Sean Connery Bond Films in Order: All Six, 1962 to 1971
Sean Connery played James Bond in six Eon Productions films, running from Dr. No in 1962 to Diamonds Are Forever in 1971, with one film by another actor in the middle of that run. All six are stations on my James Bond movie plot art print, and the Connery stretch is the part of the map where the recurring lines are at their straightest.
Below are the Sean Connery Bond films in order, along with every villain he faced and the three MI6 regulars who never changed across the whole decade.
The Sean Connery Bond Films in Order
- Dr. No (1962)
- From Russia with Love (1963)
- Goldfinger (1964)
- Thunderball (1965)
- You Only Live Twice (1967)
- Diamonds Are Forever (1971)
Five of those came in six years. Then Connery stepped away, George Lazenby made On Her Majesty's Secret Service in 1969, and Connery came back once for Diamonds Are Forever. That single gap is the only break in his line on the map.
There is a seventh Connery outing that people reasonably count, Never Say Never Again in 1983. It was made outside the Eon series under a separate rights deal, so it sits outside the run the map draws.
Every Villain Connery's Bond Faced
Six films, six principal antagonists, and a supporting cast of enforcers who are often better remembered than the men giving the orders.
| Film | Principal villain | Enforcers and second antagonists |
|---|---|---|
| Dr. No (1962) | Dr. Julius No (Joseph Wiseman) | Professor Dent (Anthony Dawson), Miss Taro (Zena Marshall) |
| From Russia with Love (1963) | Rosa Klebb (Lotte Lenya) | Red Grant (Robert Shaw), Kronsteen (Vladek Sheybal) |
| Goldfinger (1964) | Auric Goldfinger (Gert Fröbe) | Oddjob (Harold Sakata) |
| Thunderball (1965) | Emilio Largo (Adolfo Celi) | Fiona Volpe (Luciana Paluzzi), Count Lippe (Guy Doleman) |
| You Only Live Twice (1967) | Ernst Stavro Blofeld (Donald Pleasence) | Helga Brandt (Karin Dor), Mr Osato (Teru Shimada) |
| Diamonds Are Forever (1971) | Ernst Stavro Blofeld (Charles Gray) | Mr Wint (Bruce Glover), Mr Kidd (Putter Smith) |
One detail I like from the Goldfinger credits: Gert Fröbe is on screen, but the voice is not his. His English was not strong enough at the time, so Michael Collins dubbed the dialogue. The performance most people can quote from memory is two people.
Blofeld Has No Face for His First Two Appearances
Blofeld arrives in From Russia with Love, and is in Thunderball too, but you never see him. In both films the body belongs to Anthony Dawson, uncredited, with Eric Pohlmann supplying the voice, also uncredited. Donald Pleasence gave him a face for the first time in You Only Live Twice, Telly Savalas took the part for On Her Majesty's Secret Service, and Charles Gray played him opposite Connery again in Diamonds Are Forever.
Anthony Dawson is the odd one out in that list, because he had already appeared in the series as Professor Dent in Dr. No. Two separate antagonists, one actor, and only one of them with a credit.
Three Lines That Never Break Across the Connery Run
While the villains change every film, the Whitehall end of the map barely moves.
- Bernard Lee as M. In all six Connery films, and in eleven Eon films in total, from Dr. No through to Moonraker in 1979.
- Lois Maxwell as Miss Moneypenny. In all six, and in fourteen Eon films, from Dr. No in 1962 to A View to a Kill in 1985.
- Q. Peter Burton played the armourer in Dr. No, credited as Major Boothroyd. Desmond Llewelyn took the role from From Russia with Love onwards and held it for seventeen films, finishing with The World Is Not Enough in 1999. That is the longest run any actor has had in the series.
This is the sort of thing a map shows better than a list does. Three long horizontal lines run clean through the early stations while everything above and below them terminates after one film.
Felix Leiter Changes Actor Almost Every Time
The CIA contact is the opposite case. Felix Leiter appears in four of Connery's six films, and each time a different actor plays him: Jack Lord in Dr. No, Cec Linder in Goldfinger, Rik Van Nutter in Thunderball and Norman Burton in Diamonds Are Forever. He is absent from From Russia with Love and You Only Live Twice altogether.
Four actors in four appearances tells you how the production treated the part. M and Moneypenny were fixtures. Leiter was a function.
Why Casino Royale (1967) Is Not on This List
The 1967 Casino Royale is a comedy made under a separate rights deal, with David Niven as Sir James Bond, John Huston as M and Barbara Bouchet as Moneypenny. Connery is not in it. It shares a title with the 2006 film and almost nothing else, which is why it sits outside the Eon sequence the map plots.
What the Bond Map Is, and What Size to Get
The James Bond movie character lines tube map plots all 25 Eon films as stations, with every recurring character running as a named line and each actor identified at the point they take the role. The Connery films are the first six stations. If you want the whole sequence rather than just the Connery years, I have a separate piece listing all 25 Bond films in release order.
It comes in A3 (420 x 297 mm), A2 (594 x 420 mm) and A1 (841 x 594 mm), with three inch formats sold alongside the A sizes rather than as conversions of them: 16 x 12 in, 24 x 18 in and 36 x 24 in. Unframed from £35, or ready to hang in a black wood frame at £125 for A2 and £175 for A1. Every print is a Giclée on 230gsm acid-free matte fine art paper. If it is going somewhere people stand close to it, a hallway or a study, A1 is the one, because the actor names on the shorter lines stay comfortably readable.
Related Film Plot Maps
If the Bond map appeals, the two closest in spirit are the Blade Runner plot map, which tracks every character across a single night, and the Shining plot map, where almost nothing leaves the hotel. You can see the rest in my film plot map collection.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many Bond films did Sean Connery make?
Six for Eon Productions, between 1962 and 1971. If you include Never Say Never Again in 1983, which was made outside the Eon series, the answer is seven.
Which Sean Connery Bond film came first?
Dr. No, released in 1962, with Joseph Wiseman as the title villain and Ursula Andress as Honey Ryder.
Why is there a gap between You Only Live Twice and Diamonds Are Forever?
Connery left the role after You Only Live Twice in 1967. George Lazenby played Bond in On Her Majesty's Secret Service in 1969, and Connery returned for one more film in 1971.
Which Bond villain did Connery face twice?
Blofeld, played by Donald Pleasence in You Only Live Twice and by Charles Gray in Diamonds Are Forever. He also faced an unseen Blofeld in From Russia with Love and Thunderball.
What is not on the James Bond map?
The map covers the Eon Productions films only. The 1967 Casino Royale spoof and Never Say Never Again are not included, and neither are the novels, the video games or the one-off television adaptation of Casino Royale from 1954. Characters who appear in a single film with no dialogue are also left off, because a line needs somewhere to go.
If you are buying for someone who can name the actor who dubbed Gert Fröbe, the Bond film plot map is the one. If you are not sure which map they would want, a gift card lets them choose.
My work is intended as a complement to the work of Eon Productions and is in no way endorsed by that company.
