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Sean Connery
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== Early life and education == [[File:Sean Connery plaque, Fountainbridge Edinburgh.jpg|thumb|Sean Connery plaque near the site of his birth in [[Fountainbridge]], Edinburgh]] [[File:Connery birth certificate.jpg|thumb|Connery's birth certificate]] Thomas Sean Connery was born at the [[Edinburgh Royal Maternity Hospital and Simpson Memorial Maternity Pavilion|Royal Maternity Hospital]] in Edinburgh, Scotland, on 25 August 1930; he was [[Namesake#Family|named after]] his paternal grandfather.<ref>{{cite news|last=Pendreigh|first=Brian|date=1 November 2020|title=Obituary: The Sean Connery I knew|url=http://www.scotsman.com/news/people/obituary-sean-connery-i-knew-3021532|work=The Scotsman| access-date=1 February 2021}}</ref><ref name=whoswho>{{Who's Who|title=Connery, Sir Sean|id=U11650|volume=2015|edition=online [[Oxford University Press]]}}</ref> Connery was of half-[[Irish people|Irish]] and half-[[Scottish people|Scottish]] descent. He was brought up at No. 176 [[Fountainbridge]], a block which has since been demolished.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/10342320|title=Sir Sean visits site of his childhood Edinburgh home|date=17 June 2010|publisher=BBC|access-date=1 February 2021}}</ref> His mother, Euphemia McBain "Effie" McLean, was a cleaning woman. The daughter of Neil McLean and Helen Forbes Ross, she was named after her father's mother, Euphemia McBain, wife of John McLean and daughter of William McBain from [[Ceres, Fife|Ceres]] in Fife.<ref>{{cite web|title=Scottish Roots People β Sean Connery|url=https://www.scottishroots.com/sean.php|access-date=3 October 2021|website=scottishroots.com|archive-date=9 July 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190709200057/https://www.scottishroots.com/sean.php|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Family tree of Euphemia McBain|url=https://gw.geneanet.org/etakathyaolco?lang=en&n=mcbain&oc=0&p=euphemia|access-date=3 October 2021|website=Geneanet}}</ref> Connery's father, Joseph Connery, was a factory worker and lorry driver.<ref>{{cite web|title=Case Study 1 β Sean Connery β James Bond|url=http://www.familyrelatives.com/information/info_detail.php?id=103|website=familyrelatives.com|publisher=Treequest Limited|access-date=6 August 2012|archive-date=22 August 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120822002752/http://www.familyrelatives.com/information/info_detail.php?id=103|url-status=dead}}</ref> Two of his paternal great-grandparents emigrated to Scotland from [[County Wexford|Wexford, Ireland]], in the mid-19th century,{{sfn|Yule|1992|p=1}} with his great-grandfather James Connery being an [[Irish Traveller]].<ref name="irish-post"/> The remainder of his family was of Scottish descent, and his maternal great-grandparents were native [[Scottish Gaelic]]-speakers from [[Fife]] and [[Uig, Snizort|Uig]] on [[Skye]].<ref name="BeingaScot">{{cite book|last1=Connery|first1=Sean|last2=Grigor|first2=Murray|title=Being a Scot|date=2009|publisher=Phoenix Illustrated|isbn=978-0-7538-2631-7 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.scottishroots.com/sean.html|title=Scottish Genealogy Scottish Ancestry Family Tree Scottish Genealogists|access-date=5 March 2013|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20120712014731/http://www.scottishroots.com/sean.html|archive-date=12 July 2012|url-status=dead}}</ref> His father was a [[Catholic Church in Scotland|Roman Catholic]], and his mother was a [[Religion in Scotland#Protestantism|Protestant]]. Connery had a younger brother [[Neil Connery|Neil]] and was generally referred to in his youth as "Tommy".{{sfn|Yule|1992|p=8}} Although he was small in primary school, he grew rapidly around the age of 12, reaching his full adult height of {{cvt|6|ft|2|in|cm}} at 18.{{sfn|Sellers|1999|p=25}} Connery was known during his teen years as "Big Tam", and he said that he lost his virginity to an adult woman in an [[Auxiliary Territorial Service|ATS]] uniform at the age of 14.{{sfn|Yule|1992|p=18}}{{sfn|Yule|1992|p=21}} He had an Irish childhood friend named SΓ©amus;<ref name="irish-post"/> when the two were together, those who knew them both called Connery by his middle name Sean, emphasising the assonance of the two names.<ref name="irish-post"/> Since then Connery preferred to use his middle name.<ref name="irish-post">{{cite web |title=Five things you never knew about Sean Connery's Irish roots |url=https://www.irishpost.com/entertainment/five-things-sean-connery-irish191553-191553 |website=The Irish Post |date=18 August 2021 |author=Harry Brent |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210818235207/https://www.irishpost.com/entertainment/five-things-sean-connery-irish191553-191553 |archive-date=18 August 2021}}</ref> Connery's first job was as a milkman in Edinburgh with [[St. Cuthbert's Co-operative Society]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://heritage.scotsman.com/greatscots.cfm?id=2275262005|title=From the Co-op with love ... the days Sir Sean earned Β£1 a week|newspaper=The Scotsman|access-date=29 September 2007|date=21 November 2005|url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071013215418/http://heritage.scotsman.com/greatscots.cfm?id=2275262005|archive-date=13 October 2007}}</ref> In 2009, Connery recalled a conversation in a taxi: {{blockquote|When I took a taxi during a recent Edinburgh Film Festival, the driver was amazed that I could put a name to every street we passed. "How come?" he asked. "As a boy I used to deliver milk round here", I said. "So what do you do now?" That was rather harder to answer.<ref name="BeingaScot"/>}} In 1946, at the age of 16, Connery joined the [[Royal Navy]], during which time he acquired two tattoos. Connery's official website says "unlike many tattoos, his were not frivolous β his tattoos reflect two of his lifelong commitments: his family and Scotland. ... One tattoo is a tribute to his parents and reads 'Mum and Dad', and the other is self-explanatory, 'Scotland Forever'".<ref>{{cite web |url=http://seanconnery.com/biography/|title=The Official Website of Sir Sean Connery β Biography|publisher=Seanconnery.com|access-date=10 March 2010}}</ref> He trained in [[Portsmouth]] at the naval gunnery school and in an anti-aircraft crew. He was later assigned as an Able Seaman on [[HMS Formidable (67)|HMS ''Formidable'']].<ref>{{cite web|title=Catch up on all the Belly Buzz ... β Celebrity Veterans β Sean Connery, British Royal Navy 1946β1949|url=http://bellybuzz.squarespace.com/celebrity-veterans/2011/3/28/sean-connery-british-royal-navy-1946-1949.html|access-date=26 June 2020 |website=bellybuzz.squarespace.com|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200628190927/http://bellybuzz.squarespace.com/celebrity-veterans/2011/3/28/sean-connery-british-royal-navy-1946-1949.html|archive-date=28 June 2020|url-status=dead}}</ref> Connery was [[Military discharge|discharged]] from the navy at the age of 19 on medical grounds because of a [[duodenal]] [[Peptic ulcer disease|ulcer]], a condition that affected most of the males in previous generations of his family.{{sfn|Yule|1992|p=4}} Afterwards, he returned to the co-op and worked as a lorry driver, a lifeguard at [[Portobello Open Air Pool|Portobello swimming baths]], a labourer, an [[artist's model]] for the [[Edinburgh College of Art]], and after a suggestion by the former Mr. Scotland [[Archie Brennan (weaver)|Archie Brennan]],<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.scotsman.com/entertainment.cfm?id=924382003|title=Even as an unknown, Sean was still a draw|newspaper=The Scotsman|access-date=29 September 2007|date=22 August 2003|first=Lynn|last=Davidson}}</ref>{{sfn|Yule|1992|p=28}} as a coffin [[French polish|polisher]], amongst other jobs. The modelling earned him 15 shillings an hour.{{sfn|Yule|1992|p=28}} Artist [[Richard Demarco]], at the time a student who painted several early pictures of Connery, described him as "very straight, slightly shy, too, too beautiful for words, a virtual Adonis".{{sfn|Yule|1992|p=29}} Connery began [[bodybuilding]] at the age of 18, and from 1951 trained heavily with Ellington, a former gym instructor in the [[British Army]].{{sfn|Yule|1992|p=31}} While his official website states he was third in the 1950 [[Universe Championships|Mr. Universe]] contest, most sources place him in the 1953 competition, either third in the Junior class<ref name=Tiscali>{{cite web|url=http://www.tiscali.co.uk/entertainment/film/biography/artist/sean-connery/biography/114?page=4|archive-url=https://archive.today/20130707065919/http://www.tiscali.co.uk/entertainment/film/biography/artist/sean-connery/biography/114?page=4|url-status=dead|archive-date=7 July 2013|title=Sean Connery β Biography|last=Wills|first=Dominic|publisher=Tiscali|access-date=20 September 2009}}</ref> or failing to place in the Tall Man classification.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://musclememory.com/show.php?c=Mr+Universe+-+NABBA&y=1953|title=1953 Mr. Universe β NABBA|access-date=20 September 2009}}</ref> Connery said he was soon deterred from bodybuilding when he found that Americans frequently beat him in competitions because of sheer muscle size and, unlike Connery, refused to participate in athletic activity which could make them lose muscle mass.{{sfn|Yule|1992|p=35}} Connery was a keen [[Association football|footballer]], having played for [[Bonnyrigg Rose]] in his younger days.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/38236789 |title=Bonnyrigg Rose: Four things you might not know about the Rosey Posey|last=Crawford|first=Kenny|date=7 December 2016|work=BBC Scotland|access-date=7 December 2016}}</ref> He was offered a trial with [[East Fife F.C.|East Fife]]. While on tour with ''South Pacific'', Connery played in a football match against a local team that [[Matt Busby]], manager of [[Manchester United]], happened to be scouting.<ref>{{Cite book |author=Christopher Bray |date=2010 |title=Sean Connery: The measure of a man |page=27 |publisher=Faber & Faber}}</ref> According to reports, Busby was impressed with his physical prowess and offered Connery a contract worth Β£25 a week ({{Inflation|UK|25|1953|fmt=eq|cursign=Β£}}) immediately after the game. Connery said he was tempted to accept, but he recalls, "I realised that a top-class footballer could be over the hill by the age of 30, and I was already 23. I decided to become an actor and it turned out to be one of my more intelligent moves".<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.scottishfa.co.uk/sjfa/scottish_football.cfm?page=1711|title=Scottish Junior Football Association > Mud & Glory > Sean Connery|access-date=21 October 2012|date=April 2005|publisher=Mud & Glory |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150602160208/http://www.scottishfa.co.uk/sjfa/scottish_football.cfm?page=1711|archive-date=2 June 2015|url-status=dead}}</ref>
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