Ian Fleming described James Bond's physical resemblance to singer Hoagy Carmichael; actor Timothy Dalton (who twice played the character in the late 1980s), is said to most closely resemble Fleming's description of James Bond. In the literature (notably From Russia, With Love), Bond's physical description has generally been consistent: a three-inch, vertical scar on his left cheek (absent from the cinematic version); blue-grey eyes; short-cut, dark hair, a comma of which falls on his forehead (greying at the temples in John Gardner's novels), and (after Casino Royale) the faint scar of the Russian Cyrillic letter "SH" on the back of one of his hands (carved by a SMERSH agent)."'
From http://www.localcolorart.com/search/encyclopedia/James_Bond/
None of the movie bonds hand the large facial scar mentioned in the novels. An an interesting note on this subject is the look of the James Bond character that appeared in a British comic strip before the movies came out. The resemblance to Sean Connery is uncanny.
In fact this site says it may have help push him into the role: Comic Bond