Roger Moore

Sir Roger George Moore (14 October 192723 May 2017) was an English actor. He was the actor to portray Ian Fleming's fictional secret agent James Bond in the Eon Productions/MGM Studios film series, playing the character in seven feature films: '' 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). Moore's seven appearances as Bond are the most of any actor in the Eon-produced entries.

On television Moore played the lead role of Simon Templar, the title character in the British mystery thriller series '' The Saint'' (1962–1969). He also had roles in American series, including Beau Maverick in the Western series '' Maverick'' (1960–1961), in which he replaced James Garner as the lead, and a co-lead, with Tony Curtis, in the action-comedy ''The Persuaders!'' (1971–1972). Continuing to act in the decades after his retirement from the Bond franchise, Moore's final appearance was in a pilot for a new ''Saint'' series that became a 2017 television film.

Moore was appointed a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador in 1991 and was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II in 2003 for services to charity. In 2007 he received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for his contributions to the film industry. He was made a Commander of the Order of Arts and Letters by the French government in 2008.

Early life

Roger George Moore was born on 14 October 1927 in Stockwell, London. He was the only child of George Alfred Moore (1904–1997), a policeman based in Bow Street, London, and Lillian "Lily" Pope (1904–1986). His mother was born in Calcutta, India, to an English family. He attended Battersea Grammar School, but was evacuated to Holsworthy in Devon during the Second World War, and attended Launceston College in Cornwall. He was further educated at Dr Challoner's Grammar School in Amersham, Buckinghamshire.

Moore was apprenticed to an animation studio, but he was sacked after he made a mistake with some animation cels. When his father investigated a robbery at the home of the film director Brian Desmond Hurst, Moore was introduced to the director and hired as an extra for the 1945 film '' Caesar and Cleopatra''. While there, Moore attracted an off-camera female fan following, and Hurst decided to pay Moore's fees at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art. Moore spent three terms at RADA, where he was a classmate of his future Bond co-star Lois Maxwell, the original Miss Moneypenny. During his time there, he developed the relaxed demeanour that became his screen persona. He graduated RADA in 1945.

At 18, shortly after the end of the Second World War, 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 an officer in the Combined Services Entertainment section, eventually becoming a captain commanding a small depot in West Germany, where he looked after entertainers for the armed forces passing through Hamburg.

Career

Early work (1945–1953)

Moore made his professional debut in Alexander Korda's '' Perfect Strangers'' (1945) alongside actors Robert Donat, Deborah Kerr, and Glynis Johns. Other early uncredited appearances include ''Caesar and Cleopatra'' (1945), '' Gaiety George'', '' Piccadilly Incident'' (both 1946), and '' Trottie True'' (1949), in which he appeared alongside an uncredited Christopher Lee (both actors being cast by Brian Desmond Hurst as stage-door Johnnies).

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), in which he played the minor part of Bob Drew. Other actors in the show included Clive Morton and Betty Ann Davies. He had uncredited parts in films including ''Paper Orchid'' and '' The Interrupted Journey'' (both 1949). He was in the one-off programme ''Drawing-Room Detective'' on BBC TV (1950) and appeared in the films '' One Wild Oat'' and '' Honeymoon Deferred'' (both 1951).

In the early 1950s Moore worked as a model, appearing in print advertisements in the UK for knitwear (earning him the nickname "The Big Knit") and a wide range of other products such as toothpaste.

Moore travelled to the United States and began to work in television. He appeared in adaptations of ''Julius Caesar'' and '' Black Chiffon'', and in two episodes of ''Robert Montgomery Presents'', as well as the TV movie ''The Clay of Kings'' (all 1953).

MGM (1954–1956)

In March 1954 MGM signed Moore to a seven-year contract. He started his MGM contract with a small role in '' The Last Time I Saw Paris'' (1954), flirting with Elizabeth Taylor. He appeared in '' Interrupted Melody'', a biographical movie about opera singer Marjorie Lawrence's recovery from polio, in which he was billed third under Glenn Ford and Eleanor Parker as Lawrence's brother Cyril. That same year, he played a supporting role in the swashbuckler '' The King's Thief'' starring Ann Blyth, Edmund Purdom, David Niven and George Sanders.

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 two years following the film's critical and commercial failure. In his own words, "At MGM, RGM oger George Moorewas NBG o bloody good"

Moore then freelanced for a time, appearing in episodes of '' Ford Star Jubilee'' (1956), ''Lux Video Theatre'' (1957) and '' Matinee Theatre'' (1957).

''Ivanhoe'' (1958–1959)

Moore's first success was playing 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 owing to a partnership with Columbia Studios' Screen Gems. Aimed at younger audiences, the pilot was filmed in colour, 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. Christopher Lee and John Schlesinger were among the show's guest stars, and series regulars included Robert Brown (who in the 1980s played 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."

Warner Bros. (1959–1961)

After that, Moore 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.

In 1959 he took the lead role in '' The Miracle'', a version of the play '' Das Mirakel'' for Warner Bros. showcasing Carroll Baker as a nun. The part 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 the criminal mastermind Harry Lime, the role portrayed by Orson Welles in the film version.

''The Alaskans'' (1959–1960)

Moore's next television series involved playing the lead as "Silky" Harris for the ABC/Warner Bros. 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 around 1896, the series was filmed in the hot studio lot at Warner Bros. 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. Moore later referred to the experience as his "most appalling television series."

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''—alongside Rex Reason, John Dehner, Gary Vinson, and Dorothy Provine—appearing in a similar role but with a different character name.

''Maverick'' (1960–1961)

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''.

Moore appeared as the character in 14 episodes after Garner had left the series at the end of the previous season, wearing some of Garner's costumes; while filming ''The Alaskans'', he had already recited much of Garner's dialogue, for the Alaskan series frequently recycled ''Maverick'' scripts, changing only the names and locales. 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 ''The Rivals''. In the course of the story, Moore and Garner's characters switched names on a bet, with Moore consequently identifying himself as "Bret Maverick" through most of the episode.

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 his 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 the 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; ratings for the show were also down. Moore was originally slated to appear with both Jack Kelly and Robert Colbert in the series but by the time Colbert starred in his first episode, Moore had already left the series. Numerous early publicity stills of Kelly, Moore and Colbert posing together exist, however.

Moore was still under contract with Warners, who cast him in '' The Sins of Rachel Cade'' (1961), making love to a nun played by Angie Dickinson, and '' Gold of the Seven Saints'' (1961), supporting Clint Walker. He also went to Italy to make the adventure comedy '' Romulus and the Sabines'' (1961).

''The Saint'' (1962–1969)

Lew Grade cast Moore as Simon Templar in a new adaptation of '' The Saint'', based on the novels by Leslie Charteris

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