ROGER MOORE , BRITISH ACTOR
THE LEGEND OF JAMES BOND
BORN 1927 OCTOBER 14
Sir Roger George Moore KBE (born 14 October 1927) is an English actor and humanitarian. Moore played the British secret agent James Bond in seven feature films between 1973 and 1985. Moore worked as a model and made several appearances in minor films and television dramas before finding more substantial roles in the television serials Ivanhoe (1958–1959), The Alaskans (1960–1961) and Maverick (1961).
| Sir Roger Moore KBE | |
|---|---|
Moore in 1973
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| Born | Roger George Moore October 14, 1927 Stockwell, London, England, United Kingdom |
| Nationality | British |
| Occupation | Actor |
| Years active | 1945–present |
| Spouse(s) | Doorn van Steyn (m. 1946–53) Dorothy Squires (m. 1953–68) Luisa Mattioli (m. 1969–96) Kristina Tholstrup (m. 2002) |
| Children | 3 |
| Website | www |
Moore's most significant television work came with his portrayal of Simon Templar in The Saint from 1962 to 1969 and his starring alongside Tony Curtis in the television drama The Persuaders! (1971).Moore was cast as Bond in 1973 and portrayed him 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); and A View to a Kill (1985). He worked regularly throughout his Bond era, and sporadically since then. He is a Goodwill Ambassador for the charity organization UNICEF, and has demonstrated against the production of foie gras. He has been a tax exile from the United Kingdom since the 1970s.
Moore has been married four times, including to the Welsh singer Dorothy Squires and the Italian actress Luisa Mattioli, with whom he had three children...including fellow actors Deborah Moore and Geoffrey Moore (the latter was typecast as his character's son for Sherlock Holmes in New York). Moore published an autobiography, My Word Is My Bond, in 2008; he has written other books of reminiscences of his career and filming Bond.
Early Life[edit]
Roger Moore was born on 14 October 1927 in Stockwell, now part of the London Borough of Lambeth, in London. He is the only child of Lillian "Lily" (née Pope), a housewife, and George Alfred Moore, a policeman.[1] His mother was born in Calcutta, India, of English origin.[2] He attended Battersea Grammar School, but was evacuated to Holsworthy, Devon, during World War II. He was then educated at Dr Challoner's Grammar School in Amersham, Buckinghamshire. He then attended the College of the Venerable Bede at the University of Durham, but did not graduate.[3]
At 18, shortly after the end of World War II, Moore was conscripted for national service. On 21 September 1946, he was commissioned into the Royal Army Service Corps as a second lieutenant. He was given the service number 372394.[4] He eventually became a captain. Moore served commanding a small depot in West Germany. He later looked after entertainers for the armed forces passing through Hamburg.[5]
Immediately prior to his national service, he studied for two terms at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, during which his fees were paid by film director Brian Desmond Hurst, who also used Moore as an extra in his film Trottie True. At RADA, Moore was a classmate of his future Bond costar Lois Maxwell, the original Miss Moneypenny. Moore chose to leave RADA after six months in order to seek paid employment as an actor. His film idol was Stewart Granger. At the age of 17, Moore appeared as an extra in the film Caesar and Cleopatra (1945), meeting his idol on the set. Later Moore and Granger were both in The Wild Geese (1978), though they had no scenes together.
Career[edit]
Early work (1945–1959)[edit]
In the early 1950s, Moore worked as a model, appearing in print advertisements for knitwear (earning him the amusing nickname "The Big Knit"), and a wide range of other products such as toothpaste – an element that many critics have used as typifying his lightweight credentials as an actor. In his book Last Man Standing: Tales from Tinseltown, Moore states that his first television appearance was on 27 March 1949 in The Governess by Patrick Hamilton, a live broadcast (as usual in that era), and he played the minor part of Bob Drew.[6] Other actors in that show included Clive Morton and Betty Ann Davies.
MGM[edit]
Although Moore signed a seven-year contract with MGM in 1954, the films that followed were not successes and, in his own words, "At MGM, RGM (Roger George Moore) was NBG [no bloody good]." He appeared in Interrupted Melody—billed third under Glenn Ford and Eleanor Parker—a biographical movie about an opera singer's recovery from polio. That same year, he played a supporting role in The King's Thief starring Ann Blyth, Edmund Purdom, David Niven and George Sanders, all of whom had larger roles than Moore.
In the 1956 film Diane, Moore was billed third again, this time under Lana Turner and Pedro Armendariz in a 16th-century period piece set in France with Moore playing Prince Henri, the future king. Moore was released from his MGM contract after only two years following the critical and commercial failure of Diane.
Warner Bros[edit]
After that, he spent a few years mainly doing one-shot parts in television series, including an episode of Alfred Hitchcock Presents in 1959 titled "The Avon Emeralds". He signed another long-term contract to a studio, this time to Warner Bros.
His starring role in The Miracle (1959), a version of the play Das Mirakel for Warner Bros. showcasing Carroll Baker as a nun, had been turned down by Dirk Bogarde. That same year, Moore was directed by Arthur Hiller in "The Angry Young Man", an episode of the television series The Third Man starring Michael Rennie as criminal mastermind Harry Lime, the role portrayed by Orson Welles in the movie version.
Television series (1958–1972)[edit]
Ivanhoe (1958–1959)[edit]
Eventually, Moore made his name in television. He was the eponymous hero, Sir Wilfred of Ivanhoe, in the 1958–59 series Ivanhoe, a loose adaptation of the 1819 romantic novel by Sir Walter Scott set in the 12th century during the era of Richard the Lionheart, delving into Ivanhoe's conflict with Prince John. Shot mainly in England at Elstree Studios and Buckinghamshire, some of the show was also filmed in California due to a partnership with Columbia Studios' Screen Gems.
Aimed at younger audiences, the pilot was filmed in color, a reflection of its comparatively high budget for a British children's adventure series of the period, but subsequent episodes were shot in black and white.[7] Christopher Lee and John Schlesinger were among the show's guest stars and series regulars included Robert Brown (who in the 1980s would play M in several James Bond films) as the squire Gurth, Peter Gilmore as Waldo Ivanhoe, Andrew Keir as villainous Prince John, and Bruce Seton as noble King Richard. Moore suffered broken ribs and a battle-axe blow to his helmet while performing some of his own stunts filming a season of 39 half-hour episodes and later reminisced, 'I felt a complete Charlie riding around in all that armour and damned stupid plumed helmet. I felt like a medieval fireman.'[8]
The Alaskans (1959–1960)[edit]
Moore's next television series involved playing the lead as "Silky" Harris for the ABC/Warner Brothers 1959–60 western The Alaskans, with co-stars Dorothy Provine as "Rocky," Jeff York as "Reno," and Ray Danton as "Nifty." The show ran for a single season of 37 hour-long episodes on Sunday nights. Though set in Skagway, Alaska, with a focus on the Klondike Gold Rush c.
1896, the series was filmed in the hot studio lot at Warner Brothers in Hollywood with the cast costumed in fur coats and hats. Moore found the work highly taxing and his off-camera affair with Provine complicated matters even more. He subsequently appeared as the questionable character "14 Karat John" in the two-part episode "Right Off the Boat" of the ABC/WB crime drama The Roaring 20s, with Rex Reason, John Dehner, Gary Vinson, and again Dorothy Provine, appearing in a similar role but with a different character name.[9]
Maverick (1960–1961)[edit]
In the wake of The Alaskans, Moore was cast as Beau Maverick, an English-accented cousin of frontier gamblers Bret Maverick (James Garner), Bart Maverick (Jack Kelly) and Brent Maverick (Robert Colbert) in the much more successful ABC/WB western series Maverick. Sean Connery was flown over from England to test for the part but turned it down.[10] Moore appeared as the character in 14 episodes after Garner had left the series at the end of the previous season, actually wearing some of Garner's costumes; while filming The Alaskans, he had already recited much of Garner's dialogue since the Klondike series frequently recycled Maverick scripts, changing only the names and locales.[11] He had also filmed a Maverick episode with Garner two seasons earlier in which Moore played a different character in a retooling of Richard Brinsley Sheridan's 1775 comedy of manners play entitled "The Rivals."
Moore's debut as Beau Maverick occurred in the first episode of the 1960–61 fourth season, "The Bundle From Britain," one of four episodes in which he shared screen time with cousin Bart (Jack Kelly). Robert Altman wrote and directed "Bolt from the Blue," an episode featuring Will Hutchins as a frontier lawyer similar to his character in the series Sugarfoot, and "Red Dog" found Beau mixed up with vicious bank robbers Lee Van Cleef and John Carradine. Kathleen Crowley was Moore's leading lady in two episodes ("Bullet For the Teacher" and "Kiz"), and others included Mala Powers, Roxane Berard, Fay Spain, Merry Anders, Andra Martin and Jeanne Cooper. Upon leaving the series, Moore cited a decline in script quality since the Garner era as the key factor in his decision to depart.
The Saint (1962–1969)[edit]
Worldwide fame arrived after Lew Grade cast Moore as Simon Templar in a new adaptation of The Saint, based on the novels by Leslie Charteris. Moore said in an interview in 1963, that he wanted to buy the rights to Leslie Charteris's character and the trademarks. He also joked that the role was supposed to have been meant for Sean Connery who was unavailable. The television series was made in the UK with an eye to the American market, and its success there (and in other countries) made Moore a household name. By spring 1967 he had achieved international stardom. The series also established his suave, quipping style which he carried forward to James Bond. Moore went on to direct several episodes of the later series, which moved into colour in 1967.
The Saint ran from 1962 for six seasons and 118 episodes, making it (in a tie with The Avengers) the longest-running series of its kind on British television. However, Moore grew increasingly tired of the role, and was keen to branch out. He made two films immediately after the series had ended: Crossplot, a lightweight 'spy caper' movie, and the more challenging The Man Who Haunted Himself (1970). Directed by Basil Dearden, it gave Moore the opportunity to demonstrate a wider versatility than the role of Simon Templar had allowed, although reviews at the time were lukewarm, and both did little business at the box office.
The Persuaders! (1971–1972)[edit]
Television lured Moore back to star alongside Tony Curtis in The Persuaders!. The show featured the adventures of two millionaire playboys across Europe. Moore was paid the then-unheard-of sum of £1 million 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 refused to spend more time on set than was strictly necessary, while Moore was always willing to work overtime.
According to the DVD commentary, neither Roger Moore, an uncredited co-producer, nor Robert S. Baker, the credited producer, ever had a contract other than a handshake with Lew Grade. They produced the entire 24 episodes without a single written word guaranteeing that they would ever be paid.[12]
The series failed in America, where it had been pre-sold to ABC, but it was successful in Europe and Australia. In Germany, where the series was aired under the name Die Zwei ("The Two"), it became a hit through especially amusing dubbing which only barely used translations of the original dialogue. In Britain it was also popular, although on its premiere on the ITV network, it was beaten in the ratings by repeats of Monty Python's Flying Circus on BBC One. Channel 4 repeated both The Avengers and The Persuaders! in 1995. Since then, The Persuaders! has been issued on DVD, while in France, where the series (entitled Amicalement Vôtre) had always been popular, the DVD releases accompanied a monthly magazine of the same name.
James Bond era (1973–1985)[edit]
James Bond films[edit]
Moore in 1973
Because of his commitment to several television shows, in particular the long-lasting series The Saint, Roger Moore was unavailable for the James Bond franchise for a considerable time. His participation in The Saint was not only as actor, but also as a producer and director, and he also became involved in developing the series The Persuaders!. Although, in 1964, he made a guest appearance as James Bond in the comedy series Mainly Millicent,[13] Moore stated in his autobiography My Word Is My Bond (2008) that he had neither been approached to play the character in Dr. No, nor does he feel that he had ever been considered.
It was only after Sean Connery had declared in 1966 that he would not play Bond any longer that Moore became aware that he might be a contender for the role. However, after George Lazenby was cast in 1969's On Her Majesty's Secret Service and Connery played Bond again in Diamonds Are Forever (1971), Moore did not consider the possibility until it seemed abundantly clear that Connery had in fact stepped down as Bond for good. At that point Moore was approached, and he accepted producer Albert Broccoli's offer in August 1972. In his autobiography Moore writes that he had to cut his hair and lose weight for the role. Although he resented having to make those changes, he was finally cast as James Bond in Live and Let Die (1973).
After Live and Let Die, Moore continued to portray Bond in The Man with the Golden Gun (1974); The Spy Who Loved Me (1977); Moonraker (1979); For Your Eyes Only (1981); Octopussy (1983); and A View to a Kill (1985).
Moore is the longest-serving James Bond actor, having spent 12 years in the role (from his debut in 1973, to his retirement from the role in 1985), having made seven official films in a row. Moore is the oldest actor to have played Bond – he was 45 in Live and Let Die (1973), and 58 when he announced his retirement on 3 December 1985.
Moore's Bond was very different from the version created by Ian Fleming. Screenwriters like George MacDonald Fraser provided scenarios in which Moore was cast as a seasoned, debonair playboy who would always have a trick or gadget in stock when he needed it. This was designed to serve the contemporary taste of the 1970s. Moore's version of Bond was also known for his sense of humour and witty one liners, but also a skilled detective with a cunning mind.
In 2004, Moore was voted 'Best Bond' in an Academy Awards poll, and he won with 62% of votes in another poll in 2008. In 1987 he hosted Happy Anniversary 007: 25 Years of James Bond.
Other films during Bond era[edit]
During Moore's Bond period he starred in 13 other movies, beginning with a thriller featuring Susannah York, entitled Gold (1974). He portrayed an adventurer in Africa opposite Lee Marvin in Shout at the Devil (1976), a commando with Richard Burton and Richard Harris in the unorthodox action film The Wild Geese (1978), a counter-terrorism expert opposite Anthony Perkins in the thriller North Sea Hijack (1979), and a millionaire so obsessed with Roger Moore that he had had plastic surgery to look like his hero in Cannonball Run (1981). He even made a cameo as Chief Inspector Clouseau, posing as a famous movie star, in Curse of the Pink Panther (1983) (for which he was credited as "Turk Thrust II"). However, most of these films were neither critically acclaimed nor commercially successful. Moore was widely criticised for making three movies in South Africa under the Apartheid regime during the 1970s (Gold, Shout at the Devil, and The Wild Geese).
Post-James Bond career (1985–present)[edit]
Roger Moore in 1979
Moore did not act onscreen for five years after he stopped playing Bond. In 1990 he appeared in several films and writer-director Michael Feeney Callan's television series My Riviera; he starred in the film Bed & Breakfast which was shot in 1989.[14] Moore had a large role in the 1996 film The Quest. In 1997, Moore starred as the Chief in Spice World. Between 1998 and 2002, Moore starred in all four ITV Pantos, Jack and the Beanstalk, Cindrella, Aladdin and Dick Whittington as Baron Wasteland, Master of Ceremonies, Widow Twankey and The Mayor respectively. At the age of 73, Moore played an amorous homosexual man in Boat Trip (2002). Though the film was critically panned, Moore's comedic performance was singled out by many critics and viewers as the one of the few enjoyable aspects of it.
British comedy sketch show Spitting Image once had a sketch in which their latex likeness of Moore, when asked to display emotions by an offscreen director, does nothing but raise an eyebrow. Moore himself has stated that he thought the sketch was funny, and took it in good humour. Indeed, he had always embraced the 'eyebrows' gag wholeheartedly, slyly claiming that he 'only had three expressions as Bond: right eyebrow raised, left eyebrow raised and eyebrows crossed when grabbed by Jaws'. Spitting Image continued the joke, featuring a Bond movie spoof, The Man with the Wooden Delivery, with Moore's puppet receiving orders from Margaret Thatcher to kill Mikhail Gorbachev. Other comedy shows at that time ridiculed Moore's acting, with Rory Bremner once claiming to have had a death threat from an irate fan of Moore's, following one such routine.[15]
In 2009, Moore appeared in an advert for the Post Office. He also played the role of a secret agent in the Victoria Wood Christmas Special on BBC1 show over the festive period in 2009. Filming all his scenes in the London Eye, his mission was to eliminate another agent whose file photo looks just like Pierce Brosnan. In 2010, Moore provided the voice of a talking cat called Lazenby in the film Cats & Dogs: The Revenge of Kitty Galore, which contained several references to, and parodies of, Bond films. In 2011, Moore co-starred in the film A Princess for Christmas with Katie McGrath and Sam Heughan. In 2012, Moore took to the stage for a series of seven Evenings With in UK theatres and, in November, guest-hosted Have I Got News For You.
He was named one of GQ's 50 best dressed British men in 2015.[16]
In 2015, Moore backed children's fairytales app GivingTales in aid of UNICEF together with Stephen Fry, Ewan McGregor, Joan Collins, Joanna Lumley, Michael Caine, David Walliams, Charlotte Rampling and Paul McKenna.[17]
Humanitarian work[edit]
Moore's 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 Father Christmas or 'Santa' in the 2004 UNICEF cartoon The Fly Who Loved Me.[18]
Moore was involved in the production of a video for PETA that protests against the production and wholesale of foie gras. Moore narrates the video.[19] His assistance in this situation, and being a strong spokesman against foie gras, has led to the department store Selfridges agreeing to remove foie gras from their shelves.[20]
Personal life[edit]
Doorn Van Steyn[edit]
In 1946, aged 18, Moore married a fellow RADA student; the actress and ice skater Doorn Van Steyn (born Lucy Woodard), who was six years his senior.[21] Moore and Van Steyn lived in Streatham with her family, but tensions over money, and her lack of belief in his acting ability affected their relationship.[22] Moore has since said that Van Steyn had repeatedly punched and scratched him and also threw a teapot at him on one occasion
Honours[edit]
Moore accepts carrot in 1959
On 11 October 2008, three 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, with whom he had acted 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.[46]
In 2008, the French government appointed Moore a Commander of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres.
On 21 November 2012, Moore was awarded an honorary Doctor of Arts degree from the University of Hertfordshire, for his outstanding contributions to the UK film and television industry for over 50 years, in particular film and television productions in the County of Hertfordshire.[47]
Awards[edit]
For his charity work
2008: Dag Hammarskjöld Award (from the UN)
2005: UNICEF Snowflake Audrey Hepburn Humanitarian Award
2003: German Federal Cross of Merit (Bundesverdienstkreuz): for his work battling child traffickers as special representative to UNICEF
2003: Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire
1999: Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE)
Lifetime achievements awards
2008: Commander of the French National Order of Arts and Letters (Ordre national des Arts et des Lettres)
2007: Hollywood Walk of Fame
2004: TELEKAMERA ("Tele Tydzień" Lifetime Achievement Award, Poland)
2002: Monte Carlo TV Festival (Lifetime Achievement Award)
2001: Lifetime achievement award (Filmfestival, Jamaica)
1997: Palm Springs film festival, USA, Lifetime Achievement Award
1995: TELE GATTO (Italian TV; Lifetime Achievement Award)
1991: GOLDEN CAMERA (German TV; lifetime achievement award)
1990: BAMBI (Lifetime Achievement Award from the German magazine BUNTE)
For his acting
1981: OTTO (Most popular Film Star; from German Magazine BRAVO)
1980: SATURN Award (Most Popular International Performer)
1980: GOLDEN GLOBE: World Film Favorite-Male
1973: BAMBI (shared with Tony Curtis for "The Persuaders", from the German magazine BUNTE)
1973: BEST ACTOR IN TV, award from the French magazine TELE-7-JOURS, shared with Tony Curtis for "The Persuaders"
1967: ONDAS-AWARD (Spanish TV for "The Saint")
1967: OTTO (Most popular TV-star for "The Saint"; from German magazine BRAVO)
Publications[edit]
Moore wrote a book about the filming of Live and Let Die, based on his diaries. Roger Moore as James Bond: Roger Moore's Own Account of Filming Live and Let Die was published in London in 1973, by Pan Books. The book includes an acknowledgment to Sean Connery, with whom Moore has been friends for many years: "I would also like to thank Sean Connery – with whom it would not have been possible."
Moore's autobiography My Word is My Bond (ISBN 0061673889) was published by Collins in the US in November 2008. It was published in the UK by Michael O'Mara Books Ltd on 2 October 2008 (ISBN 9781843173182).[48]
On 16 October 2012, Bond On Bond was published to tie in with the 50th anniversary of the James Bond films. The book, with many pictures, is based on Moore's own memories, thoughts, and anecdotes about all things 007.
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