Sir Sean Connery`s former wife claims she was bullied

The former wife of Sir Sean Connery is to claim in her autobiography that she was both physically and mentally bullied by the former James Bond star.

The book by Diane Cilento, who was married to Connery from 1962 to 1973, will also describe his resentment at her early success and claim he “wasn’t able to cope” with the fame brought by the Bond films - reports Times Online.

She will blame the couple’s contrasting social backgrounds for the clashes that eventually led to the breakdown of their marriage. Connery is from the Scottish working class, while she is the daughter of two eminent Australian doctors.

“There was physical contact, but it’s important to see it in context,” said Cilento, speaking this weekend from her home in Queensland. “You’ve got to remember he was probably twice my weight.”

Cilento came to Britain in 1951 when she was 18 to study at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art. She met Connery in 1957 when she was already a well-established actress and nicknamed “the high-IQ sex kitten” by the press.

Although married, her relationship with Connery began to flourish. She turned down several of his marriage proposals, but they eventually wed in late 1962 after the premiere of Dr No, the first Bond film.

Speculation about Connery’s alleged rough treatment of his first wife was sparked by two separate remarks in magazine interviews. In 1965 he told Playboy: “I don’t think there is anything particularly wrong in hitting a woman, though I don’t recommend you do it the same way that you hit a man.”

Then in Vanity Fair in 1993 he said: “Sometimes there are women who take it to the wire. That’s what they are looking for — the ultimate confrontation. They want a smack.”

Connery has said the remarks were taken out of context. He has always strongly denied hitting Cilento.

Her book, to be published next spring, claims the couple were mismatched. “Sean came from a Scottish working-class background,” she said, “and wasn’t able to cope with the fame James Bond brought him. He changed, as did our relationship. It wasn’t all his fault. He was not protected by the Bond people.”

Cilento, who was initially the more successful actor, will tell how Connery virtually made her stay at home once he had become famous as 007.

“I got an Oscar nomination for Tom Jones in 1963, but this didn’t please Sean,” she said. “To outsiders I was probably the most envied person in the world being married to him. But it was quite uncomfortable, because if a man has got into a position of being a sort of macho icon, he’s being merchandised as that.”

Yet Cilento accepts she and Connery were probably equally to blame. “We both coped badly with his fame,” she said.

Both had escape routes. She wrote two novels while her acting career was put on hold. Connery took up golf.

“He would say to Diane something like ‘I’m off to play golf and you’d better have tea on the table when I’m back’,” said Robert Sessions, her book editor in Melbourne. “Sean was a bully and Diane makes this very clear. So he’s not going to like this book.”

Connery pulled out of a planned autobiography earlier this year. It is understood he was wary about having to address the bullying allegations that will appear in Cilento’s book.

A spokesman for Connery declined to comment.

Thanks to `Kyvan` for the alert.

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