On October 31st, actor Sean Connery passed away at the age of 90. While Connery is arguably most famous for being the first actor to play James Bond on film, there were plenty of other roles that cemented him as a Hollywood icon, including playing Henry Jones Sr. in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. Now Connery’s costar from the 1989 threequel, Harrison Ford, has paid tribute to his late costar.
Although Sean Connery and Harrison were only about 12 years separated in age, they nonetheless had an astounding rapport as the father/son duo, which was one of Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade’s chief highlights. Here’s what Ford had to say about his time working with Connery in a statement to Variety:
He was my father…not in life…but in Indy 3. You don’t know pleasure until someone pays you to take Sean Connery for a ride in the side car of a Russian motorcycle bouncing along a bumpy, twisty mountain trail and getting to watch him squirm. God, we had fun — if he’s in heaven, I hope they have golf courses. Rest in peace, dear friend.
Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade was the only time Harrison Ford and Sean Connery worked together, but judging by the above words, the former clearly enjoyed collaborating with the latter. While there was an attempt made to bring back Connery for Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, he turned down the offer, resulting in Henry Jones Sr. having passed away in the time between the third and fourth Indy movies. Initially Connery said he didn’t come back to the franchise because he was enjoying retirement too much, but he later revealed it was actually because the part was too small for his liking.
Harrison Ford is the latest celebrity to pay tribute to Sean Connery following his passing, with others including fellow James Bond actor Daniel Craig, Hugh Jackman, Sam Neill, Kevin Smith and George Lucas. Director Michael Bay also reflected on his time working with Connery on 1996’s The Rock, which included the man who brought John Patrick Mason’s aid convincing Disney executives to give Bay additional funds to finish the movie.
One could spend hours going over Sean Connery’s filmography, from Dr. No and Time Bandits to The Untouchables and Finding Forrester. That said, 2003 marked the last time that Connery appeared on camera for a movie, as he played Allan Quartermain in The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen. Connery would come out of retirement to executive produce and voice the title character in the animated Sir Billi, as well as narrate the documentary Ever to Excel.
We here at CinemaBlend continue to express our condolences to Sean Connery’s family and friends. As for Harrison Ford, he’ll be donning the fedora and wielding the whip again for Indiana Jones 5, which is now slotted for July 29, 2022.
