SEAN CONNERY

"I admire your luck, Mr...?"

"Bond. James Bond."

1962-1967, 1971

What more is there to say about Sean Connery at this point? He's an institution. An icon. For many he isn't just James Bond, but the the James Bond that was, and will always be, the best.

While he isn't my favourite, I can certainly see his appeal. He had this "cat-like" coolness about him, even under pressure. Nothing fazed him. He somehow managed to get away with mistreating women in a way that his successors simply could not (Moore on that later). And unlike any other Bond since, he was suited to the action side of the character from the beginning, having come from a rough background. His infamous charm? That was coached into him by the director, yet he wielded it so well you could've fooled me.

So why isn't he my favourite like he is everyone else's? It's hard to say. A large part of anyone's opinion on a long-running character like this is going to be the incarnation they grew up with, much like Doctor Who. And unfortunately as only a casual Bond fan, Sean Connery will always at least partly be "that Bond from my parents' era" to me. Coupled with the tone of his films being rather whimsical and cheesy at times (volcano base in You Only Live Twice, a laser satellite powered by diamonds in Diamonds are Forever), I just find him hard to take seriously at times, especially in contrast to more recent films in the series.

Which is nothing against the guy or what he did. Just a consequence of the passage of time. That's unavoidable when a franchise has been going for 60 years and has seen many shifts in global trends, similar to what happened with The Adventures of Tintin - another series I adore from start to finish.