Old Darroch School off Gilmore Place

Image: © kim traynor Taken: 25 Jun 2010

The school's most famous alumnus is undoubtedly Tommy Connery who left at the age of 13 to work on a horse-and-cart milk round for the nearby St.Cuthbert's Co-operative Society in Fountainbridge. After seeing the Alan Ladd Western 'Shane' in 1953, he preferred to be called 'Sean'. His stage debut was at the nearby King's Theatre where he earned £5 per evening as a non-speaking extra playing a soldier. Part-time work as a lifeguard at the Portobello open-air swimming pool helped develop his physique and, after entering a body-building competition in London, he discovered that auditions were being held for men in good physical shape to appear in the chorus of the musical 'South Pacific'. After a long period spent as a struggling, more or less self-taught actor, often on the road, he gradually won attention through theatre and television work. He then landed a leading role in the 1959 Disney feature film (Darby O'Gill), before being chosen to play Ian Fleming's 'James Bond' character in the 1962 film 'Dr No'. The rest, as they say, is history.

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