海角大神

Writing an appreciation of Sean Connery feels inevitably inadequate compared to experiencing the real thing. To glimpse his magnetism, you might turn to a photograph of him in a tailored suit, leaning against an Aston Martin. You鈥檇 probably get more of his menacing charisma by pulling up the 鈥淐hicago way鈥� scene from 鈥淭he Untouchables.鈥�

It might be enough simply to say: The king is dead.

As a lion of movies for half a century, Mr. Connery鈥檚 talent was manifest. He was famously cast as James Bond without a screen test. It was that obvious. And from then on, in even the lesser films, Mr. Connery,聽聽was never out of place on screen. His presence was absolute. Noting his supreme confidence, the late film critic Pauline Kael once wrote, 鈥淚 don鈥檛 know any man since Cary Grant that men have wanted to be so much.鈥�

As a more earthy, macho movie-star ideal, Mr. Connery was so beloved that he was shared, like folklore, between generations. It helped that he never seemed to be appealing to the audience, or to anybody, for anything. With raised eyebrows and roguish wisecracks, there was little that Mr. Connery (nearly always the lead) didn鈥檛 command. And to a certain extent, that cocksureness shaped his career, too.

Mr. Connery, 32 when 鈥淒r. No鈥� came out,鈥� had already lived through World War II. Born into poverty in Edinburgh, he left school at age 13 during the war and worked as a laborer and a bricklayer before he donned the tuxedo. He saw Bond, too, as a product of the war.

鈥淏ond came on the scene after the War, at a time when people were fed up with rationing and drab times and utility clothes and a predominantly gray color in life,鈥� Mr. Connery, who served in the British Navy as a teenager, told Playboy in 1965. 鈥淎long comes this character who cuts right through all that like a very hot knife through butter, with his clothing and his cars and his wine and his women.鈥�

Long after achieving fame, Mr. Connery contentedly gave it up. He spent his final two decades cheerfully retired in the Caribbean, often playing golf with his wife, unimpressed and little tempted by more modern Hollywood productions. (He said he was 鈥渇ed up with the idiots.鈥�)

There was irony in that. Mr. Connery, as the original cinema Bond, did much to make the style and tone of today鈥檚 movie franchises 鈥� even if few carry a lick of Mr. Connery鈥檚 danger. His Bond heir Daniel Craig on Saturday credited Mr. Connery with helping 鈥渃reate the modern blockbuster.鈥� It鈥檚 hard to imagine the suave secret-service spy would have ever become a cultural force if the franchise hadn鈥檛 from the start traded on its star鈥檚 brutal charm. Mr. Connery crucially added humor to Ian Fleming鈥檚 pages, along with a dash of cruelty.

Mr. Connery鈥檚 Bond became etched as an icon of its era, one increasingly distant from today. He was the epitome of a dashing, womanizing, macho image that loomed over the second half of the 20th century. Mr. Connery differed from his character in many respects but not all. In that same Playboy interview, he explained why he believed hitting a woman with an open fist was justifiable.

Bond is the first word on Mr. Connery but it鈥檚 certainly not the last. Against the pleas of fans, he departed the character at 41 (he was later coaxed back for 1983鈥檚 鈥淣ever Say Never Again鈥�), refusing to be typecast. His best and most interesting work all came after.

鈥淭he Hill鈥� (1965) was the first of five films with Sidney Lumet (the others were 鈥淭he Anderson Tapes,鈥� 鈥淭he Offense,鈥� 鈥淢urder on the Orient Express鈥� and 鈥淔amily Business鈥�), and while it鈥檚 less seen than many of Mr. Connery鈥檚, it remains possibly the best expression of the actor鈥檚 rugged power. He plays a prisoner of indomitable strength and defiance jailed in a sadistic British Army WWII military prison in the scorching Libyan desert.

He was a soldier again a decade later in John Huston鈥檚 鈥淭he Man Who Would Be King,鈥� based on the Rudyard Kipling short story, playing a military officer who鈥檚 embraced as a god in Kafiristan, an impression he struggles to maintain. It鈥檚 a perfect role and performance for Mr. Connery, whose best work came when he 鈥� this former bodybuilder of unimpeachable force and magnetism 鈥� was humbled.

Mr. Connery鈥檚 confidence came through most dramatically when it was challenged by foes more formidable than a Bond villain. In his Oscar-winning performance in Brian De Palma鈥檚 Prohibition-era crime film, 鈥淭he Untouchables,鈥� he鈥檚 alive to Al Capone鈥檚 threat, telling Kevin Costner鈥檚 Treasury Department agent: 鈥淵ou see what I鈥檓 saying is, what are you prepared to do?鈥�

Accepting the Academy Award, Mr. Connery addressed his wife since 1975, Micheline Roquebrune. 鈥淚n winning this award, it creates a certain dilemma because I had decided that if I had the good fortune to win, that I would give it to my wife, who deserves it,鈥� he said. 鈥淏ut, this evening, I discovered backstage that they鈥檙e worth $15,000 鈥� now I am not so sure. Micheline, I am only kidding. It鈥檚 yours.鈥�

Mr. Connery aged well as an actor, crafting more diverse and inquisitive portraits of masculinity. He played an aging Robin Hood, with Audrey Hepburn, in 鈥淩obin and Marian鈥� (1976), a combustible submarine captain in John McTiernan鈥檚 鈥淭he Hunt for Red October鈥� and a lovable, playful father to Harrison Ford in Steven Spielberg鈥檚 鈥淚ndiana Jones and the Last Crusade鈥� (1989).

Another 鈥淚ndiana Jones,鈥� Mr. Connery said, had been the only thing that really tempted him to come out of retirement. That could be because the glint of mischief that accompanied nearly every Mr. Connery performance was so present in 鈥淭he Last Crusade.鈥� Mr. Connery always left you feeling if not shaken then very happily stirred.

This story was reported by The Associated Press.