GOODBYE MR BOND... DEBONAIR ACTOR SIR ROGER MOORE DIES AGED 89
TRIBUTES were paid last night to James Bond star Sir Roger Moore who has died aged 89 after battling cancer.
He died surrounded by his family at his home in Switzerland.
Yesterday his three children Deborah, Geoffrey and Christian announced his death on the actor’s Twitter page.
They said: “With the heaviest of hearts, we must share the awful news that our father, Sir Roger Moore, passed away. We are all devastated.”
Sir Roger was best known as the debonair secret agent in seven films, the longestserving 007.
Although he found fame as James Bond, Sir Roger was also fondly remembered for his work in TV’s The Saint in the Sixties.
He once joked of his role as Simon Templar, which he also produced: “When I was doing The Saint I had two expressions. As Bond I’ve managed to work up to four.”
Charming
Jane Seymour, 66, who starred as Solitaire alongside Sir Roger in Live And Let Die, his first outing as 007, described him as “my Bond”.
She added: “The first leading role I ever had as a Bond girl was such a new and frightening world and Roger held my hand and guided me through every process.”
Ms Seymour said Sir Roger taught her “about work ethic and humility”, saying he was “funny, kind and thoughtful to everyone around him”.
ChildLine founder and friend Dame Esther Rantzen, 76, said: “I think the extraordinary thing about him was he seemed to be without vanity and was always relaxed, funny and charming.”
After Live And Let Die in 1973, Sir Roger went on to star in The Man With The Golden Gun, The Spy Who Loved Me, Moonraker, For Your Eyes Only and Octopussy. He took his final bow in 1985’s A View To A Kill.
He also appeared in Ivanhoe and The Persuaders! and movies The Wild Geese, The Cannonball Run, Spice World and North Sea Hijack.
Off screen, he was widely respected for his work as a Unicef Goodwill Ambassador and was knighted for his humanitarian work in 2003.
His final public appearance was at a question and answer evening to celebrate his life’s work in November last year at London’s Royal Festival Hall.
At 6ft 2in, with pale blue eyes and fair hair, Sir Roger’s suave good looks suited heroic roles. But it was a far cry from his humble roots. Born in Stockwell, south London, in 1927, the only son of an impoverished policeman, his favourite subject was art and as a teenager worked in a studio specialising in cartoons.
He appeared as a film extra on Caesar And Cleopatra in 1944, where co-director Brian Desmond Hurst noticed his “animal magnetism”. Hurst persuaded Sir Roger’s father to send his son to the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art. But he stayed briefly due to the financial strain he felt he was putting on his parents.
In his view, he settled a decades-old argument when he said: “I think that Sean [Connery] was obviously the great Bond. He brought the right personality to the performance.” Four-times married Sir Roger, who had battled prostate cancer in the Nineties, is survived by his wife Kristina Tholstrup and his three children.
SIR ROGER MOORE, who died yesterday at the age of 89, was a true legend of British cinema after appearing as James Bond seven times. He will be remembered as a heart-throb and as a wit, especially in later years when his quips and anecdotes always kept fans and friends alike amused.
Debonair, dashing and devastatingly charming, Sir Roger will be missed terribly.