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Sir Roger Moore, Dead at 89
Roger Moore was never one to take himself, or his acting, too seriously.
“I have three expressions,” he said, “left eye, right eye and none moving at all.” Of the six men who have officially taken on the persona of James Bond on film, his was the lightest of touches. His was the Bond of the double entendre, the raised eyebrow and, uh, keeping the British end up.
While never praised as widely as Sean Connery or Daniel Craig, his Bond was the most enduring, spanning seven films over a twelve year period. Before that he was a television star in ITV’s The Saint, which ran from 1962-69. The first two seasons ran in the US in syndication before being added to NBC’s prime time lineup.
Based on Leslie Charteris’ books and successful movie franchise of the 1930s and 40’s, Moore played an affable thief, a sort of Robin Hood who kept the money for himself. Its success in the US market was notable for the fact that ITV switched to color production long before color transmission was approved in the UK. There have been attempts to revive the character (with Ian Olgivy in 1978 on CBS and with Val Kilmer in the 1997 feature film) but without Moore both efforts fell flat.
None of Moore’s films or television appearances will ever be mistaken for high art, but they remain durable for his style and the era that they reflect.
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Published in Entertainment
On the village green, sir. At dawn. Pistols or sabres, your choice.
Outstanding! A must read…when movie actors had class.
Marvelous! The Biography link above was cool, too…(Slightly sniffly tonight.)
Boomsticks
Thhhfffffppppptt! Rooty poot, DAT.
He was also the 3rd Maverick, Bret and Bart’s cousin Beauregarde. He was brought in when James Garner took off.
I remember reading in the TLS that Roger Moore did a reading of Kipling’s narrative poem “The Mary Glouster” at some hall in Bermuda.
I’d give anything to have been there.
If you don’t know this poem, please check it out. I first encountered it in a recording, not sure who the actor was, then read it. Both times it had me gasping, sobbing. Kipling is like that. He really is. I came upon my grandmother’s copy of Poems and Ballads (1899) and read it straight through like a novel. (Forget “the White man’s burden” , if that’s all you’re thinking of. )
Roger Moore, the TLS reported, didn’t aim for any particular class or regional accent . It was just him, at a podium in the bright, the vaguely nautical-looking hall, completely full. Many glistening eyes at the end.
Well. I’m happy that I even know it happened.
I’m sure everyone lucky enough to have been there is thinking of Sir Roger tonight.
His homages to “Tommy” – applicable in more wars than one – turn me into a blubbering mess…His stories of camp life in Plain Tales from the Hills make me laugh aloud, though, so it evens out, I suppose.
The urbane British actors, Cary Grant, David Niven, and Roger Moore. It is sad to see them go.
One of my favorite stories about David Niven:
Octopussy was the first Bond film I ever saw at the theater.
No comment from @simontemplar? I always thought he was Roger Moore. Who else even remembers The Saint?
Me, @chuckenfield! I [HEART] that show… :-)
The Saint was one of my favorite TV shows. I’ve got a DVD collection of the entire series. I became a fan of Sir Roger Moore and although I think highly of Sean Connery, I think Moore was a better Bond. He was Ian Fleming’s original choice. He was also a close friend of William F. Buckley and would meet for skiing on Buckley’s annual winter vacations to Switzerland. He was authentic and a class act.
I remember it too. Roger Moore was, as always, very suave. And very young (She thinks, now).
Exactly right. My favorite Bond and a classic British gentleman.
I remember when my mother and I went to the theater to see Casino Royale, there was this scene where Daniel Craig is fooling around with a woman but then gets an urgent call and runs off. My mom leans over and whispers in my ear “See, Roger Moore would have made time.” She was so serious, but that cracks me up.
RIP.
Caught a rerun of Johnny Carson yesterday, with guest Roger Moore appearing there after the first five of his Bond pictures. Asked how he got started, he told a story that one of his very first acting jobs had cast him as a Frenchman, so he’d played it with a French accent.
Afterwards, his agent got a call from someone interested in casting him, but asking whether “that French guy can act with an English accent?”
And, he concluded, that was how his career was launched.
I met Roger Moore outside The Brown Derby in Hollywood in the early ’80’s. (I know, I know, what a jet-setter, right?) (Um, no.) He was standing there with his wife (?) (no Google at that time) sitting in the limo waiting to leave, and he was patiently signing programs or something for a guy who had about a dozen of them.
My wife and I walked past then turned back and I said we were big fans and introduced ourselves. (We weren’t necessarily big fans.) He stopped signing, shook each of our hands and said “Nice to meet you” to each of us. Nothing big, but as classy as you may.
We became BIG fans that night. I have since read his biography and it is clear what an absolutely fine man he was. Top notch. He always found the best in everybody. (Except for David Niven’s children, when Roger dropped everything to go to them after Niven’s death and they accused him of wanting to steal the limelight.)
R.I.P. Roger. Thoughts to your family.
As much as we want to remember his acting work Sir Roger Moore got his knighthood for his major role as a good will ambassador for Unicef. He raised boat loads of money for charities and should be remembered for his humanitarian work as much as for his acting.
Watched a Biography episode from 1995 last night, in which Niven, Jr. detailed this episode as a mark of the closeness of Sir Roger to their family, and his generosity….Maybe time healed this misperception?
Fun Moore story, bit of language though.
That’s a good possibility. I saw that he wrote 2 biographies. The bio I read that had the Niven story was his first. Now that I know there is a second I will have to read that one too.