Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, March 3, 1990 TAG: 9003033048
SECTION: SPECTATOR PAGE: 16 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Los Angeles Daily News
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
And, like the character his father, Sean Connery, originated on the screen, the younger Connery's latest role is of a man who likes his martinis shaken, not stirred; his women beguiling and beautiful and his cars fast and fancy.
The difference is that Connery is not playing superspy James Bond; he is portraying the life of 007's creator, Ian Fleming.
At 8 p.m., 10 p.m. and midnight Monday, TNT presents "The Secret Life of Ian Fleming," a two-hour film based on the life of the author who captured the fancy of millions of readers with his tales of the elegant, suave and seemingly indestructible spy.
Although the authors of the screenplay used some dramatic license in bringing Fleming's life to the screen, Connery said much of the story was based on fact.
"Most of the events are true, although they are dramatized," said Connery. "He really was an enormously interesting man. He was very innovative and strong and did things in his own way, never in a straight line."
Fleming began his life as a privileged member of British aristocracy. He was educated at Eton and Sandhurst and, at the age of 21, took a job with Reuters news service as a Moscow correspondent.
Four years later, he exchanged his journalism career for one as a banker and stockbroker.
When World War II broke out, he was recruited into British Naval Intelligence, where he was involved in activities very much in the James Bond tradition.
After the war, he became foreign manager of the London Sunday Times until 1959, by which time he had become better-known as an author than as a newspaperman.
Six feet tall, blond and athletic, Connery seems to fit easily into the role of Fleming.
"I think it's quite ironic," he said about playing the creator of the elegant spy his father first brought to the big screen in 1962's "Dr. No." "But Dad made his last Bond film in 1971 (when Jason was 8), and he was a very private man, so I was shielded from a lot of the things that went on about them.
"My father has never made me feel as though we were in competition. Acting is what I love to do, and I hope I am doing it well."
The 27-year-old bachelor now resides in Fulham, a suburb of London. He began his career eight years ago, working mainly in British repertory theater.
Among his film credits are "The Lords of Discipline," "The First Olympics: Athens 1896" and "Casablanca Express."
In 1984, he starred in the Australian film "The Boy Who Had Everything" with his mother, actress Diane Cilento. The role earned him a nomination for the Australian equivalent of the Academy Awards.
by CNB