The Australian Women’s Weekly June 1990

SEAN CONNERY

STILL A SEX SYMBOL AT 59

Tall, tanned and, at the age of 59 still exuding far more than his fair share of raw sex appeal, Sean Connery is one of the last of a dying breed -a Great Movie Star, in the tradition of Bogart, Cagney and Gable. A man's man and a ladies' man. Like those legends, Sean is also an actor of great skill, a fact that has largely been obscured by his charismatic screen presence until relatively recently, when he finally won his well-deserved first Oscar for a memorable performance in "The Untouchables".

            It's an authoritative, commanding presence that dominates every scene, as his most recent films -"Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade", "Family Business", "The Hunt for Red October" and the upcoming "The Russia House" - proudly demonstrate.

After some 30 years in the business and nearly 50 films, the veteran Scottish actor has certainly come a long way from his humble beginnings. Born in 1930 to a working class family in Edinburgh, Sean Connery served in the navy and later trained as a body builder before turning to acting. His big break came in 1962 when he was cast as super-spy James Bond in "Dr No". The rest, as they say, is history.

            Today, when he's not off on location, Sean lives in Marbella, Spain, with his second wife, Micheline Roquebrune. He was previously married to actress Diane Cilento, the mother of his son, Jason.

            Sean, who also has several step-children and grandchildren, met Micheline, a French painter, at a golf tournament in Morocco. "She also loves golf and we each won our tourneys and got talking," he said. "The funny thing is, she didn't know who I was! She just knew I was someone special, she later told me, because everywhere we went, all the women went 'Aaaah!' "

            Asked how he felt about being called the sexiest man alive, Sean laughed and said: "Well, there're very few sexy men dead." He said the "sexy" tag may have something to do with his Scottish accent. "Women tell me it sounds sexy. It's actually been a handicap in many instances. I mean, most of the roles I've played weren't for a Scots accent."

            Sean said he liked being around women, "although I know people have this image of me as a man's man." He said he is definitely not as macho off-screen as he is in his movies. "Having been athletic and into body building when I was younger, I guess I look macho and tough, but I'd rather play golf and read. I also like to play tennis, swim and catch up on all the movies I've missed. In Spain I'm usually preparing for a picture or recovering from one, so I work in the mornings, play golf or tennis in the afternoons and read in the evenings. I like to read a lot, and I don't work out at all. Films keep you fit, I find, so I don't worry about my weight."

            When asked if he had once made the comment, "It's okay to hit women," Sean set the record straight: "It's quite extraordinary how this issue has gained so much notoriety. When I appeared on the 'Barbara Waiters Special', her sole intention was to get me to agree I'd said that, but she lifted it totally out of context. What I actually said was, 'You could do worse things to a woman than give her a slap -a slap as opposed to a hit.' What was I talking about? I was talking about a relationship where a man can destroy a woman without putting a finger on her, so that she'll take months to recover, if she ever does recover, by taking away her dignity, her integrity, whatever, by damaging the whole persona. That's what I was talking about, but she twisted it."

            Talking about fatherhood, Sean said it was very difficult to be a really good father when you were an ambitious actor and travelling all the time. "It's the life of a gypsy. While they were growing up and at school, I stressed a no-nonsense relationship which might have seemed a bit victorian and harsh at times, but it certainly worked, because I hear all these horror stories, especially in America, about these parents who have terrible problems with their kids, from 12 to 20, telling their parents what to do. So I'm a firm believer in discipline. They need guidelines. So I prefer being autocratic to being democratic,"

            Sean said his son Jason's decision to become an actor was "absolutely his own choice. He was at school in Scotland and decided he wanted to act, so I took him on location for 'Five Days One Summer', and then he joined a repertory company. That taught him the ropes and he got his Equity card and now he's with my agent and doing very well. I just saw him play Ian Fleming in this new TV series and he was great. I'm very proud of him."

            Sean, who once described his James Bond role as "a cross, a privilege, a nightmare", said he looks back at the era more fondly now. "After 27 years, it falls into perspective better. I suppose I could have handled it better at the time. You know, I never had a press agent to deal with it and I should have -because I got stuck in a lot of bad situations."

            Having played sexy James Bond in the promiscuous '60s, he described today's AIDS crisis as "a terrible thing. It's frightening. Nothing's changed for kids and nature -obviously they're sexually curious, but AIDS has certainly changed the way you think about sex. You can't be casual anymore. You could lose your life."

            Asked if he worried about getting older, Sean replied: "What the hell are you gonna do about it? It's like losing your hair. When it first happened to me, I thought, 'How the hell am I going to live like this?' But you do, and ageing is the same. It's funny- I got glasses for reading, and when I first put them on and suddenly saw myself clearly in the mirror, I got a real shock! You realise that's why in nature you're not meant to have glasses!"

            On the subject of vices, Sean said: "I'm very proud, but I don't think that's a sin, although, of course, it depends how you define 'pride', and the context. I'd never envy someone else's career. What else? I do like to drink. I drink a lot of Scotch, and I tend to be very impatient with people, especially stupid people you meet in a professional capacity."

And his best qualities? "I'm generally a man of my word and a very loyal friend. I also passionately hate unfairness and injustice, and I'll fight."

            When confronted with his well-known reputation for suing, he said: "Yes, and that relates directly to unfairness. If you work hard on a film in good faith and the producers try to steal all your royalties, it's unacceptable to me.

            "That's what happened with Bond. I said at the time, and I still mean it, 'The producers would play Bond themselves if they could, to save money.' Yes, I'm wealthy, but it doesn't determine what work I do and never did, except at the start of my career. I've done a lot of films like 'Time Bandits' for a nominal fee because I believed in the director and the film."

-IAIN BLAIR