James Bond star Roger Moore dies at 89

LONDON (Reuters/AFP) – British actor Roger Moore, who won international fame playing secret agent James Bond, died Tuesday, his family said on the actor’s official Twitter account. He was 89.

“It is with a heavy heart that we must announce our loving father, Sir Roger Moore, has passed away today in Switzerland after

a short but brave battle with cancer,” they said.

His 12 years as James Bond, the British agent with a voracious appetite for danger and sex, made Moore a millionaire as well as a heartthrob the world over.

Sir Roger, who died in Switzerland, will have a private funeral in Monaco in accordance with his wishes, they added. From Saint to 007 Moore was never one to boast about his acting ability but then the facts spoke for themselves – he played James Bond in more films than any other man.

Known for his ironically raised eyebrow and deadpan quips, Moore’s take on the suave superspy was more tongue-in-cheek than that of his manly predecessor Sean Connery.

But he outgunned Connery and all the other actors to have played 007 by taking the role he fondly called “Jimmy Bond” in a record number of seven films.

‘Not done badly’

Born Roger George Moore, on October 14, 1927, in the London suburb of Stockwell, he was the only son of a police constable and his wife, and had a happy childhood.

“I’ve not done badly for a boy from Stockwell, where I used to gaze at the silver screen in wonderment, little realizing I’d be a part of this magical world,” he wrote in his autobiography, “My Word Is My Bond.”

Moore began his acting career as an extra in the 1940s before studying at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art.