THE man who played both James Bond and The Saint, Roger Moore, died yesterday at the age of 89 after a short battle with cancer.
The quintessential English film and television star had a career lasting seven decades on stage and on the small and large screens. He was knighted for his work with Unicef and other charities.
Moore was best known for playing Bond in the long-running franchise, starring a record seven times in the role, from Live And Let Die in 1973 through to A View To A Kill in 1985.
His Bond was suave and humorous, Moore freely admitting he could not match the physicality of predecessor Sean Connery, a lifelong friend. The persona was one Moore had already established on TV in the hit 1960s series The Saint, in which he played Simon Templar, followed by the role of Lord Brett Sinclair in The Persuaders with Tony Curtis.
After national service, and a spell as a knitwear and toothpaste model, Moore’s career on TV began with small parts in Britain and America. He won the role of Ivanhoe in the late 1950s and then that of Brett Maverick in the US series Maverick.
In addition to Bond, he had memorable action roles in such films as The Wild Geese and Shout At The Devil, and also attempted more serious dramatic roles. Latterly, he contented himself with cameos and infrequent stage appearances as a compere or narrator. His own favourite role, however, was as an ambassador for Unicef, the United Nations children’s charity, to which he devoted a great deal of his time in his later years.
Scottish actor Ewan McGregor, a fellow Unicef ambassador, said: “Thank you, Roger, for having championed so tirelessly the rights of all children for the last 26 years.
“You’ve shown that we all have the power to make a change to the lives of the most vulnerable children.”
Four-times-married Moore is survived by his wife Kristina and children Deborah, Geoffrey and Christian. They announced his death on social media, saying: “We know our love and admiration will be magnified many times over across the world by people who knew him for his films, his television shows and his passionate work for Unicef which he considered his greatest achievement.”
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