A love life as dramatic as his film roles
He was once voted the Sexiest Man of the Century and linked to a string of glamorous girlfriends but Sean Connery found lifelong love with second wife Micheline Roquebrune.
Married for 45 years, the couple met after his tempestuous divorce from his first wife, Diane Cilento, an Australian actress he wed in 1962. They had a son together, actor Jason Connery.
Cilento later alleged her husband had abused her mentally and physically.
The pair divorced after 11 years but the actor soon found love in the arms of Moroccan-french painter Micheline.
They first crossed paths at a golfing event in Casablanca, Morocco, and married in 1975. It was love at first sight, Micheline has recalled, but she also knew she would face competition for his affections.
She said: “When I met Sean, I knew I was taking on the whole package. Everyone wants him and I have to accept and understand that.”
From the age of 16, he was described as a “big local hit with girls” and, according to friend John Brady: “He did better than most of us, without trying.”
When he became famous, Connery wasted little time in taking advantage of his rugged good looks and was linked to a string of glamorous women.
Sir Sean’s love life was at times almost as dramatic as his film roles.
Sir Sean’s amorous adventures once almost got him shot by a jealous American gangster.
In 1957, he was cast by Hollywood bombshell Lana Turner as her love interest in a small British-made picture called Another Time, Another Place.
Turner was almost a decade older than Connery but rumours began circulating on set that the screen lovers had continued the action in private.
When Turner’s hoodlum boyfriend Johnny Stompanato heard about the relationship, he flew to London to sort out Connery. When he arrived, Turner tried to have him barred from the set.
Stompanato, consumed with jealousy, burst into the studios in Borehamwood, Hertfordshire, where Turner and Connery were filming, and waved a gun at Connery, warning him to stay away.
Connery wrestled the gun off him and knocked him out with a right hook. Turner later had her boyfriend kicked out of the country by Scotland Yard.