Actually, quite a few people take credit for casting Thomas (Sean) Connery as Bond. Who knows which version is true.
Saltzman saw him in a film called "On the Fiddle".
Terrence Young, who directed "Dr. No" had directed Connery in a film called "Action of the Tiger".
Broccoli saw him in a Disney film called "Darby O'Gill and the Little People" which only proves that Walt didn't know a Scottish accent from an Irish acccent.
Reportedly Broccoli's wife Dana said "pick him, he's gorgeous!"
Sean Connery was not TOTALLY unknown having starred opposite Lana Turner in the 1958 film "Another Time Another Place.
http://www.imdb.com/media/rm25561408...4?ref_=tt_ov_i
The film was such a terrible bomb at the box office, it actually appears as a joke in "Thunderball". Physical therapist Patricia Fearing (Molly Peters) is chasing after Bond as he is leaving. He did her the night before in the steam room, and later, in his suite. She blurts out she'll meet him "any time...any place!" To which Sean replies..."Another Time...Another Place."
The only person who hated Connery was Ian Fleming...he called him "that snorting lorry driver."
He changed his mind after seeing him in "Dr. No."