The story you are about to read will not come as a surprise. Not in the least. In fact, you might say, “Yep, seems right.”
Here it goes:
Back in 1953, a 23-year-old Sean Connery was working as a backstage maintenance man at King’s Theater in Edinburgh, Scotland. It was here that Connery first became interested in acting. He had been a competitive bodybuilder up to that point and had hoped to make a career of it, but fate had other plans.
At that time, Edinburgh was plagued by dangerous gangs and mobs, with the Valdor Gang being the most ruthless of them all. They were known for ruling the city’s billiard halls.
On one particular night, while young Connery was playing billiards in a cool leather jacket, he caught the eye of the notorious gang. The Valdor thugs wanted to steal his shiny new jacket.
Being accustomed to always getting what they wanted, the thugs approached Connery “with a polite request” to hand over the jacket, to which he refused and left the bar to avoid a fight.
But, the thugs followed him as he walked through the streets of Edinburgh to reach the Palais, a popular dance and theater hall. When Connery realized he was being followed, he climbed the 15-foot-high balcony at the Palais. Having cornered him at last, the gang members attacked.
Their plan was to teach him a lesson, but, Connery — neither shaken nor stirred — stood his ground and managed to single-handedly beat up all six of them, even leaving two of them unconscious from knocking their heads together like two coconuts.
This exceptional feat was a big deal, and even the high-ranking members of the gang were stunned by Connery’s impressive fighting skills. Moreover, a month after the fight, they approached Connery with an extremely rare offer to join their ranks. While Connery politely declined the offer, he had nonetheless earned the respect of the most feared gang in Scotland.
So, there you have it. There can be only one.
Connery. Sean Connery!