Sir Sean at 80: Eighty big facts you must know about Big Tam

HE'S one of the most famous Scots alive, internationally recognised for his distinctive and dashing looks and smooth accent.

Today, Sir Sean Connery celebrates his 80th birthday, a landmark year in an astonishing life. But how well do we really know Edinburgh's most famous living son? Here, we look at 80 facts - some well known, some less so - that have helped mould his remarkable life.

1. Thomas Connery was born at 176 Fountainbridge to Euphamia Maclean and Joseph Connery. He has a younger brother, Neil.

2. His father's family were from County Wexford in Ireland. His grandfather, Tommy Connery, was a rag and bone man.

3. Young Connery's mental arithmetic was said to be as good as any bookie's runner's.

4. His mother's family came from Kirkcaldy, where the Connerys would spend holidays.

5. His father worked at the North British Rubber Mill, while Euphamia was a cleaner.

6. Home was a top-floor flat with a single bedroom, kitchen/living room and outside toilet. It was demolished in the Sixties.

7. He went to Bruntsfield Primary and says learning to read and write aged five was the foundation for his acting career.

8. He turned down Boroughmuir High because rugby was the main sport. Instead he attended Darroch Secondary on Upper Gilmore Street.

9. He joined the Sea Cadets Corps and learned to box.

10. He fished at the Union Canal, using Euphamia's old stockings as a fishing line.

11. He started smoking when he was ten years old.

12. When his school closed during the war, pupils were sent to classes at a Morningside manor house. Connery was refused entry by the "lady" of the house because she recognised him as her milk boy.

13. He left school at 14 to work for St Cuthbert's Co-operative Society at its Corstorphine Dairy as a barrow worker, earning 1 a week.

14. He recalled having to push his milk cart pony, Titch, up the icy slope of Dean Bridge.

15. The job was organised through Alex Kitson, a neighbour. He became general secretary of the Transport and General Workers Union.

16. The milk round included Fettes, attended by a young James Bond in one of Ian Fleming's novels.

17. Connery was 16 when he joined the Royal Navy for seven years.

18. He was discharged aged 19 with a duodenal ulcer.

19. He was awarded a navy pension of six shillings and eight pence a week, around 33p.

20. He returned home with two tattoos, one saying "Scotland Forever" and the other "Mum and Dad".

21. He worked as a doorman at Fountainbridge Palais de Danse dancehall and a brickie.

22. He also trained as a French polisher in Haddington and spent nights sleeping in one of the coffins to save the fare home.23. The job gave him his first taste of acting: he'd regularly work on the sets at the King's Theatre.

24. At one point he installed the printing plates on to the presses of the Edinburgh Evening News.

25. He also posed as a male model at Edinburgh College of Art. The cash helped pay subscriptions to Dunedin Weightlifting Club.

26. One of the artists was Richard Demarco, who went on to become a prominent figure in the Scottish art scene.

27. Connery played football for Fet-Lors, run for the city's "poorer" citizens by students at Fettes College and Loretto School.

28. He also played for Bonnyrigg Rose and was offered a trial with East Fife.

29. In 1952 he worked at Portobello open air swimming pool as a lifeguard.

30. His physique got him noticed and he was asked to join Anna Neagle at an Empire Theatre production, Glorious Days.

31. She encouraged him to consider an acting career.

32. He entered Mr Universe in 1953, and prepared by sunbathing on Gullane beach.

33. He was dubbed "Mr Scotland" during the competition, and took third place.

34. It led to an audition for a role in a touring production of South Pacific, earning 12 a week.

35. Connery marked the Drury Lane role by changing his first name to Sean.

36. While on tour he was spotted playing football and offered the chance to sign for Manchester United, earning 25 a week.

37. He fell in love with actress Carol Soppel, who sang Happy Talk. The romance was doomed because of her Jewish roots.

38. He later romanced Julie Hamilton, step-daughter of politican Michael Foot.

39. He took elocution lessons to polish his Edinburgh accent.

40. His big television break came in 1957, in the live BBC television play Requiem for a Heavyweight.

41. His father watched it on television and commented: "My heavens, that was smashing."

42. In late 1957, he signed a long-term movie deal with 20th Century Fox, worth 120 a week.

43. His first Hollywood role was Another Time, Another Place.

44. His film career stuttered and he returned to TV to star alongside Diane Cilento in Anna Christie. He later married her.

45. Connery turned down the lead in El Cid after Cilento caught TB, so he could look after her.

46. Film producer Albert Broccoli's wife first spotted Connery's potential for the role he'd become famous for - James Bond.

47. When he auditioned, United Artists' response was a telegram: "See if you can do better."

48. He signed a six-year deal as James Bond and began filming Dr No in 1962.

49. United Artists was so unconvinced by Dr No, it premiered the film in the American Midwest to avoid negative reviews.

50. Connery and Cilento's son Jason was born in January 1963, six weeks after the couple married.

51. The couple's turbulent marriage lasted 11 years. Cilento claimed that Connery had physically abused her.52. He sparked outrage in 1987 when he commented in an interview that it was acceptable to "slap" women.

53. Connery wore a wig for all his Bond appearances.

54. He used his 1.2 million salary from Diamonds are Forever to set up the Scottish International Education Trust to help young artists.

55. In America, he launched the Friends of Scotland charity to raise the profile of Scotland through events such as Dressed to Kilt.

56. He is now passionate about golf but had no interest until making the Bond film, Goldfinger, which features a golf scene.

57. He played on the first golf course in the Soviet Union in 1989 while filming John Le Carre's The Russia House. The Moscow City Club had nine fairways constructed around high-rise tenements.

58. He met Moroccan artist Micheline Roquebrune at a golf tournament in Casablanca in 1970.

59. Within three months he had quit the London home he shared with Cilento.

60. He divorced Cilento in 1973 and married Micheline in May 1975.

61. He retired from his Bond character following 1971 movie Diamonds are Forever, vowing never to play Bond again.

62. He went on to perform in The Man Who Would be King in 1975 alongside Michael Caine in what's considered one of his greatest performances.

63. He did play Bond again when the role was revised in an "unofficial" 1983 Bond movie made outwith the original production company.

64. Micheline suggested its title: Never Say Never Again, a reference to her husband's insistence he'd left Bond behind.

65. His film awards include an Oscar in 1988 for his role as Jimmy Malone in The Untouchables, two Baftas and three Golden Globes.

66. He received 250,000 for two days' work on Robin Hood, Prince of Thieves in 1991 and gave it to charity.

67. He was made a Freeman of Edinburgh in 1991.

68. He had radiation treatment in 1993 after nodules were found on his throat.

69. That year he was announced dead by Japanese and South African news agencies.

70. In 2006 he had surgery to remove a kidney tumour.

71. Last year he confirmed he'd been diagnosed with a heart condition.

72. He was knighted in 2000.

73. In 2002 he was named Greatest Scot of the 20th century, beating John Logie Baird and Alexander Graham Bell.

74. In 2008, aged 78, he was photographed by Annie Leibovitz for Louis Vuitton's advertising campaign.

75. Hollywood hardman Steven Seagal once broke Connery's wrist during a martial arts lesson.

76. He retired from acting after The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen.

77. Later he turned down Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, arguing "Retirement is just too damned much fun".

78. A staunch Nationalist, he says he won't return from the Bahamas to live in Scotland until it is independent.

79. He has been a high-profile supporter of the Edinburgh Film Festival.

80. He returned to Fountainbridge in June to unveil a plaque marking his place of birth and celebrating his contribution to Scottish cinema..