Sean Connery, famed James Bond actor, is dead at 90

The Scottish actor “died overnight in his sleep, while in the Bahamas,” according to the BBC. The same report also notes that “it is understood he had been unwell for some time.” Connery’s publicist later confirmed that “he died peacefully in his sleep surrounded by family.” There will be a private funeral followed by a more public memorial “to be planned once the virus has ended.”

Although his acting career goes all the way back to the early 1950s, with roles in theater, TV, and film, it was Connery’s star turn in the first James Bond movie, Dr. No (1962), that amounted to his breakout. He would go on to play the famed MI6 age six times in total, in some of the series’ most famous films, such as Goldfinger and From Russia With Love.

While Connery is the actor who helped make James Bond a silver screen favorite, the role also marked only the beginning of a long and illustrious career. He appeared in more than 60 movies in a career that spanned 50-plus years, including Hollywood classics like Murder on the Orient Express (1974) and A Bridge Too Far (1977).

Connery won his first and only Academy Award for his starring role in Brian de Palma’s gangster movie, The Untouchables (1987). He also famously starred opposite Nicolas Cage in the Michael Bay prison break-in blockbuster, The Rock (1996), and kicked off the Tom Clancy movie universe in 1990 with The Hunt for Red October.

But outside of Bond, some of Connery’s most memorable roles lie in the science fiction/fantasy and adventure genres. He famously starred in Zardoz (1974), a historically awful sci-fi film that has lived on as a favorite of the “so bad it’s good” cult fandom. He was also a key player in the Highlander series, a star of Terry Gilliam’s Time Bandits, and appeared as Indiana Jones’ father in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989).

Let’s also never, ever forget Dragonheart, the wonderful 1996 live-action fantasy movie starring Dennis Quaid in which Connery voiced and lent his likeness to a CG dragon. He maintained a mostly low profile following his formal retirement in 2006, though he did return to showbusiness in 2012 to voice the title character in the CG Scottish comedy, Sir Billi, which he also produced.

Connery is survived by his wife, Micheline Roquebrune, and his two sons, Jason and Stephane.