Fan favourite Sir Sean Connery was Bond ‘with the midas touch’

Sir Sean Connery was a firm fan favourite as the suave super-spy James Bond.

Earlier this year the Scot and original 007 star was voted as the best-ever James Bond – nearly six decades after his 1962 big screen debut in the role.

Despite the blockbuster franchise having also produced star names such as Sir Roger Moore, Pierce Brosnan and Daniel Craig, is was Sir Sean who topped the poll for RadioTimes.com.

Tim Glanfield, editorial director of RadioTimes.com, said it proved once again that Sir Sean was “the Bond with the midas touch”.

More than 14,000 people had voted for their favourite Bond in a poll which pitted all the lead actors, also including George Lazenby and Timothy Dalton, against each other in different rounds.

The final round saw Sir Sean come up against Dalton and Brosnan, but he secured 44% of the vote, against 32% and 23% for Dalton and Brosnan respectively.

Sir Sean, of Fountainbridge in Edinburgh, first played James Bond in Dr No in 1962.

Author Ian Fleming was initially resistant to the idea of Sir Sean playing his lead character. He thought the Scot was an “overgrown stuntman” who was not refined enough for the role.

But he was later so impressed with his performance that he created a Scottish ancestry for the character in his subsequent books.

After Dr No, Sir Sean played Bond in From Russia With Love (1963), Goldfinger (1964), Thunderball (1965), You Only Live Twice (1967), Diamonds Are Forever (1971) and the unofficial Never Say Never Again (1983).

He quit the role after You Only Live Twice, frustrated by the repetitive plots, but was later enticed back.

There was a best supporting actor Oscar for his role in The Untouchables in 1987 and plenty of off-screen plaudits.

He was knighted in 2000.

Sir Sean’s powerful deep voice with its strong and silky Scottish accent and his knack for playing tough, cunning heroes helped make him a star attraction.

The IMDb film and television website states: “Connery has been polled as ‘The Greatest Living Scot’ and ‘Scotland’s Greatest Living National Treasure’. In 1989, he was proclaimed ‘Sexiest Man Alive’ by People magazine, and in 1999, at age 69, he was voted ‘Sexiest Man of the Century’.