I spent my youth watching him and loved his TV series: The Saint and The Persuaders!, and sought out to watch most (not quite all) of his films. But having read his self-penned biography My Word is My Bond I'm not convinced he was as nice a man as his portrayed image.
That said, I'm grateful for all the wonderful films he starred in ... including two of my top six favourite JB007 films.
Another bit of my past fades away. I can still remember him on TV in Ivanhoe & Maverick, & of course, The Saint. He seemed a hell of a nice guy, always self-deprecating in interviews, like he saw the joke of it all. Thanks Roger.
Our Mr. DiMucci will no doubt cover all of this in due time, but before he does yet another bang-up career retrospective...
Does anyone else enjoy Rog's 1969 film, Crossplot, which is his take on North by Northwest? Lots of fun, that one. It was made after The Saint and before The Persuaders, thus capturing Roger and "Swinging London" at a specific moment in time.
Not quite old enough to see Ivanhoe on broadcast but watched it since and love the medieval knight with an Elvis quiff! And times don't change. The Robins of Sherwood had 80s mullets and now King Arthur, Vikings etc have modern hair.
The Saint was a staple in our house with a cracking Edwin Astley title theme, and The Persuaders, with an equally cracking John Barry theme (which I had bought by my uncle as a 7" single - one of my first ever soundtrack acquisitions), was on when I was at primary school, and as a nine year old my best friend and I decided we were The Persuaders. He thought he was being cool being the Tony Curtis character, but I was happier in the role of the lord!
Crossplot is a perfectly good little film. I mean, for anyone remotely fond of the ITC output how could it fail? With a cast that included Alexis Kanner, Francis Matthews and Gabrielle Drake. Then there's sfx by Gerry Anderson's Century 21 company. It's a winner.
BUT! THE best ever acting role by Sir Roger Moore is without doubt The Man Who Haunted Himself. His breakdown at the end of the old doppleganger story is his best onscreen performance, bar none. It's cute to hear the man himself being slightly bemused as an obvious fan chats with him on the dvd commentary. He took it in his stride like all his other parts, including James Bond. Water off a duck's back for Roger - the dodger, as my family referred to him..
Let's not forget all that work he sincerely and tirelessly did for UNICEF. For some years he even added it as a stipulation that any TV interview he did HAD TO make reference to that cause.
He really was a much better actor than he took credit for, but his Apollo good looks stereotyped his parts. Very unpretentious man, brimming with humour.
I feel kind of numb from the very sad news of Sir Roger Moore's death today, even though, given his age, it is hardly surprising news.
The fella was 89 so he "had a good innings" as the saying goes, but it is sad nonetheless. His humour was always a joy and his self deprecation in interviews never failed to amuse.
He was the first James Bond I saw at the cinema (The Man With The Golden Gun) and was probably my first screen hero. He went on to appear in a total of, fittingly, (00)7 Bond films including my favourite, The Spy Who Loved Me. But Moore played a lot of other roles just as well, in films like The Wild Geese and the very under-rated The Man Who Haunted Himself.
In later years he gave up a huge amount of his time to become an ambassador for UNICEF.
I met Roger once, at a signing for his autobiography My Word Is My Bond (I even took the afternoon of off work for it and queued for several hours, something that anyone who knows me will be aware I do not do lightly!!!) It was a very brief encounter but his charm and winning smile still made my day.
In the context of last night's tragedy in Manchester, this really isn't that significant - as I say, the old boy had a long and successful life. But it is always sad when one of your heroes dies.
I posted this on the main page as I forgot to check this side. But here are a few recollections.
What an absolute gentleman.
Worked with him on A View To A Kill, Shout At The Devil, Octopussy and The Wild Geese. Then a few years ago I was with him for a book tour he did for a James Bond book, he always had time for fans & was so gracious all the time, would stop for pictures with people, you name it he was there for the fans 100%.
When I worked with him, he was so polite & so grateful for anything that was done for him, everything began with a "please" & finished with a "thank you" & had a wonderful sense of humour.
Sadly we all pass, but when they are so genuinely nice, it somehow seems sadder. I am sure like every human he had some off days, but I never once saw it & in fact the opposite, watched him go out of his way to cheer up others!
Amazing person who took fame as a gift and not for granted.
My parents always said Connery was Bond, but i grew up with Roger Moore, the first film i ever saw in the cinema was TSWLM, And Moore was my hero. And as someone already mentioned, after the events in Manchester (and other cities lately), this might not be so relevant, but i feel sad anyhow ! A fine person.
RIP Commander.
With the passing of Moore, Ken Adams and Marvin Hamlisch, isn't it time someone released the score to TSWLM in a decent way as a tribute ?
