A Young Sean Connery

A Young Sean Connery

Sean Connery was born Thomas Sean Connery on August 25, 1930 in Fountainbridge, Edinburgh, Scotland. He was the oldest of two boys born to Joseph Connery, a factory worker and truck driver, and Euphemia “Effie” McBain, a cleaner.

His father was a Roman Catholic, and his mother was a Protestant, which back then in Scotland was quite radical. Connery’s younger brother Neil was 8 years younger than Sean, and became an actor, too.

A young Sean Connery’s life was marked by poverty and struggle. His family lived in a cramped, tenement apartment in a working-class neighborhood of Edinburgh.

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Connery attended Torphin Primary School and then Fountainbridge Secondary School, but he left school at the age of 13 to help support his family.

Sean Connery Grew Into A Young Man at an Early Age

Sean Connery grew quite quickly after the age of 12 was known as ‘Big Tam’ to his friends, and it’s believed that he lost his virginity to an adult woman at the tender age of 14.

A young Sean Connery took on a variety of odd jobs, including working as a milkman, a bricklayer, and a coffin polisher to help out at home.

At 16, Connery enlisted into the Royal Navy. After training at the Portsmouth Naval Gunnery School, Connery was drafted onto HMS Formidable as an Able Seaman. After just 3 years, however, Connery had to be discharged from service early due to a duodenal ulcer – a genetic condition that runs in his family.

Sean Connery – An Adonis in Scotland

After leaving the Navy, Connery returned to Edinburgh, taking on several jobs including a lifeguard at a local swimming pool, and a nude model at an Edinburgh college for up-and-coming artists.

Student artist Richard Demarco painted several early pictures of a young Sean Connery, and described the future Bond as ‘very straight, slightly shy, too, too beautiful for words, a virtual Adonis.’

It was during this time that Connery developed an interest in bodybuilding and weightlifting, which would later become a lifelong passion.

Sean dedicated many of his leisure hours to bodybuilding, and according to Sean Connery’s official website, he entered and finished third in the 1950 Mr Universe competition. With a fantastic physique Connery stripped down to become a life model for Edinburgh art students, which led him towards acting.

In 1951, Connery got a job working backstage at the King’s Theatre in Edinburgh. Then at a bodybuilding competition in London in 1953, one of the participants mentioned that South Pacific was searching for actors and he seized his chance to audition for a minor role as one of the Seabees chorus boys – he landed it.

Chooses Acting Over Football

A young Sean Connery made his professional acting debut in a production of South Pacific in Glasgow in 1953.

He then toured the U.K. with South Pacific and was promoted in roles a couple of times. Sean’s passionate for football saw him play regularly for amateur club Bonnyrigg Rose, and he was offered a chance to have a trial with Scottish football club, East Fife.

While touring with the South Pacific, he played football in front of the then Manchester United manager Matt Busby who reportedly offered him a contract worth £25 a week. Connery said he gave it some thought, but being 23 at the time and an aspiring actor, he decided to pursue his career in acting.

Over the next several years, Connery continued to work as a stage actor, performing in a variety of productions including Agatha Christie production Witness for the Prosecution, Hamlet, and some minor roles in TV and films.

After his initial works in modeling, acting on stage, Sean Connery got his first major role cast opposite Lana Turner in Another Time, Another Place (1958). It took four more additional years before he got his big break uttering the iconic words: ‘Bond, James Bond,’ in Dr. No.

A Young Sean Connery

From humble beginnings in Edinburgh in 1930, Sean Connery made the very most of his life. Having to leave school at an early age to help out at home, he took on many jobs, before finding his way to the stage.

He had options of football, acting and even a career in bodybuilding competitions, but the young Sean Connery went down the acting route.

As with all young aspiring actors, he struggled at first, but got some big breaks, before finally getting his biggest break in life and becoming the first ever James Bond. The rest is history.

More pics of a young and dashing Sean Connery