgh. However, Connery also knew that footballers tended to peak at 30.
He made the difficult decision to turn it down…but he did have a plan on the backburner.
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9. He Found Another Passion
While he was still part of bodybuilding competitions, a friend told Connery that a production of South Pacific  was holding open auditions nearby. He got a job as a chorus boy and as the production continued, he moved his way up through the ranks. Connery began to see it acting as a viable career, but his road to fame was not without its ups and downs.
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10. He Fell In Love
Connery’s time appearing in South Pacific  brought him some financial independence, access to other roles, and a slew of new friends…and it also brought him love. He began to date a beautiful dark-haired woman by the name of Carol Sopel—but their fairytale romance was doomed to a heartbreaking end. Sopel was Jewish, and her family didn’t approve of Connery.
They told him to stay away from her, and the relationship ended as quickly as it began—and his problems didn’t end there.
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11. He Was A Target
Growing up poor in Edinburgh, Connery had seen his fair share of trouble—but that all amounted to nothing compared to the one terrifying encounter that made him a local legend.  One night at a pool hall, some members of the infamous Valdor gang attempted to take his jacket. When he stopped them, their reaction was utterly chilling. Six of them followed Connery home in the dark—but they had no idea what they were in for.
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12. He Fought Back
Connery realized what was happening. He made the quick decision to take the group on, even though he was all by himself. He took each gang member down one by one until he was the last man standing. It was enough to earn him the respect of the notoriously violent gang he’d taken on, and he gained a reputation among locals as a “hard man".
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13. He Dedicated Himself To His Craft
When Connery wasn’t singlehandedly fighting off a gang of attackers, he was ardently studying the works of Shakespeare, Ibsen, Tolstoy, and Proust, all in hopes of becoming a serious actor. He also took elocution lessons to shake off the working-class brogue. Despite all his hard work, Connery still struggled.
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14. He Climbed The Ladder
In the 1950s, Sean Connery was hustling . He was appearing in stage plays, bit parts in movies, and small roles on TV, while also babysitting on the side to make ends meet. As time went on, filmmakers gave him larger roles that reflected his rough-and-tumble presence and working class background, playing truck drivers and boxers.
Finally, his big break came. Producers cast him opposite starlet Lana Turner in Another Time, Another Place —but behind the scenes, things weren’t always so smooth.
Another Time, Another Place (1958), Paramount Pictures
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15. She Got Him Into Trouble
While making the film in England, Connery took it upon himself to show Turner, an American, around London. Turner’s boyfriend, gangster Johnny Stompanato, began to suspect that the pair were having an affair, so he flew from Los Angeles to London to check in on them— and things quickly got out of hand.  An enraged Stompa…

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