Roger Moore, our longest serving James Bond defined an era of leading men, was voted ‘Best Bond’ in a 2004 Academy Awards poll, appointed as a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador in 1991, and knighted in 2003 for his services to charity. He passed away yesterday and we take a retrospective look at his illustrious career.
After only two terms at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, Moore decided he would branch out independently. He worked as an extra until he was conscripted for national service at the age of 18. September 1946 saw Moore serving in the Royal Army Service Corps as a second lieutenant until he became captain of a small depot in West Germany. After his military career, Moore Moore worked as a knitwear model, dubbed by some as “The Big Knit”.
Moore signed a 7-year contract with MGM, and went on to another long contract with Warner Bros, playing bit parts in television series until his starring roles in the 1958 series Ivanhoe. Based on an 1819 romantic novel and aimed at a YA audience, it had a relatively high budget for its time. Moore performed many of his own stunts and later said he ‘felt a complete Charlie riding around in all that armour and damned stupid plumed helmet. I felt like a medieval fireman.’
On the back on Ivanhoe, Moore starred as “Silky” Harris in the western series, The Alaskans, and immediately in yet another western, Maverick. Sean Connery was flown over from England to test for the part but turned it down.
Six seasons in the highly successful UK series The Saint turned Moore into a household name, and solidified him as the charismatic leading man he would go on to perfect in his role as Bond.
But first, Moore became the highest paid television actor in the world when he appeared in the series The Persuaders! about two millionaire playboys who travelled Europe.
Sean Connery stepped down from the role of James Bond in 1966 and the rest is history. He accepted the offer in August 1972, cut his hair and lost weight for the 1973 release of Live and Let Die.
Moore appeared in a record 7 Bond films:The Man with the Golden Gun, The Spy Who Loved Me, Moonraker, For Your Eyes Only, Octopussy, and A View to a Kill.
Beginning his Bond career at the age of 45, Moore was the eldest actor to play the role, reaching the age of 58 when he announced his retirement at the end of 1985. Roger Moore is lauded for bringing the modern Bond to life. His interpretation was charismatic and flirty, debonair in his delivery of witty one-liners and cutting edge detective insight. While it deviated heavily from Ian Fleming’s original Bond demeanour, the slick contemporary hero was wildly popular in the 1970’s and beyond.
For 5 years after his Bond career had ended, Moore sought pursuits away from the screen. His admiration of his friend, Audrey Hepburn, influenced him to join the work of UNICEF, and in 1991 he became a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador.
Sir Roger Moore leaves us after struggling through cancer since 1993. Successful surgery relieved him of prostate cancer, but his health was in decline, receiving several treatments for recurrent skin cancer. He was diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes in 2013, and on 23 May 2017, Sir Roger Moore passed away in Switzerland.
“Live every day, and don’t tread on too many toes.”
– Sir Roger Moore, 14 October 1927 – 23 May 2017