In Sean Connery’s upcoming autobiography Being a Scot, he discusses his humble beginnings as the son of a house cleaner and a truck driver and his love of Scotland.

A couple of issues here:

For one, Connery hasn’t lived in Scotland for some time. Like for more than fifty years. He is a resident of the Bahamas and has been accused by some of tax avoidance because of the lenient income tax laws in the tropical nation. He denies the criticism but he also says he has no immediate plans to return to his native land.

Second, much has been made of his refusal to leave any of his $170-million fortune to his son Jason. Connery’s ex-wife Diane Cilento spoke of how difficult it’s been for Jason to please his father:

She claims that at one stage Jason, who now works as an actor and film director, threatened to change his name after Connery accused him of cashing in on his father’s fame.

Australian-born Miss Cilento told the Sunday Times: ‘Sean said, “You only got this (acting) job because your name’s Connery.” ‘Jason said, “Well, I’ll change it to something else.” Sean said, “If you do that I’ll f****** kill you.”‘

But compare that with Connery’s talk of his cold upbringing:

“The simple fact that my mother never kissed me or held me in her arms when I was a child has had lots of repercussions on my life.” Pointing at a portrait that his second wife, Micheline, painted, he added: “Can you see how my mother has a stern look and Micheline’s mother seems softer? Don’t you think that explains lots of things about me?”

It seems that for all his talk of home and hearth, he’s kind of a tightwad both emotionally and financially.