Movie icon Sean Connery died late last month at the ripe old age of 90. The James Bond star was a Hollywood titan, drawing in huge audiences, working with the best directors of all time and picking up a well deserved Oscar for his performance as Jim Malone in The Untouchables. But it’s his tenure as 007 that made him a star, as he featured in seven Bond films between 1962 and 1983 and turned the character into a pop culture colossus.
In the wake of his death, we learned that Connery had been suffering from dementia in the last years of his life and that he went out peacefully in his sleep. Now, Michelle Roquebrune, who he was married to for 40 years, has revealed his last request, saying:
“We are going to bring Sean back to Scotland – that was his final wish. He wanted his ashes to be scattered in the Bahamas and also in his homeland.”
In addition, the Connery family has plans to hold a memorial service in Scotland, though are waiting for the COVID-19 restrictions to lift before doing so. As one of the country’s favorite sons, though, this makes perfect sense. Despite spending his old age in the Bahamas, he always had Scotland in mind and was a prominent supporter of Scottish independence from the United Kingdom.
Connery was famously a longtime member of the Scottish National Party (where, apparently by coincidence, he was member 007). He went on to financially support them from the Bahamas, too, only stopping when the law was changed to prevent overseas funding of political parties.
Scotland’s First Minister and SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon said she that was “heartbroken” when she learned of his death, and paid tribute to him by saying:
“Sean was a global legend but, first and foremost, he was a patriotic and proud Scot. His towering presence at the opening of the Scottish Parliament was a sign of his dedication to his country. He was a lifelong advocate of an independent Scotland and those of us who share that belief owe him a great debt of gratitude.”
In the meantime, fans are launching a campaign to rename Edinburgh Airport after the actor, with the petition already having picked up thousands of signatures.
RIP Sean Connery.
