Sean Connery
All the actors who’ve inhabited the role of James Bond have enjoyed the trappings of style—killing bad guys in Savile Row bespoke—but only one of them can truly be said to have style. (And no, we’re not talking about George Lazenby.) Sean Connery is still the yardstick by which all other Bonds are measured—the arched eyebrow, the dry wolfish smile. But we at GQ think it mostly has to do with the way he moved. It only looked effortless: Before he was cast in Dr. No, Connery was an ardent student of the Swedish movement teacher Yat Malmgren, whose book on body technique became Connery’s bible. That’s how the former bricklayer from a hardscrabble section of Edinburgh learned to walk with (in one observer’s memorable phrase) “the threatening grace of a panther on the prowl.” Read it as a gloss on his penchant for violence or his sexual prowess: It works both ways.
• The little things make the man. Notice the cufflinks and the pocket square. But also notice that they’re subdued—white handkerchief, understated links. And the suit, shirt, and tie are also subtle. Look chic, not like a mobster.
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