Self-Deprecating Star Who Was Forever James Bond

Roger Moore 1927-2017.

Roger Moore, who died last week aged 89, was not everyone’s favourite James Bond, and was by his own estimation only the fourth-best 007 – but he was, more than perhaps anyone, responsible for survival of the franchise. Sean Connery had defined the role, and the first attempt to replace him, with George Lazenby, had turned out badly. By the time Moore took over, for Live and Let Die in 1973, there were doubts as to whether the films would be kept going. But Moore – tall, debonair and handsome, with a smug smile, a twinkle in his eye and an arched eyebrow – created a more light-hearted, self-aware Bond that suited the silly, jet-set 1970s: he lasted 12 years in the role, longer than any other actor, and made seven films, ending with A View to a Kill in 1985, by which time he was 58.

Flinty and tough, Connery’s Bond – like Daniel Craig’s – was admired but feared; the Roger Moore Bond was loved, said Peter Bradshaw in The Guardian. “And Sir Roger Moore was loved too.” Elegant and charming, he admitted to being an egomaniac, but he had no self-importance: asked once what he thought he’d brought to the role of Bond, he replied: “White teeth.” His success, he said, had been “99% luck” – and he was grateful for it. “Being eternally known as Bond has no downside,” he once said. “People often call me ‘Mr Bond’ when we’re out and I don’t mind a bit. Why would I?”