Roger George Moore
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Roger Moore played James Bond in seven films, beginning with Live and Let Die in 1973. He was the oldest actor to debut as Bond at age 45. Moore also starred in television series The Saint and The Persuaders. He was knighted in 2003 for charity work.
Names, aliases, and relatives of Roger Moore — birth name, kin, and personal ties.
Roger Moore by the numbers — life, work, and family.
Roger Moore — early life, career, personal life, and legacy.
Police constable George Alfred Moore and his wife Lillian Pope welcomed Roger George Moore on October 14, 1927 in Stockwell, London. Lillian Pope came from a British family in Calcutta. Moore first wanted to become an artist but began working as a film extra in the late 1940s.
He attended Dr Challoner’s Grammar School, Launceston College, and Battersea Grammar School before training at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in 1944, where he met Lois Maxwell.
Moore’s television career took off with Ivanhoe in 1958 and The Alaskans in 1959, but he gained recognition playing Beau Maverick on Maverick in 1957. His international breakthrough came with The Saint 1962, which made him a household name.
After The Persuaders! 1971 with Tony Curtis failed to catch on in the US, Moore accepted the role of James Bond. His first Bond film, Live and Let Die 1973, grossed more outside the US than Connery’s Diamonds Are Forever. He went on to star in six more Bond films, including The Spy Who Loved Me 1977 and For Your Eyes Only 1981.
Moore also appeared in non-Bond films like The Wild Geese 1978 and The Cannonball Run 1981. He retired from Bond in 1985 after A View to a Kill.
Moore married four times. His first marriage to Doorn Van Steyn lasted from 1946 to 1953. He then married singer Dorothy Squires in 1953, divorcing in 1968. His third wife, Italian actress Luisa Mattioli, was married from 1969 to 1996. He married Christina Tholstrup in 2002.
He had two children: Deborah and Geoffrey. Deborah appeared in the Bond film Die Another Day 2002 as an air hostess. Moore lived in Switzerland and Monte Carlo with his wife.
For his charity work, Moore received a knighthood in 2003, becoming Sir Roger Moore. After his death in 2017, two of his Bond films were re-released with proceeds going to UNICEF.
He holds the record as the oldest actor to debut as Bond at 45 and the oldest to play the role officially at 57. His favorite Bond film was The Spy Who Loved Me. He once said he wanted to play a villain in a Bond film with Daniel Craig but knew it could never happen.
The complete filmography of Roger Moore — every film, TV show, and documentary credit, ranked by popularity.
Every award, honor, and recognition received by Roger Moore — Grammys, hall-of-fame inductions, civic honors, lifetime achievements.
A wall of memorable lines from Roger Moore — lyrics, interviews, and off-the-cuff remarks captured over a lifetime.
To Me, the Bond Situations Are so Ridiculous, so Outrageous. I Mean, This Man Is Supposed to Be a Spy and Yet, Everybody Knows He’s a Spy. Every Bartender in the World Offers Him Martinis That Are Shaken, Not Stirred. What Kind of Serious Spy Is Recognized Everywhere He Goes? It’s Outrageous. so You Have to Treat the Humor Outrageously as Well. My Personality Is Entirely Different Than Previous Bonds. I’m Not That Cold Blooded Killer Type. Which Is Why I Play It Mostly for Laughs.
I Must Tell You the Truth I Have Not Seen Them, and for a Very Good Reason. Knowing That I Would Get Asked Questions Like That, I’m Always Desperately Honest. If I Didn’t Like the Performance, I Don’t Know How I Would Answer. I Do Know Timothy, and He Is a Very, Very Pleasant Chap and a Good Actor. When Asked for His Opinion About the James Bond Movies Featuring His Successor Timothy Dalton
My Personality Is Entirely Different Than His. I Can’t Play the Cold Blooded Killer That Sean Can Do so Well, Which Is Why I Play It for Laughs. Comparing His Portrayal of James Bond with Sean Connery’s
Today I Am Completely Opposed to Small Arms and What They Can Do to Children. I Played Every Role Tongue in Cheek Because I Don’t Really Believe in That Sort of Hero. I Don’t Like Guns.
I’m Delighted to Hear That Daniel Craig Has Been Appointed the New 007. It’s a Very Exciting Time and I Would Like to Wish Everyone at Eon Much Success, and Welcome Daniel to the Family.
You’re Not a Star Till They Can Spell Your Name in Vladivostok.
A Lot of My Reading Over the Next Few Months Will Be the Works of Hans Christian Andersen I Have Been Appointed an Ambassador for the Bicentenary Celebrations of His Birth Next Year.
Bond Was Escapism, but Not Meant to Be Imitated in Real Life.
But If Asked Which of My Co Stars Had the Biggest Effect and Impact on Me, I Say Without Hesitation Eleanor Parker.
I Was Pretty so Pretty That Actresses Didn’t Want to Work with Me.
My Acting Range? Left Eyebrow Raised, Right Eyebrow Raised.
If I Kept All My Bad Notices, I’d Need Two Houses.
I’ve Never Received a Nomination for an Academy Award and That After I Went to the Trouble of Learning Two More Facial Expressions.
I Suppose I Was Just Window Dressing at MGM. You Might Call Me Taylor’s Dummy. I Wore Walter Plunkett’s Costumes Beautifully Though. I Was the Last of the Englishmen, After Edmund Purdom and Stewart Granger, Both of Whom Had Been Giving Them Trouble in Hollywood. I Very Quickly Learned That I Had to Be Highly Humble and Obsequious and Grovel a Lot.
Sadly, I Had to Retire from the Bond Films. the Girls Were Getting Younger, or I Was Just Getting Too Old.
It Used to Take Them Hours and Hours in Make up to Give Me Character. Now I’ve Got the Character, They Take It All Out.
I Like Bond. but It’s Silly to Take It Seriously. It’s Just a Great Big Comic Strip.
People Don’t Realize How Physically Demanding the Role Is. I’m Still Amazed How Many People Ask Me to This Day If I Did My Own Stunts. I Tell Them If I Did or Sean Did or Pierce Did Then We Would Have Been Physically Dead by the End of the First Reel of Every Film!
Sean and I Never Discussed Our Experiences… Not Even with the Leading Ladies! Actors Don’t Really Sit Around Discussing the Parts They’ve Played Just in Case Someone Says, That Was Crap!.
I Am Disappointed by What Is Happening Today in Television. We Seem to Have Gone into an Age of Cruelty Where Everything Is Put Down. Even I Notice Dear Cilla Black Has Got a New Format. Now They Have ‘Ditch’ a Poor Girl Comes up and If You Don’t Like Her Face, Get Rid of Her. I Think It’s Absolutely Terrible. It’s Appalling. It’s Humiliating.
I’ve Not Planned My Funeral. I’m Not the Queen. a Procession Through the Streets of Stockwell Would Be Nice, I Suppose. but When I Go, I’d Just Like Everyone to Say: He Lived Longer Than Anyone I Knew..
The Wonderful Thing About Age Is That Your Knees Don’t Work as Well, You Can’t Run Down Steps Quite as Easily and Obviously You Can’t Lift Heavy Weights. but Your Mind Doesn’t Feel Any Different. I Read the Obituary Columns and I Think Oh Goodness, He Was Only 93!.
As a Child, I Had Mumps and the Measles. Chickenpox. Tonsils Out. I Didn’t Learn the Alphabet Until I Was 11. I Was Circumcised at Eight. Much Better Than Having It Done Later, Like My Old Friend in the Army, Captain Hornby of the Royal Artillery. Afterwards I Said to Matron, You Can’t Call Hornby ‘Old Cock’ Anymore!.
I’m the Worst Bond, According to the Internet. Generally Hated! I Was Too Funny, Too Light. Didn’t Take It Seriously Enough. Well, I Mean, This Is a Man Who Is Supposed to Be a Spy. and yet He Turns up in Bars and Hotels Around the World, and Everyone Says, Ah, Mr. Bond, We’ve Been Expecting You. Everybody Knows Who He Is and What He Wants to Drink. It’s the Same with the Bond Girls. All the New Ones Say, Oh, I’m Going to Be Different from the Others, but Before Long It’s Always the Same Oh, James!.
I Would Love to Be Remembered as One of the Greatest Lears or Hamlets. But, as That’s Not Going to Happen, I’m Quite Happy I Did Bond.
I Like to Play Things for Humour. Particularly as I Was Playing a Hero Because I Consider Myself to Be Devoutly Unheroic to the Extent of Being a Sheer Coward. I Think Any Heroism I Have Is the Fact That I Did Things Physically That I Was Absolutely Petrified of Doing.
I Was as Surprised as Everyone Else Was to Be Cast as Bond, Particularly Since I Was Already Forty Five at the Time.
I’m a Conservative. I Always Have Been. Most Young People That Were Brought up with Parents Who Were in Jobs Like the Police Force Are Conservative in Their Thinking. You Don’t Have to Be Rich, Wealthy, High Income to Be Conservative. I Just Think That Conservatism Is the Way to Run a Country.
I Would Have Been Very Upset If We Had Had to Take the Queen off Our Currency. They’d Probably Have to Take Her off the Stamps and Everything. I Am British and I’m Fiercely Independent and I Think We Should Be Independent.
I Jokingly Said Once That the Reason the Banks Were in Trouble, Particularly the Royal Bank of Scotland, Was That Sean Connery Had Drawn Out All His Money in Cash.
Little-known facts about Roger Moore — origins, oddities, and behind-the-scenes details from a public life.
Moore once said he would like to play a villain in a Bond movie starring Daniel Craig, but accepted it could never happen.
Lois Maxwell, who played Miss Moneypenny, was a good friend of Moore. They first met in the mid-1940s at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts, where they were classmates in 1944.
At age 45, Moore became the oldest actor to debut as James Bond in Live and Let Die 1973.
Moore was honest about the fact that he did not perform any of his own stunts as Bond, unlike Sean Connery, George Lazenby, Timothy Dalton, and Daniel Craig.
Moore and his agent accepted each Bond movie on a film-to-film basis, instead of signing on for several.
His contract for the Bond films provided him with an unlimited supply of Montecristo cigars during filming, costing thousands of pounds.
On January 13, 2001, Moore and his companion Christina Kiki Tholstrup escaped injury when another vehicle collided with his car. Airbags prevented injury. They married the next year.
Moore received his first Razzie nomination for Worst Supporting Actor in Spice World 1997, opposite Sean Connery, who also earned a Razzie nomination. Neither won.
All the scenes showing Moore running in his seven Bond movies were performed by doubles, as he felt he looked awkward running.
Moore officially announced his retirement from playing James Bond on December 3, 1985, as it was agreed he had grown too old for the role. He felt embarrassed performing love scenes with actresses young enough to be his daughters.
He was the oldest official actor to play James Bond, aged 57 in A View to a Kill 1985.
Moore remained close friends with producer Albert R. Broccoli until Broccoli’s death.
He named The Spy Who Loved Me 1977 as his favorite Bond film and A View to a Kill 1985 as his least favorite.
He quit smoking cigars after undergoing major surgery for prostate cancer at age 65.
He never auditioned for the role of Simon Templar on The Saint 1962.
Moore strongly opposed the suggestion that fugitive train robber Ronald Biggs appear in Moonraker 1979, as his father had been a London policeman.
While a struggling young actor in the early 1950s, he briefly worked as a truck driver. He later impressed the crew on A View to a Kill 1985 with his truck driving skills.
By the late 1970s, he was the most bankable British film personality. He moved his family to Switzerland to avoid inflated British taxes of 83% on income.
He was made an honorary captain of the Maine state police force with the power to arrest.
He lived in Switzerland and Monte Carlo with his wife Christina Kiki Tholstrup 2002.
Both he and his daughter Deborah Moore acted in the James Bond franchise; she played an air hostess in Die Another Day 2002.
While filming Live and Let Die 1973, he saved Jane Seymour from a 29-foot fall by grabbing her hair when a hydraulic lift dropped.
In March 1996, he paid the 6,000-pound medical bill for his former wife Dorothy Squires’ bladder cancer surgery. He did not attend her funeral but sent a bouquet with a card.
Moore once beat up legendary American hellraiser Lee Marvin while filming Shout at the Devil 1976. Marvin said The guy is built like granite.
After presenting the Best Actor Oscar at the 1973 ceremony, Moore accidentally took home Marlon Brando’s Oscar when Brando refused it. The Academy sent cars to retrieve it the next morning.
As a tribute after his death, two of his Bond films, The Spy Who Loved Me 1977 and For Your Eyes Only 1981, were re-released with 50% of proceeds going to UNICEF.
He intended For Your Eyes Only 1981 to be his final Bond movie, as he was nearly 54.
In 1964, eight years before taking the movie role, Moore played James Bond in a BBC comedy sketch on Episode dated 17 July 1964 1964, opposite Millicent Martin.
In an episode of The Persuaders! 1971, a stolen briefcase contained 10 James Bond novels, three of which Moore later portrayed.
While filming The Wild Geese 1978, Moore requested to cut his lines when acting opposite Richard Burton and Richard Harris, saying he would rather just sit and puff his cigar.
He rode in or drove a motor-powered boat in every James Bond movie he appeared in.
He was the final guest ever on The Muppet Show 1976. In his autobiography, he implies he may have had an affair with Miss Piggy.
He admitted to being a hypochondriac and suffering from vertigo.
His father, George Alfred Moore, was a policeman.
He chose a Swedish conference on child abuse to announce that he was molested as a child, but said it did not scar him emotionally. He waited until age 16 to tell his mother.
He named the lowbrow sitcom Married… with Children 1987 as a guilty pleasure and was a friend of star Katey Sagal’s father, director Boris Sagal.
He had several favorites from his Bond era: favorite gadget was the magnetic watch from Live and Let Die 1973; favorite villain was Christopher Lee’s Scaramanga; favorite Bond girl was Barbara Bach’s Anya Amasova; favorite henchman was Richard Kiel’s Jaws.
Like Sean Connery, he wore a hairpiece in all his Bond films.
He spoke Italian perfectly; his third wife Luisa Mattioli was Italian.
His stepdaughter’s boyfriend Janus Friis invented Skype.
He had a pacemaker, just like his father.
Daniel Craig paid tribute to Moore by writing Nobody Does It Better, a reference to the Bond theme.
Moore confirmed in a 2009 interview with the Sunday Telegraph that he had completely retired from acting.
Despite playing a weapons-wielding character, Moore suffered from hoplophobia fear of firearms and disliked blood sports.
He was awarded a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 7007 Hollywood Boulevard on October 11, 2007, three days before his 80th birthday.
A deciding factor in accepting the Bond role was asking his son who he preferred; his son replied James Bond.
Upon his death, British satirical magazine Private Eye honored him with a cartoon of St Peter saying ‘We’ve been expecting you Mr Moore’.
Moore was conscripted into National Service after World War II and eventually became a Captain.
On May 21, 1964, he was Air France’s 8,000,000th passenger.
Quick answers to the questions readers ask most about Roger Moore.
Celebrities similar to Roger Moore — same craft, ranked by reach.
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