Many Happy Returns to the original (and best?!) James Bond to grace the big screen, Sean Connery.

Born on this day in working-class Edinburgh family, Connery flirted with many careers (including milkman, a stint in the Royal Navy, a lorry driver and even a male model for the Edinburgh College of Art) before fame came a’ callin’.

His debut as Bond came in the 1962 film Dr. No, and he would go on the play the suave secret agent for a further six films (ending in 1983 with Never Say Never Again).

Here’s an iconic scene from early favourite Goldfinger, which gives a whole new meaning to “roasted nuts”.

He was able to cast off the Bond shackles (something that Roger Moore would never achieve) and go on to do some sterling work throughout the eighties and nineties.

One of his most famous post-Bond roles was that of tough-talking Irish cop, Jimmy Malone, in 1987’s The Untouchables. The part won him the Best Supporting Actor Oscar for that year (good job they didn’t take into account his atrocious attempt at doing an accent) and this scene from the film shows Connery at this commanding best:

He’s also worked with some of Hollywood’s greatest filmmakers throughout his career, including the likes of Alfred Hitchcock, Terry Gilliam, Gus Van Sant and Steven Spielberg, who cast him in the role of Indy’s Dad, Henry Jones Jr, in the third film in the series.

He’s a fun scene from that film, between him and his screen son, Harrison Ford.

Connery has been in self-imposed retirement since his unhappy working experience on the set of 2003’s The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen (to be fair, he was 73 at the time!), but he still plays an active part in Scottish politics and society (he always makes an appearance at the annual Edinburgh International Film Festival).

Many Happy Returns Sir Sean Connery – you have left a legacy for cinema fans, both shaken and stirred by your work in Bond and beyond.