Roger Moore, the handsome English actor who appeared in seven films as James Bond and as Simon Templar on “The Saint” TV series, has died in Switzerland after a short battle with cancer. He was 89.
His family issued an announcement on Twitter: “It is the heaviest of hearts, we must share the awful news that our father, Sir Roger Moore, passed away today. We are all devastated.”
His family issued an announcement on Twitter: “It is the heaviest of hearts, we must share the awful news that our father, Sir Roger Moore, passed away today. We are all devastated.”
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Moore appeared in more official Bond pics than his friend Sean Connery over a longer period of time, and while Connery’s fans were fiercely loyal, polls showed that many others favored Moore’s lighter, more humorous take on 007.
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15 comments:
RIP Mr. Bond.
He was the Bond I grew up with. Sadly, I was much older before I picked up on the comedy. I expect Evi to Rule 5 his Bond girls.
Favorite movie of his: The Wild Geese.
He did the action one liners before the governator made it his signature.
I liked the Saint.
Did this guy have a pulse? I mean while he was alive.
The incredible financial success of the James Bond films tells us what? Okay, tells me what? That people don't only want escape, they want total escape. What I mean by that is that at no time in a Bond film is there emotional connection. By design. It's all pure fantasy. Apparently there is a great appetite for that in millions. When you go to see something as escapist as a musical there is nevertheless a relationship between the leads that might be relatable, or a song that can be not only tuneful but moving. Not in Bond. All clockwork. Marvelous clockwork I suppose but nothing more. Leaves me.....depressed.
If the above sounds snobbish maybe it's more an admission that I lack the fantasy gene.
He was also Cousin Beau in Maverick (his tough luck he had to follow Brother Bret, as well as Lazenby).
He did a good little Western for Warners called "Gold Of The Seven Saints" with Clint Walker.
If you ever wondered what a flick with Duke Wayne and Errol flynn might have been like, check it out.
Trooper York said...
Favorite movie of his: The Wild Geese.
By all means, the Richards, Burton and Harris, and he made a superlative A-Team. The hostage on "ffolkes" is good, too.
Evi L. Bloggerlady said...
I liked the Saint.
His best role, I always thought. My mom and I stayed up on Sunday nights to watch it. That show popularized a whole sub-genre of classy British adventure shows in the mid- and early 60s.
I always thought The Avengers wouldn't have done as well if Sir roger had blazed the trail.
RIP. I preferred Moore as Simon Templar over James Bond. The Saint, particularly the early black and white ones were very good. Shirley Eaton, the golden girl, played in two different episodes. Bond girls Honor Blackman and Eunice Gayson also appeared in other episodes. Julie Christie also showed up once.
A class operation, definitely, and Moore had a chance to make the role his own, rather than just be someone's replacement.
PS ric is right in that Moore's Bonds very quickly became extremely repetitive.
PPS An old friend of Lois, who was really a Hooker, who played Moneypenny.
I, for one, did not expect him to talk.
Roger Moore was a good actor in the David Niven stiff British guy style. From Leslie Howard to Niven to Moore you always had these upper crust dudes.
I am more sympathetic to the working class types like Bob Hoskins or Guy Parisi who plays the caretaker on Call the Midwife.
We have been binge watching British Drama on Hulu and there is a lot of cool stuff. If you enjoy Roger Moore you can catch a lot of good drama.
I was more a Michael Caine fan for working class types, but Bob Hoskins is very good.
Moore was a son of a cop (in real life), but he does have that English 'public school' thing going. Moore is better than Leslie Howard (I never got why Howard even had an acting career). I thought his role in the Saint led to the Bond roll (which was his big payday as an actor).
Niven went to Sandhurst, which is sort of interesting.
And Niven was forced out of the British Army in the 30's for his insubordinate attitude, went to Hollywood and started making it big.
When WW2 started, he went back into the British Army and became an Intel guy. His unit went into Normandy shortly after D-day and he continued to the end of the war.
Then back to movies. Fascinating dude.
A second rate film Bond but by all accounts a decent man. RIP.
I can't recall ever watching a James Bond movie - I must have, or maybe not, so when "12 Best Scenes" blah blah blah was posted I tried to watch them. They were campy, there was way too much slapstick, the pigeon double take was hideous, Bond was never in any actual peril, and only the stunt work made the clips watchable.
I do have to say that the sky diving scene was very well done. Of course no actors jumped out of a plane, but I was interested enough in that sequence to read up on it - 88 jumps were required to film those 2 minutes or so of film. Impressive to say the least.
Then Jaws lands on a circus tent. Who wrote that crap?
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