Neighbor: Connery 'made life hell'
LONDON, England -- Actor Sean Connery is being sued by a New York neighbor who accused him of "making his life hell" with loud music, dripping water and a plague of rats.
In a $30 million lawsuit, Dr. Burton Sultan accuses the 74-year-old former James Bond star of allowing workers to create a deafening noise, fumes, dripping water and an infestation of rats, not to mention loud music allegedly played at all hours, the UK's Press Association reports.
Sultan claims construction work has "wreaked havoc on (his) collection of museum-quality Victorian and early 20th-century wicker furniture ... irreparably damaged by water, falling plaster and black soot and grime."
Connery has lived in the Manhattan apartment, owned by his son Stephane, since April 2001, according to the New York Daily News.
The newspaper reported that the suit, filed by lawyers Engel & McCarney, describes an alleged incident when Sultan's daughter knocked on the veteran Scottish actor's door to ask him to turn the music down.
"Connery himself answered the door in his bathrobe, unkempt and disheveled. Scarcely, or in any event, no longer 'the sexiest man alive' portrayed in the tabloids and bearing no resemblance to the superspy who announced himself as 'Bond -- James Bond,' Connery's appearance and behavior was that of a rude, foul-mouthed, fat old man," the newspaper quoted the suit as alleging.
Sultan accuses Connery of trying to force his family off the premises so he can acquire the property at a knock-down price.
New York-based Engel & McCarney confirmed the suit had been filed, PA said.
The actor's publicist told PA the claims were "ridiculous."
She confirmed that the property was owned by his son Stephane but insisted Sir Sean lived in the Bahamas.
"Sir Sean Connery does not own any property in the United States and is rarely in New York," she said.
"Anyone in the United States can sue for anything. That does not mean that the suit has any merit. The claims are ridiculous."
