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.
What? He likes to hit women because mommy didn’t love him enough?
It’s all part of his elaborate scheme of revenge against Alex Trebek.
Meh, Sean Connery could eat kittens on live TV for all I care. He’s a fantastic actor that doesn’t run around trying to tell me how to vote, what kind of car to drive, or how many pieces of toilet paper to use. That makes him all aces in my book.
And he looks good at two million years old, Scott F. I don’t have a problem with him, and as an American living in England for the foreseeable forever, I don’t see how it’s a big deal that he’s proud to be a Scot living elsewhere, whatever his reasons. I’m still proud to be an American, and not time, distance, or happiness elsewhere can take that away from me.
a tightwad Scot?! quick! alert the press!
Apparently $170 million isn’t enough to buy your way out of being a self-centered, bitter, cold, nasty, abusive old man who still feels sorry for himself because his mommy didn’t hug him enough and uses it as justification for being a p**** to everyone. He’s had 50 years to grow and move past his childhood and not visit his parents’ sins on his own son. He’s certainly had enough money for therapy. Instead, he indulges himself like a petulant child who feels sorry for himself. As for his acting “ability,” the only character he ever plays is Sean Connery, so I don’t know why everyone thinks he’s so great anyway.
Very sad this story. I have been a fan since, aged 10, I saw a double feature of Dr No and From Russia, with Love in 1965. Anyone who doubts the man can act and brilliantly should see The Hill and The Offence, the most important of the several films he has made with Sidney Lumet. I wish the young rebel who wanted to escape the James Bond straightjacketing and had all kinds of hopes to do original and daring work in the theatre and films hadn’t been overcome by the shrewd businessman. Even so, he has done some excellent films like The Name of the Rose and the moving Forester. I would like to see him return to the Shakespeare he played in his youth. From what I have heard, he did a remarkable job of educating himself and he cares about books. The remarks and rumours about hitting women are shocking and the reports of meanness towards his son are unattractive. But he has established charities to help disadvantaged Scots find the means to educate themselves. Sad the stories about emotional blockage.
I still stand by what I wrote above about Sean Connery’s work, his abilities as an actor and his commendable committment to education. He has vehemently denied his ex-wife’s allegations of meaness towards his son and violence towards her. An ex-spouse’s remarks about her former husband should be handled with care.