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On October 31, the world bade farewell to Sean Connery, the first actor to portray fictional British secret agent James Bond. The Scottish actor passed away in his sleep, in his Bahamas house, aged 90.
According to his wife Micheline Roquebrune, Connery died of dementia, a disease he suffered from in his final years. Following his death, Micheline said that he «was a model of a man».
«He was gorgeous and we had a wonderful life together. It is going to be very hard without him. But it could not last forever and he went peaceful», said the French-Moroccan widow who lived with Connery for 45 years.
Indeed, the Scottish James Bond married the painter after a love story that started in the 1970s in Morocco. The pair met on the sidelines of a golf tournament in the Kingdom.
A love story in Morocco
Micheline was participating to the tournament and when she met Connery, she did not know that he was a big star and knew nothing about him. In a 2011 interview, the French-Moroccan, who had been married twice before meeting the actor, said that she was attracted to his «fine physique». «I did not know who he was or anything about him», she said.
She also told the Sun that it did not take too long for them to «hit it off». «The next day I went back to the tournament and that was that», she said.
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Sean Connery and his wife during the Marrakech Film Festival in 2004. / DR
The pair started dating right after Connery’s trip to Morocco. But the beginnings were not easy. According to Connery, during «the early days», it was «difficult for [them] to see each other». «She was still living in North Africa with her children», he said.
Five years later, the pair united and tied the knot. They then moved to the Bahamas where they lived ever since. The couple never had children together, but they enjoyed their marriage life and shared common interests.
They both loved golfing and enjoyed creating. While working as a painter, Micheline was also a play producer and her Broadway play Art earned a Tony Award, according to the Sun. She was also part of the crew of Connery’s 1983 James Bond film Never Say Never Again.
Connery's iconic films in Morocco
In addition to his love for his Moroccan-French wife, Connery was also in love with her native country. Two of his movies were shot in Morocco, and a third one, namely The Wind and the Lion, was about the Kingdom. In the movie he plays the role of Moroccan historical figure Moulay Ahmed Raissouni.
The film is a 1975 production that tells the story of the real-life abduction of American-Greek playboy Ion Perdicaris.
During the same year, Connery starred in a movie he considers among his favorites «The Man Who Would be King». Shot in Ouarzazate, the movie tells the story of two rogue ex-soldiers who set off from late 19th-century British India in search of adventure and end up in faraway Kafiristan, where one is taken for a god and made their king.
Sean Connery as Ahmed Raissouni in his film The Wind and the Lion. / DR
In 1986, Connery returned to Morocco for a movie that has never been premiered. The film is called «Afghanistan Why?», starred by Connery, Egyptian actress Souad Hosny and directed by Abdullah Al-Mesbahi.
The movie, according to Al-Mesbahi, remained locked into the shelves of the Moroccan Film Center, after production was halted. «Although 70% of the scenes of the film have been filmed, the reason for not showing it so far is the lack of completion of the scenes related to the battles, which require the use of heavy weapons, tanks and army trucks. And the Moroccan army refused to use its military machines in the cinematic work», Egyptian newspaper Al-Youm Al-Sabea reported.
In 2004, Connery and his wife Micheline returned to Morocco. This time, they arrived in Marrakech to receive the lifetime achievement award at the annual Marrakech International Film Festival.
