Roger Moore
It’s a role many actors would kill for – James Bond. And those who do win the coveted role also accept the challenge of coming under the scrutiny of critics and the public alike. In the 1970’s Roger Moore won the role and rose to the challenge of replacing Sean Connery, whom most people still consider the ultimate Bond. But Roger Moore had a successful run as James Bond and has had a successful career overall. His list of achievements go far beyond just playing Bond.
Roger George Moore was born on October 14, 1927 in Stockwell, London. His first career choice was an artist, and he worked in an animation studio for some time. He began working as an extra in movies in the 1940’s. Moore was not credited in the first six or so movies he made, and his roles were that of “soldier” or “member of the audience.” He had the opportunity in the1945 of working with his movie idol Stewart Granger in 'Caesar and Cleopatra,' with Cleopatra being played by Vivien Leigh. Having gotten the acting bug, Moore enrolled in the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, and he acted in several plays on the West-End Stage.
Around this time Moore also served in the British Army serving in the Combined Services Entertainment Unit. As a 2nd Lieutenant he was stationed in Germany during World War II. When his service to the army was over, Moore turned his sites towards Hollywood and became a model and television actor. His first television roles were on shows like Ivanhoe, The Alaskans, and Maverick. Television was also the media that would also have Moore starring alongside one of the Hollywood greats, Tony Curtis, in what has become another 'cult' series, The Persuaders!
It wasn’t until he was cast as Simon Templar in the UK television show The Saint that he became a star though. The show ran for seven years from 1962-1969 in the UK and the US, and primed him for his most famous role – James Bond. In 1973 Moore starred in Live and Let Die and went on to play Bond in a total of seven movies, ending with 1985’s 'A View to a Kill.' His role of Bond ended because he was aging, a problem future actors in the role would also face.
As for his personal life, Roger Moore had a reputation as a ladies man during his early days in Hollywood. He’s been married four times. His first marriage to Doorn Van Steyn, a skater, ended when he left her in 1953 for Singer Dorothy Squires. He and Squires were married that same year, but he left her for young actress, Louisa Mattioli. They married in 1969 and had two children, named Geoffrey and Deborah. After 27 years of marriage, he and Mattioli divorced in 1996. In 2002 Moore married heiress Kristina Tholstrup.
Since Roger Moore left the role as James Bond, he has acted in several movies and television shows, none of them particularly notable. What is notable, though, is his focus on charity work. His friend Audrey Hepburn had impressed him with her work for UNICEF, and consequently he became a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador in 1991 and in 2003 he received the citation of Knighthood from Queen Elizabeth II for his work with the charity. He is now Sir Roger Moore and spends the majority of his time devoted to charitable endeavors.
In 2006, Moore signed on to voice a character in the animated film Agent Crush, an animated film about a secret agent in the future. |
