Here are 12 behind the scenes photos of Sean Connery — the first and best James Bond, aka 007 — to appear in films.
A Working-Class Spy
United Artists
Nicholas Shakespeare’s excellent new biography Ian Fleming: The Complete Man investigates the author who created James Bond — but also recounts the casting of Sean Connery in the role.
Shakespeare notes: “Connery’s background – naval boxer, lifeguard, art class model – was a marketable asset. He was brought up in a Scottish slum, like Ian’s grandfather. His father was a truck driver, his mother a cleaning lady.”
He adds: “Among choice biographical details: He had delivered milk to Bond’s second school Fettes, and acted at the Oxford Playhouse as an aristocratic diplomat in Pirandello’s Naked.
Above, that’s Fleming, left, with Connery, right, on the set of the first Bond movie, 1962’s Dr. No.
The Right Man for the Job?
United Artists – Credit: C/O
Shakespeare’s book notes that according to Fleming’s film agent, Robert Fenn, Fleming was initially shocked because Connery “couldn’t speak the Queen’s English. Fleming said, ‘He’s not my idea of Bond at all, I just want an elegant man, not this roughneck.’”
Later, according to the book, Fleming would call Connery an “over-developed stuntman” and wonder if he had “the social graces” to play his hero.
Above, Connery is fitted for 1962’s From Russia With Love.
License to Kill
United Artists – Credit: C/O
Fleming, obviously, needed a woman’s perspective. His friend Ivar Bryce’s cousin, Janet Milford Haven, was known as a good judge of people — and men — and offered her input after a lunch with Fleming and Connery.
Her opinion of Connery?
“I said, ‘I think that fellow is divine. He’s not too good-looking, he looks masculine, he looks like a proper man and one that would be used to that life. He looks like he is very clever, he looks like he would know how to do everything, who could kill,’” said Haven, according to Shakespeare’s book.
Above: Connery and Shirley Eaton in Goldfinger.
A Real Charmer
United Artists – Credit: C/O
Shakespeare writes that Fleming finally became convinced that Connery was the right Bond, writing to his muse and mistress, Blanche Blackwell: “the man they have chosen for Bond, Sean Connery, is a real charmer – fairly unknown but a good actor with the right looks and physique.”
Above: Sean Connery with Ursula Andress and Fleming in a publicity image for Dr. No.
Athleticism
United Artists – Credit: C/O
Whether or not he was an “over-developed stuntman,” Connery’s athleticism was a key component of his success as 007.
Above, he cavorts on a Jamaican beach with Ursula Andress, who played Honey Ryder in Dr. No.
His chemistry with Andress on Dr. No was a huge part of the first Bond film’s success, and would provide a template for Bond’s dynamics with legions of future “Bond girls.”
The chemistry came through even though Andress’ voice was dubbed for the role. (Andress’ languages include French, German, and Italian, but her English was accented.)
“He was very protective towards me, he was adorable, fantastic,” Andress said in a 2020 interview with the Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera after Connery’s death at 90. “He adored women, He was undoubtedly very much a man.”
Friends
United Artists – Credit: C/O
Andress, who was married to John Derek while making Dr. No, added of Connery in the Corriere della Sera interview:
“We spent many evenings together and he would invite me everywhere, Monte Carlo, London, New York, from when we met until now we always remained friends. Friends, friends.’”
Good as Gold
United Artists
Connery played Bond in seven films in all. What’s the best? For our money, it’s 1964’s Goldfinger, in which Connery starred opposite Honor Blackman as Pussy Galore.
Above, they rehearse an infamous scene that, let’s admit, has aged badly.
While later Bond actors would lean into the campier aspects of the character, Connery played him seriously. He once said that “portraying Bond is just as serious as playing Macbeth on stage,” according to Shakespeare. (Ian, not William.)
Above: Connery enjoys some downtime on the set of 1965’s Thunderball.
Buoyant
United Artists – Credit: C/O
Despite his serious approach to the role, Connery had just the right mix of seriousness and levity to play the deadly superspy who treats everything like a game.
That’s him behind the scenes of Thunderball with Claudine Auger, who played Domino.
Given the technology of the time, sometimes Connery was forced into Roger Moore levels of silliness. That’s him behind the scenes of 1967’s You Only Live Twice, above.
It only adds to the charm.
Forever
United Artists – Credit: C/O
Sean Connery left the Bond franchise after You Only Live Twice, and George Lazenby took over for 1969’s On Her Majesty’s Secret Service, perhaps the most tragic of all Bond movies, given its bummer ending.
But Connery returned for 1971’s Diamonds Are Forever.
Above, he shares a laugh on the Diamonds Are Forever set with Jill St. John.
Never Say Never?
Warner Bros. – Credit: C/O
That was it for Sean Connery as James Bond — until 1984, when he was lured back one last time.
1983’s Never Say NeverAgain was a reference to Connery’s 1971 quote that he would never again play Bond. Like Thunderball, it is based on Ian Fleming’s Thunderball — yes, that’s right. Is it a remake? Kind of, but it’s updated with Bond frequently referencing his advancing years. (Connery was 52 at the time of filming, and would live for another 38 years.)
Never Say Never Again was released by Warner Bros. rather than the usual Bond distributor, United Artists, because of a completed rights dispute we don’t have to get into here.
Above, Connery waits in the water with Kim Basinger, the new Domino.
Liked These Behind the Scene Photos of Sean Connery as the First James Bond, Agent 007?
Here are some Airplane behind the scenes stories we think you’ll enjoy.
But First
Credit: Paramount
Airplane! almost didn’t take off. Studios didn’t initially see the potential of the the script for a disaster movie takeoff, which played the comedy completely straight in a way you had to see to understand. It was also crucial to cast Ted Hays and Julie Hagerty as romantic leads the audience would stay invested in despite the absurdity all around them.
But after brother Jerry and David Zucker and their friend Jim Abrahams proved their comic chops with the cult classic Kentucky Fried Movie, they got the runway to make Airplane!, one of the most beloved comedies of all.
And now… the Airplane! behind the scenes stories.
The Studio Wanted Bill Murray or Chevy Chase
Warner Bros.
Airplane! writers-directors David and Jerry Zucker and Jim Abrahams — aka ZAZ — always wanted their actors to play it straight — and to cast stars known for drama. But Paramount Pictures, understandably, thought that since the 1980 release was a comedy, it should feature some of the biggest comedy stars of the day.
“The requests kept coming in from the studio that we have this or that actor in to read,” David Zucker said in ZAZ’s excellent 2023 book Surely You Can’t Be Serious: The True Story of Airplane. “Comedians like Bill Murray and Chevy Chase.”
Chase and Murray, of course, ended up in another huge 1980 comedy, Caddyshack (above).
Leslie Nielsen Had a Fart Machine
Paramount – Credit: C/O
Leslie Nielsen, known before Airplane! for dramatic roles, was also known for carrying around a machine that made rude noises.
“I think that the little fart machine he always carried with him might have been his way of coping with a career filled with heavy drama,” Jerry Zucker said in Surely You Can’t Be Serious: The True Story of Airplane!
“A friend of his made them for him. I do remember he was selling them on the set. After a while the whole crew had them and all you’d hear was constant farting sounds. I could never get mine to work right, but Leslie… played it like a virtuoso.”
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar recalled that Nielsen loved to press the button “whenever we were doing dialogue. At first, I thought he just had some sort of intestinal problem.”
The PA Announcers Were a Real Couple Who Actually Did Airport Announcements
Paramount – Credit: C/O
ZAZ couldn’t find the right actors to read the lines from the feuding PA announcers, so they tracked down the people who did the real airport PA recordings. It turned out to be a married couple who had sold the PA system to the airport.
“So we asked them to come in and give it a try. They did it perfectly,” Jerry Zucker said in Surely You Can’t Be Serious.
Zucker-Abrahams-Zucker Grew Up Making Fun of Serious Shows
Future Airplane! star Robert Stack in The Untouchables. ABC – Credit: C/O
Jim Abrahams and brothers Jerry and David Zucker grew up together, and their dads were business partners in a real estate company.
In their 2023 book Surely You Can’t Be Serious: The True Story of Airplane!, Jerrry Zucker explained that they spent hours, growing up, watching serious TV shows like The Untouchables, Sea Hunt, and Mission: Impossible — “shows where the characters just took themselves so seriously, and we’d blurt out ridiculous lines for them to say.”
And in Airplane, “we actually got those same tough-guy actors to say the lines we always wished they would have said.” They included Untouchables star Robert Stack, Sea Hunt star Lloyd Bridges, and Mission: Impossible star Peter Graves.
That was the origin of their approach to comedy — play it totally straight, and totally absurd.
ZAZ Were Always Huge Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Fans
Paramount – Credit: C/O
Surely You Can’t Be Serious includes a letter that Jim Abrahams, 25 at the time, wrote to his local newspaper, The Milwaukee Sentinel, complaining about its overly harsh coverage of Abdul-Jabbar, who was then known as Lew Alcindor. (Abdul-Jabbar played for the Milwaukee Bucks from 1969-75.)
Years later, of course, ZAZ cast Abdul-Jabbar in Airplane! to make fun of the practice of action movies casting sports stars.
In Airplane!, of course, Abdul-Jabbar pretends he’s just co-pilot Roger Murdoch, not Abdul-Jabbar, even as a 10-year-old boy calls him out.
The Creators of Airplane! Influenced Four-Time Oscar Nominee Willem Dafoe
Willem Dafoe in American Psycho. Lionsgate. – Credit: C/O
As young men, ZAZ founded a comedy theater in Madison, Wisconsin with their friend Dick Chudnow. They named it Kentucky Fried Theater after the fast food chain.
A young Willem Dafoe was among those who saw an early Kentucky Fried Theater Show in the early 1970s, when his older sister Dee Dee took him to see one at the University of Wisconsin.
“That really made me think, I could be doing this,” he told Esquire in a 2018 profile “You don’t have to be a card-carrying industry person.”
Soon the team moved to Los Angeles and started a new theater.
Zucker-Abrahams-Zucker started out writing Airplane! as a parody of all disaster movies, but based it especially on the 1957 airplane drama Zero Hour.
They used the concept — a romance in mid-air, as our heroes struggle to land the plane safely — but packed it with jokes.
ZAZ Had No Idea How to Write a Script, at First
Jenny Agutter in An American Werewolf in London. Universal. – Credit: C/O
When ZAZ started out on their Zero Hour parody in the 1970s, they weren’t sure how to start. Then they saw John Landis on The Tonight Show in 1973, talking about his low-budget monster movie tribute Schlock, of which Johnny Carson was a fan. Landis had made the film at 21.
Zucker called him up and invited them to a performance of their comedy show at the Kentucky Fried Theater, where ZAZ told Landis about their movie idea. But they didn’t know anything about writing a screenplay, so he gave them a copy of his own An American Werewolf in London, which he would finally get to make into a movie in 1981.
ZAZ used it as a template as they wrote Airplane. But when they couldn’t find backing for Airplane, they decided to make a film based on their live comedy sketches — which became Kentucky Fried Movie.
Robert Hays Came Up With the Jacket Joke
Airplane Disco Scene – Credit: C/O
In the Saturday Night Fever sequence, Robert Hays had the idea for one of the best jokes — he stalks onto the dance floor and dramatically throws off his jacket… only to have someone throw it back at him,
“That was my idea! I actually came up with something!” he self-effacingly said in Surely You Can’t Be Serious.
It’s a great throwaway joke — pun very much intended — but for our money the funniest moment in the Airplane disco scene may be when Elaine picks Ted up, loosely grips his legs (then just his shoes) and swings him around the dance floor.
Airplane! Filmed Alongside Raging Bull
United Artists – Credit: C/O
The classic comedy and ultra-serious Martin Scorsese drama both shot at Culver City Studios.
“So once in a while, we could walk over to their stage and watch Martin Scorses direct Robert De Niro in boxing scenes,” Jim Abrahams said in Surely You Can’t Be Serious.
The Crash Scene Could Have Been a Real-Life Disaster
Paramount – Credit: C/O
Airplane! wrapped shooting on August 8, 1979. Its final shot was the 747 crashing through the glass, into the terminal.
Because it involved a fake plane nose on a flatbed 10-ton truck, tempered glass that was essential for safety, 100 extras and 50 stuntmen, it was a huge production. Howard Koch, who was in charge of the production for Paramount and was known for being laid-back and supportive, was shocked at the expense.
“That was one of the few times we saw Howard furious,” David Zucker said in Surely You Can’t Be Serious.
But the shot was worth it: Besides getting a huge laugh in the film, it was used in the trailer and promotion , and provided the backdrop for cast and crew photos.
Leslie Nielsen Really Hit That Lady
Paramount – Credit: C/O
Lee Bryant plays the hysterical woman who is battered by fellow passengers. The script called for her to be shaken, but Bryant has the idea that Lorna Patterson, as the flight attendant, should shake her very hard, and that a man should then take over, shaking her even harder, then slapping her.
After that, Leslie Nielsen’s doctor slaps her — twice — and then a nun takes over. Soon we see a long line of passengers lining up — one in boxing gloves, one holding a knife, one holding a gun.
“Leslie was the only one who actually slapped me,” Bryant later said. “He even threw in an extra one. I guess he was improvising.”
Zucker-Abrahams-Zucker Cast Their Moms
Paramount – Credit: C/O
David and Jerry Zucker cast their mom, Charlotte Zucker, as the woman putting on makeup during turbulence. Jim Abrahams mom, Louise Abrahams Yaffe, is the character who introduces Leslie Nielsen’s character in the film by saying, “”Oh stewardess? I think the man next to me is a doctor.” (He is wearing a stethoscope at the time.)
The moms also posed for a picture with TV mom Barbara Billingsley.
ZAZ Had Serious Leave it to Beaver Credentials
United Film Distribution Company – Credit: C/O
Leave it to Beaver, the squeaky clean black-and-white family sitcom that aired from 1957-63, was a staple of the Zucker household.
It starred Barbara Billingsley as June Cleaver, Hugh Beaumont as Ward Cleaver, Tony Dow as his their teenage son Wally, and Jerry Mathers as the Beaver, aka Theodore.
Zucker, Abrahams and Zucker were huge fans of the show that they even cast one of Tony Dow in their first film, 1977’sThe Kentucky Fried Movie. In a courtroom scene, he played his Leave it to Beaver character, Wally, while Jerry Zucker played Theodore. Then, of course, they cast Barbara Billingsley in Airplane!
The Jive Scene Was Inspired by Shaft
MGM – Credit: C/O
Jim Abrahams, who wrote and directed Airplane with brothers Jerry Zucker and David Zucker, explained in an Airplane behind-the-scenes commentary that “the whole notion for jive dialogue originated from when we went on saw Shaft,” referring to Gordon Parks’ 1971 blaxploitation-action classic, starring Richard Roundtree (above).
“We went and saw it and didn’t understand what they were saying,” Abrahams said.
They decided to include some jokes in Airplane about slang that would befuddle white people: “So we did our best as three nice Jewish boys from Milwaukee writing jive talk in the script,” Abrahams said.
The Original Airplane Jive Talk Script Was Lacking
(L-R) David Abrahams, Jerry Zucker and David Zucker in the Airplane commentary. Paramount. – Credit: C/O
David Zucker explained that when Norman Alexander Gibbs and Al White auditioned for their roles, “they came in and they had prepared this entire run of jive talking and we were just hysterically laughing the whole time.”
Al White explained in Zucker-Abrahams-Zucker’s excellent 2023 book Surely You Can’t Be Serious: The True Story of Airplane, that when he read the script, “I couldn’t make hide nor hair of the actual verbiage… they wanted jive as a language, which it is not.”
He and Gibbs agreed to work on it. So White consulted two books on language, one of which was by J.L. Dillard, a linguist known for his expertise on African-American vernacular, and then took the meaning of the writers’ script and tried to “jive it down, using actual words.” He explained: “It’s not a bunch of gibberish. It does mean something.”
Al White Put a Lot of Gray Matter Into the Airplane Jive Scene Rewrites
Paramount – Credit: C/O
Here’s an example of Al White’s contributions, which illustrates how much he finessed the jive dialogue.
At one point, White’s Second Jive Dude tells Gibbs’ First Jive Dude, aka Arthur: “That gray matter back, lotta performers down, not take TCB-in’, man!”
White explains in Surely You Can’t Be Serious how he came up with the phrase: “I needed a word to jive down the word ‘remember,’ but I didn’t find it in either of the books, so I said, ‘Well, let me see — gray matter. That’s the thinking part of the brain, and ‘back’ for remember back. I can say ‘Gray matter back.’
“And from there I’m just saying that a lot of performers stayed down and weren’t taking care of business on the technical side… man!”
The film translates all this jive as “Each of us faces a clear moral choice.”
Barbara Billingsley Was Cast in the Airplane Jive Scene by Being ‘the Whitest White Lady on the Planet’
Paramount
“Just the thought of June Cleaver in that role made us laugh,” David Zucker said in Surely You Can’t Be Serious. “She was simply the whitest white lady on the planet.”
Billingsley said in an interview for the Archive of American Television, “I was sent the script, and I thought it was the craziest script I’d ever read. My husband said, ‘I think it’s funny!’ Well, my part wasn’t written, really. It just said I talked jive. So I went to see the producers and I said I would do it.”
Jerry Zucker said meeting her “was like we had been put up for adoption, and now we were finally getting to meet our real mom.”
Al White and Norman Alexander Gibbs Taught Barbara Billingsley Jive
Paramount – Credit: C/O
“These fellas were wonderful, and they taught me,” Billingley said in her Archive of American Television interview. “They could rattle off jive like you have no idea. I could never get a clue as to how it was done. … Maybe they were good teachers!”
She also said she had done some research into the history of jive, and that no one knew if it was “street talk” or if enslaved Black people had invented it because “they didn’t want whitey to know what they were talking about.”
Al White explained in the book, “I ended up writing Barbara Billingley’s jive dialogue and instructing her in the proper elocution. She was very intent on getting it right.”
White’s mother was a Leave it to Beaver fan, and White asked Billingsley if she would mind talking with her on the phone. “I called my mother, and I said, ‘Mom, I have Barbara Billingsley here, and she’d actually like to speak with you. She was so excited, and Barbara was so gracious,” White said in the book.
The Airplane Girl Scout Joke Has a Backstory
Paramount – Credit: C/O
Airplane! also includes a ridiculous bar fight involving girl scounts. ZAZ loved jokes about girl scouts.
When they ran the Kentucky Fried Theater, the program included a page entitled, “Things to do after the show.” They included: Visit a dairy and see how milk is handled and prepared for delivery; plan a series of window displays on home safety; help start a library; discuss with your dentist what you can do to make your teeth more attractive.”
All those suggestions are from The Girl Scout Handbook.
Thanks for Reading These Airplane! Behind the Scenes Stories
