Sean Connery’s Australian Bond successor pays tribute

Connery, who first brought suave spy James Bond to screen and is considered among many to be the best to have played 007, has died at age 90.

Mr Connery’s family said he died overnight in the Bahamas after being unwell for some time, the BBC reported.

Australian actor George Lazenby replaced Connery as Bond in On Her Majesty’s Secret Service in 1969.

Lazenby said it was just a “few weeks ago” that he contacted Connery to congratulate on him reaching 90.

“Now, I'm very sad to be condoling with his family and friends,” Lazenby tweeted.

“Of course, Sean Connery as James Bond inspired me personally but seems to have encapsulated an age, the Sixties.

“I met Sean a couple of times and I was pleased he'd given my Bond film, On Her Majesty's Secret Service, his seal of approval.”

Lazenby, 81, wrote about Connery’s time away from the screen and his generosity to charities and his passion for golf.

“He was going to do my film many times and felt it was the best of the Fleming tales. But, to me, the most important thing was his work went far beyond Bond: into charity, into family, into politics and into golf,” he wrote.

“A man after my own heart. A great actor, a great man and underappreciated artist has left us. My thoughts are with Lady Micheline and Sean’s children and grandchildren. Only love, George XXX”

Jackman said he grew up idolising the Scot.

Many other entertainers posted tributes and memories.

Sir Michael Caine, 87, whose career ran parallel to Connery’s, appeared in two movies with the Scot, A Bridge Too Far and The Man Who Would be King.

Eighties sex symbol Bo Derek, who appeared with Connery on a telecast of the Academy Awards, posted a photo of herself and Connery.

English actor Valerie Leon, who appeared in Never Say Never Again, when Connery reprised the role in an unofficial Bond movie, called him the “definitive” 007.

Connery was handed his knighthood in 2000 by Queen Elizabeth.

He retired from acting in 2006 although his last credited role was as a voice actor on the animated comedy movie The Bili in 2012.

In recent years he had largely become a recluse, rarely leaving a gated community in the Bahamas where he lived with his second wife Micheline Roquebrune.

He celebrated his 90th birthday in August, when he was spotted in public for the first time in three years looking cheerful as he enjoyed a round of golf.