It is with a heavy heart that we must report that actor Sir Roger Moore has died at the age of 89. His family made the announcement, revealing that the actor passed away today in Switzerland after a short battle with cancer.
“The love with which he was surrounded in his final days was so great it cannot be quantified in words alone,” they wrote in a statement. “We know our own love and admiration will be magnified many times, across the world, by people who knew him for his films, his television shows and his passionate work for UNICEF which he considered to be his greatest achievement.’
“The affection out father felt whenever he walked on to a stage or in front of a camera buoyed him hugely and kept him busy working into his 90th year, through to his last appearing in November 2016 on stage at London’s Royal Festival Hall. The capacity crowd cheered him on and off stage, shaking the very foundations of the building just a short distance from where he was born.
“Thank you Pops for being you, and for being so very special to so many people.”
Moore first appeared on the big screen in the 1954 film The Last Time I Saw Paris. He would go on to star in a few more MGM comedies and Warner Bros. films before diving into television work, starring in the likes of Ivanhoe, The Alaskans, and Maverick. In 1962, he would take on the title role in the series The Saint, starring in the series for seven years and setting up his tenure as 007.
Roger Moore made his debut as Ian Fleming’s James Bond in 1973’s Live and Let Die and would continue to play the character for twelve more years and across six additional movies, including The Man with the Golden Gun, The Spy Who Loved Me. Moonraker, For Your Eyes Only, Octopussy, and A View to a Kill. Of all the actors to play the roll, Moore still has the most appearances as the character in the official continuity of the series.
Following his tenure as Bond, Moore had limited roles in feature films but continued his charity work. Moore also wrote four autobiographies including Roger Moore as James Bond: Roger Moore’s Own Account of Filming Live and Let Die (1973), My Word is My Bond: The Autobiography (2008), Bond on Bond: The Ultimate Book on 50 Years of Bond Movies (2012), and Last Man Standing (2014).
Moore is survived by his wife Kristina Tholstrup and his three children, Deborah, Geoffrey, and Christian.
(Photo Credit: Getty Images)
