IT was one of cinema's most recognisable voices and for generations it's been the go-to dinner party impersonation.
For Ally McCoist, however, a joke answering machine message with Sean Connery's famous tones once led to a surreal encounter in the Rangers dressing room.
McCoist revealed he was left speechless when the 007 star confronted him before an Old Firm derby at Celtic Park.
Sean Connery dead: Bond stars links to Glasgow revealed in Bowler and Bunnet film
The legendary Scots actor, who passed away aged 90 at the weekend, gave the striker a dressing down over the impression.
Paying tribute to Sir Sean on his official Instagram account, McCoist delighted followers with the tale.
"I used to, back in the day of answering machines, I did the Sean Connery impersonation," McCoist said.
"My answering machine was: 'Yes, I'm sorry I'm not available at this moment in time, I'm out saving the world from characters like Ernst Blofeld'.
"You know the drill, the usual bit: 'Leave a message and I'll get back to you as soon as possible'.
"I thought it was quite funny, but it probably wasn't at the time.
"Anyway, about three weeks later, we were playing Celtic at Parkhead. We're in the dressing room before the game, usual bit of nerves, boys doing their bits and pieces.
"I'm tying my boots and the door opens. All of a sudden, I can just sense the atmosphere going quiet, there was a quietness in the dressing room.
"I don't need to tell you, I look up and Sean Connery is in front of me.
"I'm thinking to myself: 'F**k, that's f*****g James Bond in front me.'
"He looks at me and - gospel truth - he says: 'Right smart a**e, let's f*****g hear it then!'
"So, I don't need to tell you, I absolutely crumbled and turned into this quivering jelly of a Rangers centre-forward.
"I was shaking, looking up at Sean Connery, who was obviously winding me up.
"The rest of the boys loved it, the only time they've heard me quiet before a game in the dressing room.
"Indeed, he came in and shared a drink with after the game, we had a good result that day.
"Brilliant memories."
McCoist, who also paid tribute to Hearts legend and former Rangers player Marius Zaliukas, later recalled a night with Sir Sean on the eve of Scotland's opening game of the 1998 World Cup.
"We were in Paris the night before Scotland played Brazil in the 1998 World Cup," McCoist, who starred in 2002 film A Shot at Glory, said.
"We had a party that would end all parties in the Buddha Bar in central Paris.
"I was singing Bruce Springsteen - Born to Run, and my backing band was Kenny Dalglish, Sir Alex Ferguson, Sean Connery, Gavin Hastings and Ewan McGregor.
"With the greatest respect to Bruce Springsteen, he couldn't get a backing band like that!"
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here