Sean Connery on TV: How His Star Power Went Beyond the Big Screen

Sean Connery has more than 50 years of experience acting for film and is known far and wide for his silver screen roles as gentlemen and scholars and rogues and reprobates. He’s played debonair spies, reclusive writers, and ex-cons in famous Hollywood films, but his résumé includes more than box office hits: he also made a mark on TV.

It is true that he is best known for roles like James Bond in the 007 films and professor Henry Jones in “Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade,” but the Scottish actor has also appeared on many television shows, including ITV "Plays of the Week" and "BBC Sunday Night Theatre," where he got his start acting in front of a camera instead of on a stage.

Here are 10 of Sean Connery’s TV appearances, which exhibit how his star power went beyond the big screen.

1. “Requiem for a Heavyweight”: Connery played Mountain McClintock, a washed-up boxer, in this 1957 BBC "Sunday Night Theatre." It was his first significant role.

2. “Anna Christie”: This 1957 TV movie had Connery playing opposite Jill Bennett in Eugene O’Neill’s production.

3. “Without the Grail”: Connery is investigating a tea plantation owner in this TV movie made in 1960.

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4. “Riders to the Sea”: The part of Bartley was Connery’s in the 1960 TV movie drama about the cruelty of the sea.

5. “An Age of Kings”: Connery was in six episodes of this 1960 series that linked Shakespeare’s historical plays documenting the monarchs between Richard II and Richard III.

6. “Macbeth”: Continuing with the theme of Shakespeare plays, Connery portrayed the title character in this TV movie in 1961.

7. “Adventure Story”: A TV adventure series about two young men stranded on an island starred Connery for five episodes in 1961.

8. “Anna Karenina”: Connery played Count Vronsky, Anna’s lover, in this 1961 made for TV movie.

9. “Male of the Species”: In this 1969 TV movie, Connery played alongside Michael Caine and Laurence Olivier.

10. “Freedom: A History of Us”: Connery was in one episode in 2003 of this documentary TV series. He played John Muir.

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