Sean Connery was born in Fountainbridge, Edinburgh, on 25 August 1930. More than three decades before he first appeared as James Bond, he was growing up in a working-class district of the city with no obvious route into acting.

His father worked as a factory worker and lorry driver, while his mother cleaned. Connery left school young and took a succession of jobs. He delivered milk and later joined the Royal Navy. His naval career ended when he was discharged on medical grounds.

After leaving the Navy, Connery took up bodybuilding. He also worked as a lifeguard and modelled at Edinburgh College of Art. His physique helped him find theatre work, including a place in the chorus of a touring production of South Pacific. The job provided an entry into professional performance rather than immediate success as an actor.

Connery continued working in theatre and began finding roles in television and film. In 1957 he appeared in Hell Drivers and attracted attention for his performance in the BBC television production Requiem for a Heavyweight. Other work included Darby O’Gill and the Little People and, in 1961, the role of Vronsky opposite Claire Bloom in a BBC adaptation of Anna Karenina.

By the time Connery was chosen to play James Bond, he had spent years building an acting career. He was not yet a major star, but neither was he simply an unknown man discovered for Dr. No.

The film was released in 1962 and changed the scale of his career. Connery became closely identified with Bond, but his later work included films for directors such as Alfred Hitchcock, Sidney Lumet and John Huston. He remained a major film actor long after his first appearance as 007.