UK Names Sean Connery Sexiest Pensioner

Former James Bond star Sir Sean Connery has been voted the UK's sexiest male pensioner, according to a survey conducted by Virgin Money.

According to ITV, "Just over half of people voted Connery as being the sexiest man in the UK who was old enough to draw a pension." That figure is more than double the second place male, who was Star Trek: The Next Generation's Captain Jean-Luc Picard and X-Men's Professor Xavier, Patrick Stewart. Stewart made it to second place with 19 percent of the vote.

Third place belonged to Sir Anthony Hopkins, the 68-year-old Silence of the Lambs actor. Beyond Hopkins, fourth place was owned by Sir Michael Caine, the fellow Academy-Award winning actor who has recently appearing in such films as Bewitched, Batman Begins and The Weather Man. Rounding out the top five is singer Sir Cliff Richard.

On the women's side of the sexiest pensioner survey, Dame Helen Mirren, the star actress who appeared in The Madness of King George and Gosford Park took top honors with 21 percent, narrowly beating out former Bond girl Honor Blackman, who garnered 19 percent of the vote. Blackman played the famous Pussy Galore in the James Bond movie Goldfinger, as well as Judo expert Cathy Gale in The Avengers.

Fellow Avengers actress Diana Rigg, who played Emma Peel, came in third. Julie Christie, who has recently appeared in Troy, Finding Neverland and Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban came in fourth. Rounding out the top five ladies was the 72-year-old Joan Collins, star of Dynasty.

At the other end of the survey, broadcaster Sir David Frost gathered the dubious title of UK's least sexy pensioner. Frost managed the least number of votes, even less than horseracing commentator Sir John McCririck and television personality Sir James "Jimmy" Saville. For the women, Independent On-Line reports that "80-year-old former prime minister Margaret Thatcher was voted the least sexy pensioner in Britain." Baroness Thatcher came just below Esther Rantzen and Coronation Street star Barbara Knox.

As MI6 reports, "Women in Britain traditionally draw the state pension at the age of 60 but men have to wait another five years. The government has introduced plans to have a common retirement age of 65 for men and women by 2020."

Sean Connery received a knighthood on July 5th, 2000, to become Sir Sean Connery. Connery is best known for his role as James Bond, performing the role in Dr. No, From Russia With Love, Goldfinger, Thunderball, You Only Live Twice, Diamonds Are Forever, and later in his career, Never Say Never Again. Beyond his role as James Bond, major roles for Connery include A Bridge Too Far, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, The Hunt For Red October, Finding Forrester, and most recently, The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen. Connery recently had surgery to remove a tumor from his kidney (See Sean Connery Undergoes Surgery).

[Additional Sources: ITV, Independent On-Line, MI6]