No Time to Die: James Bond Actor Sean Connery’s Curious Death as 25th Movie Edition Knocks …Sad Season Sweeps Away Related Actors

Dipo Kehinde/

Actors don’t die, as the saying goes.

But lovers of the British movie hero, James Bond, may find something hard to comprehend today following the announcement of the death of Sir Thomas Sean Connery who first acted the suave and debonair spy character.

The Scottish actor and producer, simply called Sean Connery, died days before the November launch of ‘No Time to Die’, which is the 25th in the James Bond series produced by EON Productions for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. 

Sean Connery, who starred in seven Bond films between 1962 and 1983, was the second James Bond character to die. The first was Roger Moore who started playing the role after Connery. He died at 89 on May 23, 2017.

A total of six actors had played James Bond on screen. They are: Sean Connery, George Lazenby, Roger Moore, Timothy Dalton, Pierce Brosnan and Daniel Craig.

Connery, whose decades-long career was celebrated by awards and knighthood, died at age 90. He played the iconic role of James Bond from the first Bond film in 1962 to his last appearance in the role in 1983’s Never Say Never Again. He won an Oscar in 1988 for his role in The Untouchables, and was knighted in 2000.

NewsmakersNG learnt that Connery died peacefully in his sleep while in the Bahamas. A statement from his son, Jason Connery, says his father had been “unwell for some time”.

The news was announced on the official James Bond Twitter account today.

“We are devastated by the news of the passing of Sir Sean Connery. He was and shall always be remembered as the original James Bond whose indelible entrance into cinema history began when he announced those unforgettable words, ‘The name’s Bond… James Bond,'” Bond producers Michael G. Wilson and Barbara Broccoli stated on the Twitter account. “He revolutionized the world with his gritty and witty portrayal of the sexy and charismatic secret agent. He is undoubtedly largely responsible for the success of the film series and we shall be forever grateful to him.”

Two other actors who also featured in James Bond movies died last month.

They are Michael Lonsdale and one of the ‘classic’ Bond girls, Diana Rigg.

 Diana Rigg died at home peacefully after suffering from cancer. She played Tracy in On Her Majesty’s Secret Service opposite George Lazenby.

 Michael Lonsdale died at his home in France. Over the course of his long career, he appeared in more than 200 films but one of his best-known roles remains Huge Drax in Moonraker.

The James Bond series focuses on a fictional British Secret Service agent created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in 12 novels and two short-story collections.

Since Fleming’s death in 1964, eight other authors have written authorised Bond novels or novelisations: Kingsley Amis, Christopher Wood, John Gardner, Raymond Benson, Sebastian Faulks, Jeffery Deaver, William Boyd and Anthony Horowitz. The latest novel is Forever and a Day by Anthony Horowitz, published in May 2018.

Additionally, Charlie Higson wrote a series on a young James Bond, and Kate Westbrook wrote three novels based on the diaries of a recurring series character, Moneypenny.

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