Roger Moore, the only Englishman to play James Bond, was born in Stockwell just south of London on 14th October 1927. He was an only child who easily made friends, and at school he was always near the top of his class. His first job was tracing animations but he was fired and so without a job in 1940. A friend suggested he took a job as an extra on Caesar and Cleopatra. Moore became interested and impressed the director, Brian Desmond Hurst who supported him through the Royal Academy. After some brief army days in Hamburg, Moore worked his way up the ladder of TV movies, starring in Ivanhoe and then becoming a household name with The Saint.

Moore was overlooked for Bond in Doctor No (1962) because he was too much of a pretty boy, and he was under contract for The Persuaders when George Lazenby got the job in 1968. However, after Diamonds Are Forever Moore was available, and got the role when Timothy Dalton said he himself was too young and didn’t want the pressure. Moore on the other hand thrived under the media spotlight, and produced a very different 007 than Connery’s.

Moore was the ultimate in suaveness and sophistication. He gave the appearance of rarely taking proceedings too seriously, and was a very light-hearted Bond who delivered the one-liners well. Although Moore is often considered the funniest Bond and many people’s favorite, overall he starred in arguably some of the worst films. Live And Let Die proved a good debut, but after The Man With the Golden Gun (1974) many people wrote the series off. But The Spy Who Loved Me was very popular, and Moonraker grossed superbly although true Bond fans didn’t like the unbelievable scenario. A View to a Kill was a disappointing final vehicle for Moore, who probably should have retired one or two films before. Whatever you think of Moore, I feel one thing is certain. Without Roger Moore, James Bond would NOT exist today. For that we must be eternally grateful.

Moore’s seven films grossed over a billion dollars, making him the most successful lead ever. He did a great job for the Bond franchise. Following his retirement he found himself typecast but was not desperate to do more films, but he has made a few appearances including most recently the terrible Spiceworld. Roger is now involved in a great deal of charity work for UNICEF. Moore was knighted in October 2003, and can be called Sir Roger Moore.