lit a candle 1d agoGrew up in the 70s watching him play it for laughs as Bond. He brought humour to the role when it needed it. Not the same without him.
Their story
Sir Roger George Moore was an English actor whose career stretched from wartime extras work to seven turns as James Bond, and whose later decades were defined as much by UNICEF as by 007. He was born on 14 October 1927 in Stockwell, London, the only child of Metropolitan Police…
Sir Roger George Moore was an English actor whose career stretched from wartime extras work to seven turns as James Bond, and whose later decades were defined as much by UNICEF as by 007. He was born on 14 October 1927 in Stockwell, London, the only child of Metropolitan Police officer George Alfred Moore and Lillian "Lily" Pope, who had been born in Calcutta to an English family. Evacuated in the Second World War, he attended schools including Battersea Grammar, Launceston College in Cornwall, and Dr Challoner's Grammar School in Amersham. An early animation apprenticeship ended after a mistake with cels; a chance introduction through his father to director Brian Desmond Hurst led to work as an extra on Caesar and Cleopatra (1945) and to fees at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, where he was a classmate of future Bond co-star Lois Maxwell. After RADA he served national service, commissioned in 1946 into the Royal Army Service Corps and working in Combined Services Entertainment in West Germany.
Moore's screen path ran through uncredited bits, knitwear modelling ("The Big Knit"), an MGM contract he later joked made "RGM... NBG," television Westerns including Ivanhoe, The Alaskans, and Beau Maverick on Maverick, then the role that made him a household name: Simon Templar in The Saint (1962-1969), 118 episodes of suave, raised-eyebrow charm for Lew Grade's ITC. He followed with The Persuaders! opposite Tony Curtis (1971-1972), then accepted Albert Broccoli's offer to play James Bond, debuting at 44 (still the oldest actor cast as Bond) in Live and Let Die (1973). Six more Eon Bonds followed: The Man with the Golden Gun, The Spy Who Loved Me, Moonraker, For Your Eyes Only, Octopussy, and A View to a Kill (1985). His Bond was lighter and more comic than Connery's, designed for 1970s tastes; he held the Eon record for most appearances as Bond. He left the role citing age relative to his leading ladies, not physical decline.
Away from Bond he worked steadily in adventure and comedy (The Wild Geese, The Cannonball Run, among others), took cameos that poked fun at his own image, and published books including My Word Is My Bond. Inspired by neighbour and friend Audrey Hepburn, he became a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador in 1991 and called that work his greatest achievement. He campaigned with PETA against foie gras and for wild-animal welfare. Honours included CBE (1999), knighthood (KBE, 2003) for charity, a Hollywood Walk of Fame star (2007), and France's Commander of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres (2008).
His personal life included four marriages: Doorn van Steyn (1946-1953), Dorothy Squires (1953-1968), Luisa Mattioli (1969-2000), with whom he had Deborah, Geoffrey and Christian, and Kristina "Kiki" Tholstrup (from 2002). From 1978 he lived largely as a tax exile between Monaco, Switzerland, France and Italy, defending the move as a response to extreme top tax rates while insisting he had paid his dues when earning in Britain. He survived prostate cancer in 1993, received a pacemaker after collapsing on Broadway in 2003, and lived with type 2 diabetes from 2013. He died at home in Crans-Montana on 23 May 2017, aged 89, of cancers of the lung and liver, after what his children called a short but brave battle with cancer; he is buried in Monaco Cemetery. Tributes stressed both the gentleman spy and the UNICEF advocate. A Pinewood stage was later named for him; the 2024 documentary From Roger Moore with Love revisited his life with family access.
Biography adapted from Wikipedia (Roger Moore, CC BY-SA); BBC News (23 May 2017); The Guardian; UNICEF UK tribute; family via @sirrogermoore; My Word Is My Bond (2008)..
In their own words
“My personality is different from previous Bonds. I'm not that cold-blooded-killer type. Which is why I play it mostly for laughs.”
Describing his approach to 007. Widely cited; Wikipedia and contemporary interviews.
“It wasn't because of the physical stuff... the leading ladies were young enough to be my granddaughter and it becomes disgusting.”
Explaining why he left James Bond. Wikipedia citing his comments.
“meant far more to me than if I had got it for acting... I received it on behalf of UNICEF.”
On the 2003 KBE: the charity citation meant far more than an acting honour. He said he received it on behalf of UNICEF. Wikipedia and press.
“I only had three expressions as Bond: right eyebrow raised, left eyebrow raised, and eyebrows crossed when grabbed by Jaws.”
Self-deprecating joke about his screen style and Spitting Image. Widely attributed in obituaries.
“We are heartbroken”
2016 death of stepdaughter Christina Knudsen, via his Twitter: "We are heartbroken," and of surrounding Christina "with love, at the end." Wikipedia.
“Thank you Pops for being you, and being so very special to so many people.”
Family death statement in the 23 May 2017 announcement. BBC.
Photos
4Roger Moore in 1963, early screen career.
by People Forever
Roger Moore as Simon Templar in The Saint.
by People Forever
My daughter worked with UNICEF in Kenya and she said his name opened doors there. He was serious about it.