Roger Moore (14 October 1927 – 23 May 2017)

Profile of Roger Moore

​Sir Roger George Moore KBE (14 October 1927 – 23 May 2017) was an English actor best known for playing British secret agent James Bond in seven feature films from 1973 to 1985, beginning with Live and Let Die. He also played the main character, Simon Templar, in the British television series The Saint from 1962-1969 and had significant roles in some American television shows and films in the late 1950s and early 1960s, including replacing James Garner and portraying Beau Maverick in the Maverick series in 1960-61. Moore starred with Tony Curtis in The Persuaders television series in 1971-1972, and had roles in numerous theatrical films in the 1970s and 1980s. He 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 work in television and film. In 2008, the French government appointed him a Commander of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres.

Biography of Roger Moore

Roger Moore was born on 14 October 1927 in Stockwell, London, the only child of a policeman of Scottish descent. 

When his father investigated a robbery at the home of film director Brian Desmond Hurst, Moore was introduced to the director and hired as an extra for the 1945 film Caesar and Cleopatra, and Hurst would pay for Moore to study at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art.  During this time there, he developed the Mid-Atlantic accent and relaxed demeanour that became his screen persona.

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 and eventually becoming a captain commanding a small depot in West Germany where he looked after entertainers for the armed forces passing through Hamburg.

Roger Moore as a knitwear model in the 50s

1950s-1970s Early Career

Roger Moore as a knitwear model in the 50s

Roger Moore as a knitwear model in the 50s

In the early 1950s Moore worked as a model, appearing in print advertisements for knitwear (earning him the nickname "The Big Knit") and a wide range of other products such as toothpaste—work that many critics have used to underscore his lightweight credentials as an actor.

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. ​

​1973-1985: James Bond

In 1971, Sean Connery played in his last James Bond movie Diamond is forever, and the next year Roger Moore was approached to play for the next Bond movie Live and let die. For the next decade, Roger Moore appeared in another 6 Bond movies including The Man with the Golden Gun (1974), The Spy Who Loved Me (1977), Moon Raker (1979), For Your Eyes Only (1981), Octopussy (1983), A View to a Kill (1985).

Roger Moore while shooting his last James Bond movie A View to a Kill in Chantilly, north of Paris, 1984

​1991 onwards charity and humantiarian work

Roger Moore with his friend Audrey Hepburn and Gregory Peck

In 1991, Roger Moore became a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador inspired by his friend Audrey Hepburn, and continued working closely with the organization as a special ambassador until his death.

In 1999, Roger Moore was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the New Year Honours and was promoted to Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire (KBE) in the 2003 Birthday Honours for charitable services, especially UNICEF and latterly Kiwanis International, which had dominated his public life for more than a decade. 

In the same year, He was also Honored with the Humanitarian of the Year Award for his services to UNICEF. ​

Roger Moore with his fourth wife Kristina "Kiki" Tholstrup

Roger Moore married altogether 4 times. “I’ve been married four times and caused a great deal of hurt and upset around me,” as he himself said to The Guardian in 2012.

After 3 marriages that ended in unhappy divorce, Roger Moore married Swedish-born Danish socialite, Kristina "Kiki" Tholstrup in 2002, who would be his last wife. Moore said that he loved Tholstrup as she was "organised", "serene", "loving", and "calm", saying, "I have a difficult life. I rely on Kristina totally. When we are travelling for my job, she is the one who packs. Kristina takes care of all that".Moore also said that his marriage to Tholstrup was "a tranquil relationship, there are no arguments".​

On 11 October 2007, three days before he turned 80, Moore was awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for his work on television and in film. 

On 28 October 2008, the French government appointed Moore a Commander of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres. 

On 21 November 2012, Moore was awarded an honorary doctorate from the University of Hertfordshire for his outstanding contributions to the UK film and television industry for over 50 years, in particular film and television productions in Hertfordshire.

In 2015, Moore was named one of GQ´s 50 best-dressed British men.

On 23 May 2017,  Roger Moore died of Prostate cancer in his chalet in Crans-Montana, Switzerland.After his final Bond movie in 1985, Roger Moore stopped acting for 5 years, and although he resumed acting in 1990, he would never play anything as important as his James Bond role, and dedicated himself increasingly to charity and humanitarian work.