Posted on 06/09/2006 11:15:51 PM PDT by sully777
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - With jokes about haggis, kilts and brogues, Hollywood paid tribute to Scotland's Sean Connery, and the man who first uttered the famous line, "Bond, James Bond," accepted the honor by doing a Scottish jig.
The 75-year-old actor, whose portrayal of Ian Fleming's secret agent 007 made him one of Hollywood's leading heartthrobs, was feted on Thursday night as the 34th recipient of the American Film Institute's Lifetime Achievement Award.
Connery did a quick jig as he mounted the stage of the Kodak Theater after guests applauded a montage of film scenes from his 50-year career.
"I'm glad you liked my work," he said. "I have to admit it, it looked pretty damn good from where I was sitting."
Guests including director Steven Spielberg, actors Pierce Brosnan, Harrison Ford and a kilt-wearing Mike Myers celebrated Connery's acting accomplishments, which included a supporting actor Oscar for "The Untouchables."
The sexy strength and sophistication that Connery exuded as the definitive Bond from 1962 to 1971 was a recurring theme of the evening.
"Women want to be with you, and men want to be you," Myers gushed, enviously citing the long list of Connery's on-screen conquests with names like Pussy Galore and Honey Ryder. "I'll admit it, I have a man-crush." Myers, who made three "Austin Powers" films spoofing the James Bond spy series, admitted his thick accent in the animated film "Shrek" was stolen from the actor.
Actress Tippi Hedren spoke of her difficulties portraying the sexy actor's frigid wife in the 1964 film "Marnie."
"Acting was never more of a challenge," she admitted.
Scottish comedian and late-night show host Craig Ferguson recounted how young boys growing up in Scotland were considered "a social outcast" if their Sean Connery impressions were not up to par, while Spielberg called the actor one who leaves audiences "shaken and stirred."
Dustin Hoffman, Robert DeNiro, Meryl Streep and Barbra Streisand are past recipients of the AFI award.
A real Bond wouldn't leave fingerprints on his car hood would he?
Nothing can top "his" legendary performances on Celebrity Jeopardy.
Connery: I have to ask you about 'The Penis Mightier'
Trabek: That's 'The Pen is Mightier'
Connery: Gussie it up however you want, the question is does it work?
The AFI has given this award to some nice people lately, but they certainly haven't had the careers of those they gave in the early days.
The earliest awards went to:John Ford, James Cagney, Orson Welles, William Wyler, Alfred Hitchcock, Jimmy Stewart, John Huston, etc. I don't think Connery's career matches up--though his stature as an icon/celebrity does.
Connery will always be the quintessential James Bond.
Who cares???? He's TEH SEXXXXXXY!!!!!eleven!!!
A party? Pity I wasn't invited.
It was Dana Broccoli who decided that an unknown beefcake named Sean Connery was the right man to play Bond in Dr No (1962), the first of the Bond films. Connery had come to Cubby Broccoli’s attention playing a burly farmhand in a Walt Disney film about leprechauns.“One day,” Dana Broccoli later recalled, “Cubby called me and said: ‘Could you come down and look at this Disney leprechaun film, Darby O’Gill and the Little People, at the Goldwyn Studios? I don’t know if this Sean Connery guy has any sex appeal.’ I saw that face and the way he moved and talked, and I said: ‘Cubby, he’s fabulous!’ He was just perfect, he had star material right there.”
Few men could make this line sexy, but reading it and knowing it comes from him has sexy on full throttle.
I'm a guy, what would I care about that? This isn't DU, after all. ;)
Sean Connery
Before I'd criticize, just imagine what it's going to be like 40 years from now when the likes of Ben Affleck and Brad Pitt get Lifetime Achievement Awards. Even in subpar films, Connery always rises above the material.
I just call 'em like I see them. I don't see any need to give awards to good actors who've made so many bad movies just because someday there will be worse actors with worse movies getting them. I don't believe in grading on a curve.
I read somewhere that he hasn`t visited Scotland in the past few years and will not until it is completely independent from England. Here, I found one reference to this on IMDB....
"Declared in 2003 that he would not return home until Scotland is an independent country. He believes this can still happen during his lifetime."
Uh, does he expect pigs to fly as well?
Some more bizarre trivia from IMDB.......
Formerly worked as a coffin polisher.
Was once stopped for speeding by an officer named Sergeant James Bond.
Was the original choice to play Sybock in Star Trek V: The Final Frontier (1989). The words in the film "Sha Ka Ree" are a play on of his name.
Wears a toupee in all the James Bond movies. He started losing his hair at the age of 21. Privately and in most other movies, he wears none.
Started smoking when he was nine years old.
He's got star quality, something I think is sadly missing nowadays. That charisma that rivets your attention onscreen.
He's been in a lot of dumb movies. But you know someone's good when you can say, "He was the best thing in it".
Nice!!!
I'd rather be giving awards to good actors in bad films rather than bad actors in good films or bad films. If you wish to see an excellent film in which he gave an Oscar-calibre performance (which was far better than what got him an Oscar with "The Untouchables"), see "The Offence." The scenes between Connery and the late Ian Bannen (who also similarly should've gotten an Oscar) were riveting. I look at films like that and see why he is rightly being honored with a Lifetime Achievement Award.
He exemplefies what John Huston valued--"interest". You watch him in his best movies--The Man Who Would Be King, for example--and you want to follow where he goes.
One reason we don't have actors with star power anymore is the abundance of People and Entertainment Tonight-type media. There were always movie magazines but most of them were filled with puff pieces. These days we know so much about these actors that we can't possibly get into their characters--we keep seeing THEM on the screen, not the characters.
He's been in a lot of dumb movies. But you know someone's good when you can say, "He was the best thing in it".
I disagree, there is always someone who's "the best thing" in a bad movie--even a lousy actor can be the best thing in a really lousy movie, which isn't saying much. And Connery's been bad or boring in a lot of movies--Zardoz, anyone?
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