A NORTH-EAST man who spent 30 years travelling round the world as a Sean Connery lookalike has joined the tributes to the iconic actor following his death at the age of 90.

Nick Richmond, who lives in Newton Aycliffe, said: “I’d known he hadn’t been well for the past five years, but it was still a shock when I heard the news. Naturally, I’m sad to see him go because he played such a big part in my life.”

Nick, the son of a steelworker from South Bank, on Teesside, was signed up as a Sean Connery impersonator after the actor grew a beard and dispensed with his toupee for the  film The Name of The Rose in 1986.

Suddenly, people started telling Nick how much he looked like Sean Connery, so he sent off some photographs to an agency and was promptly signed up. He bought a white tuxedo, as well as a decommissioned Walther PPK pistol, and started studying the actor’s mannerisms and voice.

It led to bookings all over the world and Nick was able to give up his job as a shoe company auditor in 1999 to concentrate on being Sean Connery. He finally retired from the globe-trotting in 2016, although he still does occasional charity gigs.

“He gave me a very good living and took me to some very glamorous places, such as Monte Carlo” said Nick. “I came to think of him as a member of the family, so he’s bound to leave a huge gap in my life.”

Nick, a long-standing member of the Darlington Magic Circle, met the great man twice. The first time was on a film set in Florida, and then in Edinburgh when Connery was promoting the Scottish Nationalist Party and came over for a chat when he saw his doppelganger in the crowd.

“He had an aura about him that’s difficult to explain – a mixture of supreme confidence and aggression,” said Nick. “He set the mould for James Bond and everyone who followed was always measured against him.”

There was only one aspect of being a Sean Connery lookalike that Nick found difficult – 007’s favourite drink was Vodka Martini, shaken not stirred, but Nick couldn’t stand the taste.

“At events, people would always want me to go to the bar with them to order a Vodka Martini, but I always came to an arrangement with the barman to secretly give me a gin and tonic instead,” he explained.

Nick will be toasting Connery tonight – not with a Vodka Martini, but a whisky. “I’ll raise a glass and say thanks for everything,” he said.