Survey names Sir Sean as top film actor
James Bond favourite Sir Sean Connery has been ranked as the greatest British movie actor of all time.
The Scottish star, whose voice is known around the world and whose distinguished looks mean he is still a sex symbol at 70, topped a poll of movie fans above figures like the late Lord Olivier and Sir John Gielgud.
The Orange Film Survey, of more than 10,000 voters, found Julie Walters was the most popular British actress.
Sir Sean found fame as 007 starring in six official films and returning to the role in the unofficial Never Say Never Again.
He is followed by Sir Anthony Hopkins and Sir Alec Guinness who died last year. Sir John Gielgud, recognised as one of the finest actors Britain ever produced but who was more at home on the stage than the screen, fails to make the top 10.
Instead younger actors like Ewan McGregor and Robert Carlyle are rewarded with places.
Walters, an Oscar nominee for Educating Rita, is followed by Dame Judi Dench, who took the best supporting actress Oscar in 1999 for Shakespeare In Love.
Catherine Zeta Jones, tipped for an Academy award nomination this year, is in third place.
Top British actors: 1 Sir Sean Connery; 2 Sir Anthony Hopkins; 3 Sir Alec Guinness; 4 Hugh Grant; 5 Sir Michael Caine; 6 Pierce Brosnan; 7 Robert Carlyle; 8 Ewan McGregor; 9 Sir John Mills; 10 Lord Olivier.
Top British actresses: 1 Julie Walters; 2 Dame Judi Dench; 3 Catherine Zeta Jones; 4 Elizabeth Hurley; 5 Emma Thompson; 6 Liz Taylor; 7 Barbara Windsor; 8 Helen Mirren; 9 Dame Margaret Rutherford; 10 Dame Maggie Smith.
