Ross King: Sir Sean was as charismatic off screen as he was on it. Farewell, Mr Bond

Last week saw the sad passing of two very brilliant and very different stars. The news of the death of Sir Sean Connery arrived here last Saturday morning in Los Angeles and hit me like a tonne of bricks.

I was really lucky to have met Sir Sean on several occasions. The first time I did so was as a nervous youngster working at Radio Clyde, when I was sent to interview the great man himself.

“I’ve got shares in your radio station young man, you better make this a good one!” he said. I worried if I’d be up to it but I really needn’t have. I was interviewing Sean Connery – the best Bond. I didn’t make it a good interview…he made it a great one.

When I first moved to the US in 2000 Catherine Zeta Jones and Michael Douglas invited me to a private engagement party and I found myself chatting with country music legend Dolly Parton (yes, the names are dropping like flies!).

A firm hand tapped me on the shoulder and said: “They really do let anybody in here don’t they…”.

It was that unmistakable burr and that towering presence again.

He really did have everything you wanted in a movie star, including being a superb actor.

Legend is one of the most overused words in showbusiness but if ever it applied to someone then it is to the Oscar-winning star of The Untouchables and Highlander.

And there’s one more legend I wanted to say cheerio to as well – a man with quite simply the funniest bones in the business.

I got to spend time with Bobby Ball and his comedy partner Tommy Cannon when we filmed Last Laugh in Vegas a couple of years ago. What a fun time we had and, as I attempted to warm up the Las Vegas audience, Bobby would heckle me from the side with cries of: “You’ve only got one pigging joke, cocker!”

He was a brilliant actor, too, who could take you from tears of laughter to tears of sadness with just a look. A true comedy legend, RIP and rock on!