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".
In her 2006 autobiography My Nine Lives, as well as in subsequent interviews on radio and in print, Diane Cilento claimed that Connery had beaten her on several occasions. Connery vehemently denied the accusations. In a December 1987 interview with Barbara Walters, he stated that it would be acceptable for a man to hit a woman with an open hand, if she continues to provoke the man after he concedes an argument to her. Connery had made similar remarks in a November 1965 interview with Playboy magazine on the set of Thunderball: "I don't think there is anything particularly wrong about hitting a woman ... If a woman is a bitch, or hysterical, or bloody-minded continually, then I'd do it."
He is best known for portraying the character James Bond, starring in seven Bond films between 1962 and 1983 (six "official" EON productions films and the non-official Kevin McClory -helmed Thunderball remake, Never Say Never Again.)In 1988, Sean Connery won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role in The Untouchables. His film career also includes such films as Marnie, The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, The Hunt for Red October, Highlander, Murder on the Orient Express, Dragonheart, and The Rock.
Sean Connery has been polled as "The Greatest Living Scot," and was knighted in July 2000.
