SNL's Darrell Hammond Honors Sean Connery and Recalls Fond Memories of Parodying Him

Saturday Night Live alum Darrell Hammond paid tribute to Sean Connery upon news of his death and reminisced about parodying him on the NBC show years ago.

By Corinne Heller Oct 31, 2020 10:46 PMTags
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Darrell Hammond paid special tribute to film legend Sean Connery upon news of his death and reminisced about parodying him on Saturday Night Live several years ago.

Connery, best known as the first actor to play James Bond onscreen, died at age 90 in the Bahamas. News of his death was announced on Saturday, Oct. 31.

His son, Jason Connery, had said in a statement, "A sad day for all who knew and loved my dad and a sad loss for all people around the world who enjoyed the wonderful gift he had as an actor."

"Sorry to hear of the passing of #SeanConnery, my condolences to his family," Hammond wrote on Twitter, alongside a video of him impersonating the Scottish Oscar winner on a 1999 episode of SNL.

The show alum played Connery several times on the NBC late-night comedy series in the '90s and '00s, appearing alongside Will Ferrell's Alex Trebek in a Celebrity Jeopardy! recurring sketch. Hammond's character always sparred with the game show host by making inappropriate jokes about him and his mother and messing up the titles of Jeopardy! categories. He reprised the role on SNL's 40th anniversary special in 2015.

"Always loved doing my silly impressions of him on SNL, and I heard he once spoke highly of me on The Tonight Show," Hammond wrote on Instagram. "Thanks for making me look better than I am man, RIP 'Mr Connery you wear me out!' 'You didn't say that last night when I was pumping moo goo gai pan all over your tonsils!' #SeanConnery #RIPSeanConnery #SNL #SaturdayNightLive."

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Sean Connery's Most Famous Film Roles

The Celebrity Jeopardy! sketches on SNL also often featured Norm MacDonald parodying the late Burt Reynolds, saying he had changed his name to Turd Ferguson.

NBCU Photo Bank/Ron Galella Collection via Getty Images

Watch one of SNL's regular Celebrity Jeopardy! segments below:

Read other celebrities' tributes to Connery.

(E! and NBC are part of the NBCUniversal family.)