Sir Sean Connery, who died at 90 recently, is “going home for good”, said the British screen legend’s widow Micheline Roquebrune.
In a recent interview with Fox News, Roquebrune said: “We are going to bring Sean back to Scotland — that was his final wish.”
The first man to play British super-spy James Bond or Agent 007 in a film based on his creator Ian Fleming’s novel series, died at his home in the Bahamas on Oct 31.
Roquebrune, 91, said: “Sean wanted his ashes to be scattered in the Bahamas and also in his homeland.
“Whenever it is possible and safe to travel again, then it is the family’s intention to return to Scotland with him. We would like to organise a memorial service for him in Scotland — that is our hope. But we cannot say when this will happen exactly.”
Roquebrune, who was with Connery when he died in his sleep, also revealed that the star would be cremated at a private service in the Caribbean island country. His ashes will then be kept safe “until we can travel” amid the coronavirus pandemic.
“We do not know when this will be possible,” said Roquebrune.
Connery’s wife and two sons previously said that he “died peacefully in his sleep surrounded by family”.
Connery’s actor son Jason said that his father had been “unwell for some time”.
Edinburgh-born Connery rose to international superstardom as suave secret agent 007 in the James Bond franchise. He later carved an Oscar-winning career that lasted for decades.
He was in his early 30s when he starred in the first Bond thriller, 1962’s Dr No.
Condemned as immoral by the Vatican and the Kremlin but screened at the White House for the then United States President John F Kennedy, a huge Bond fan, Dr No was a box-office hit and launched a franchise that long outlasted its Cold War origins.
Connery continued as Bond in From Russia With Love, Goldfinger, Thunderball, You Only Live Twice and Diamonds Are Forever, often performing his own stunts.
The iconic secret agent was later portrayed by Australian actor George Lazenby, British actors Sir Roger Moore and Timothy Dalton, Irish actor Pierce Brosnan and the current Bond, British actor Daniel Craig.
Connery’s other well-known films included Highlander (1986), The Name of the Rose (1986), The Untouchables (1987), Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989), The Hunt for Red October (1990), The Rock (1996), and Entrapment (1999) which was mostly filmed in Malaysia. – NST