Yule traces Connery's journey from humble Edinburgh beginnings to his movie breakthrough as agent 007 and his subsequent success in "escaping Bondage" to carve out a career as a widely admired character actor. Connery's troubled first marriage to actress Diane Cilento, which the author calls a "destructive career race," is recounted, along with the details of his longtime friendship with film star Michael Caine, his betrayal by a trusted financial manager and his consuming interests in golf and money. The actor comes across as a dour, canny, wryly humorous Scot who can turn nasty (but not in the grand manner) when provoked; a hardworking, rough-hewn fellow without pretentions who watches his pennies and has strong if conventional views. This entertaining biography has certain flaws, which will not put off Connery's fans, however. Yule never asks his man how he chooses, prepares and performs his film roles. Also, he stresses that Connery has a highly developed feminine side, but the only evidence he offers is that the actor is said to write poetry. Connery, now 61, lives in Spain with his second wife, Micheline. Yule wrote Fast Fade: David Puttnam, Columbia Pictures and the Battle for Hollywood. Photos. Movie/Entertainment Book Club selection.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
From Library Journal
Author Yule ( Life on the Wire: The Life and Art of Al Pacino , LJ 10/1/91; Losing the Light: Terry Gilliam and the Munchausen Saga , LJ 10/15/91) has put together a thoroughly researched piece of work on the life of Connery. All the pieces of this actor's life fit perfectly, or rather they fit to the point where the reader has a better insight to how a boy named Tommy became the man Sean. The theories and the thoughts of those interviewed help paint a clearer picture of this complicated and talented Scotsman. While a life can't actually be told completely within the confines of 300 pages, this telling comes very close. Until Connery pens his own story, this will have to suffice. For popular film collections.
- Joe Michael Pierce, Texas State Technical Inst., Waco
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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