Original Bond actor Sean Connery, who appeared in ‘The Untouchables’ and ‘Finding Forrester,’ dies at 90

Sean Connery, the ruggedly handsome Scottish actor who shot to international stardom in the 1960s after introducing himself to movie audiences as “Bond. James Bond,” and later won an Academy Award playing a Prohibition-era Irish American cop in “The Untouchables,” has died. He was 90.

Connery died peacefully in his sleep while in the Bahamas, his family confirmed to the BBC.

A commanding screen presence throughout his long career, Connery came to define British novelist Ian Fleming’s dashing and deadly secret agent who preferred his vodka martinis shaken, not stirred.

Other actors have portrayed Bond in films — David Niven, George Lazenby, Roger Moore, Timothy Dalton, Pierce Brosnan and Daniel Craig — but for many moviegoers, there was only one 007.

A tuxedo-clad Connery famously introduced himself as Bond to a beautiful young woman — and to the audience — while playing chemin de fer in “Dr. No,” the 1962 action-thriller that launched one of the most successful movie franchises of all time.

Connery played Bond in six more films: “From Russia With Love” (1963), “Goldfinger” (1964), “Thunderball” (1965), “You Only Live Twice” (1967), “Diamonds Are Forever” (1971) and — after vowing to leave Bond behind — “Never Say Never Again” (1983).

During the ‘70s, Connery helped kick his Bond image in a string of films, most notably including “The Wind and the Lion,” “The Man Who Would Be King” and “Robin and Marian.”

In 1988, Connery took home the Oscar for best actor in a supporting role as the aging, streetwise Irish beat cop Jimmy Malone in “The Untouchables.”

Over the next dozen years, he continued to work frequently in films, including “The Hunt for Red October,” “The Russia House,” “Medicine Man,” “Just Cause,” “The Rock,” “Playing by Heart,” “Entrapment” and “Finding Forrester.”