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| Birth Name(s) : Roger Moore |
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Full Roger Moore Biography
Sir Roger George Moore, KBE (born 14 October 1927) is an English actor. He may be best known for portraying two British action heroes, Simon Templar in the television series The Saint from 1962 to 1969, and James Bond in seven films from 1973 to 1985. He has been a UNICEF ambassador since 1991.
Television lured Moore back to star, alongside Tony Curtis, in what has become another 'cult' series, The Persuaders!. Even more light-hearted in tone than The Saint, it featured the adventures of two millionaire playboys across Europe. It was for this series that Moore was paid the then unheard-of sum of one million pounds for a single series, making him the highest paid television actor in the world. However, Lew Grade claimed in his autobiography Still Dancing, that Moore and Curtis 'didn't hit it off all that well', Curtis refusing to spend more time on set than was strictly necessary, while Moore was always willing to work overtime.
Since then, The Persuaders has enjoyed something of a renaissance both on television and DVD, with the 'rivals' Moore and Curtis reuniting to provide commentaries on the most recent issues. In France, where the series (entitled Amicalement Vôtre) had always been popular, the DVD releases accompanied a monthly magazine of the same name.
Other sources, such as the insert for the special edition DVDs, claim that Moore was passed over for Bond in favour of someone who was older. As Moore is older than Sean Connery, this is probably not true. Publicly, Moore wasn't linked to the role of 007 until 1967, when Harry Saltzman claimed he would make a good Bond, but also displayed misgivings due to his popularity as Simon Templar. Nevertheless, Moore was finally cast as James Bond in Live and Let Die (1973).
Roger Moore's seven years as Simon Templar earned him enough popularity (and credibility) among fans of detective fiction to earn many Bond fans' acceptance, despite the inevitable comparisons to Connery. Moore played Bond in:
- Live and Let Die (1973)
- The Man with the Golden Gun (1974)
- The Spy Who Loved Me (1977)
- Moonraker (1979)
- For Your Eyes Only (1981)
- Octopussy (1983)
- A View to a Kill (1985)
Moore's James Bond was light-hearted, more so than any other official actor to portray the character. Connery's style, even in its lighter moments, was that of a focused, determined agent. Moore often portrayed 007 as somewhat of a playboy, with tongue firmly in cheek. The humour served Moore and his fans well through most of his Bond tenure. Fans also relished the moments when his Bond was all business, especially in the more intense parts of The Spy Who Loved Me, For Your Eyes Only, and Octopussy (when, despite wearing a clown get-up, he defuses a bomb). Despite all the commercial success, some Bond fans were unhappy at Moore continuing to play the character until his late-fifties, with a consensus that either Moonraker (1979) or For Your Eyes Only (1981) should have been his Bond swansong; by the time of filming For Your Eyes Only, he was almost 54. Indeed, by that time Moore himself was beginning to have reservations about playing Bond, and his starring in For Your Eyes Only, Octopussy, and especially A View to a Kill, has more to do with producers not wanting him to leave rather than Moore 'not wanting to give up the role'. It is generally agreed that of the six actors to have played Bond, Moore's portrayal was the furthest removed from the character created by Ian Fleming. Some fans have also blamed Moore for turning the character into a self-parody.
His post-Bond career has been remarkably undistinguished. In the words of his friend Michael Caine, with whom he co-starred in the disastrous Bullseye! (1990), "Now he can't get a job."
In 1983, his life changed when filming in India. Shocked at the extreme poverty around him, he became interested in the Third World humanitarian effort. His friend Audrey Hepburn had impressed him with her work for UNICEF, and consequently he became a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador in 1991. He was the voice of 'Santa' in the UNICEF cartoon The Fly Who Loved Me.
Now having reached his 80th birthday (14 October 2007), Moore appears only occasionally in film or television, notably as Lord Edgar Dobbs in The Quest (1996) and an episode of the American TV series Alias in 2002. In a commercial for London's 2012 Olympic bid, Moore once again suited up as James Bond. He appeared alongside Samantha Bond, who played Miss Moneypenny in the Bond films during the Pierce Brosnan era. He still appears regularly on chat shows, chiefly to promote the work of UNICEF.
On October 11, 2007, (3 days before he turned 80), Moore was awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for his work on television and in film. Attending the ceremony were family, friends, and Richard Kiel, whom he had acted with in The Spy Who Loved Me and Moonraker. Moore's Star was the 2,350th star installed, and is appropriately located at 7007 Hollywood Boulevard.
Moore was involved in the production of an informative video for PETA that protests against the production and wholesale of foie gras. Moore narrates the video, which shows how ducks and geese are force-fed in order to appease the demand for the delicacy. |
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