From the archives: Connery's Bond

Sean Connery becomes James Bond

Fifty years after he first played the role of James Bond, Sean Connery's arched eyebrow is as much an icon of 007 as his martini. But Connery almost didn't get the part. In 1999, he sat down with 60 Minutes and explained that the author of the Bond series had wanted a bigger star.

"Ian Flemming wanted Cary Grant, and then he wanted Trevor Howard," Connery said. "Well, their salaries would have taken care of the budget."

Luckily for Connery, the movie's makers only had $1 million to spend on the film, so they settled on the Scotsman.

From the archives: Connery's Bond

Connery's Bond: Sex symbol?

After seven Bond box-office hits, it was clear that Connery seized the imagination of female fans. In his 1999 60 Minutes interview, Steve Kroft asked about Connery's experience as a 007 sex symbol: "So you took advantage of it?"

Connery's reply: "No, I was taken advantage of."

From the archives: Connery's Bond

Sean Connery vs. James Bond

"Hello Mr. Bond."

That's how people continued to greet Sean Connery on the street long after his Bond days were over. "It'll always be there," Connery told Steve Kroft in 1999.