Was Sean Connery the best James Bond ever? That's something which will probably be argued about until the time, as the old song goes, "when the elephants roost in trees, when the birds make love to the bees." All of the successors who have followed the super Sean as the super-smooth, super-charged and super cool 007 have their champions, especially Daniel Craig, the newest Mr. Bond interpreter who burst on the scene in 2006.   (That's the same year, curiously, that Connery announced his permanent retirement from the acting profession). However, no one will argue that Connery set the bar so high that his shadow continues to hang over all the other Bond boys and probably always will.

There has, of course, always been much more to Connery than being  "Bond, James Bond." He proved that in numerous films including his Academy Award®-winning turn in 1987's The Untouchables, and it's something we'll underscore throughout our May lineup. However, we do believe there's no way to do a really first-class Star of the Month tribute to this first-class actor without a definite tilt towards his days as Ian Fleming's masterful British secret agent. It's not only logical but essential, and promises, oh, so much fun. Therefore - and a little drum-roll is required here - for the very first time on TCM, we'll be showing six of the seven Bond movies Connery made, and in the order he made them: 1962's  Dr. No and 1964's From Russia with Love show on May 1; 1964's Goldfinger and 1965's Thunderball on May 8; 1967's You Only Live Twice and 1971's Diamonds Are Forever on May 15. (The only one missing? 1983's after-the-fact Never Say Never Again).

Also in the mix will be such non-Bond Connery treats as Hitchcock's eerie mystery Marnie (1964), Michael Crichton's lively caper The Great Train Robbery (1979), the sweeping adventure The Wind and the Lion (1975), and one particularly noteworthy Connery-Sidney Lumet knock-out, The Hill (1965) - a film Sean C. specifically chose to do in his early days as 007 in order to show his acting chops went far beyond seducing beautiful women, driving fast cars and shaking not stirring his martinis. (You'll be doing yourself a particular favor if you check out The Hill, on May 22).

In case you're curious, Connery has gone on record saying his own favorite Bond film is From Russia With Love. He was 33 when he played that roll, 31 when he first played 007, and next August will celebrate his 79th natal day. What did he do before movies beckoned? He was a Merchant Marine, a milk delivery man, a coffin polisher, a 1953 Mr. Universe contestant and a chorus boy in the London stage production of South Pacific. Flash ahead to 2000: he was knighted by Queen Elizabeth, making him Sir Sean Connery, which would seem to beat polishing coffins by a long shot. We hope you'll be able to spend many evenings on TCM this month with Sir Sean as he teams with the likes of Audrey Hepburn, Gina Lollobrigida, Jill St.John, Christopher Walken, Candice Bergen, John Huston and Richard Harris, and also rids the world of Dr. No, Goldfinger, Red Grant, Largo, Ernst Blofeld, Rosa Klebb and their ilk. Enjoy his vast talents, and have a whale of a good time in the process, every Friday this month on TCM starting at 8 pm ET.

by Robert Osborne