Sean Connery named the best James Bond after thousands of 007 fans vote in poll
The original and now, officially, the best.
Sean Connery was named the greatest James Bond actor of all time by 007 fans who voted in their thousands on RadioTimes.com's poll.
Over 14,000 fans voted in our tournament to decide who would be crowned the finest screen version of Ian Fleming's super spy.
Round 1 saw Sean Connery, who sadly died on 31st October 2020, knock out current 007 actor Daniel Craig, coming out on top with 56 per cent of the vote compared to Craig's 43 per cent, while Pierce Brosnan winning Round 2 with 76 per cent against his opponent George Lazenby's 24 per cent.
Round 3 saw perhaps the most surprising result yet, as Roger Moore was knocked out of the competition – with 41 per cent of the vote, he lost out to his immediate successor Timothy Dalton, who scored 59 per cent of the vote.
The grand final thus pitted Connery against both Dalton and Brosnan, with the Scottish actor emerging the victor with 44 per cent of the vote.
Dalton ended up in second place, with a respectable 32 per cent, while Brosnan came third with 23 per cent.
Hollywood legend Connery played Bond six times in the official film series – in Dr. No (1962), From Russia with Love (1963), Goldfinger (1964), Thunderball (1965), You Only Live Twice (1967), and Diamonds Are Forever (1971) – and appeared as the character one final time in the rogue entry Never Say Never Again (1983), which was not produced by Eon Productions.
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RadioTimes.com readers also recently voted on who they want to see strap on the Walther PPK next after Daniel Craig retires from Bond following the release of his final 007 outing No Time to Die.
Outlander actor Sam Heughan stormed to victory in that poll, earning almost 30 per cent of the vote, with the rest of the top five being made up of Tom Hardy (14 per cent), Henry Cavill (11 per cent), Idris Elba (10 per cent), and Tom Hiddleston (five per cent).
No Time to Die is currently scheduled for release in UK cinemas on 12th November 2020, having been pushed back from an intended April release due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
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Authors
Morgan Jeffery is the Digital Editor for Radio Times, overseeing all editorial output across the brand's digital platforms. He was previously TV Editor at Digital Spy and has featured as a TV expert on BBC Breakfast, BBC Radio 5 Live and Sky Atlantic.