“He was the epitome of the suave English gent, quipping sweatlessly in a bespoke three-piece suit, who enjoyed an acting career spanning eight decades,” writes Benjamin Lee for the Guardian. “On Tuesday, Roger Moore’s children announced his death at the age of 89 in Switzerland, saying: ‘he passed away today ... after a short but brave battle with cancer.’ Moore was best known for playing the third incarnation of James Bond as well as his roles in hit shows The Saint and The Persuaders. He also devoted a lot of his time to humanitarian work, becoming a Unicef goodwill ambassador in 1991.”
“After George Lazenby was one and done as Bond in On Her Majesty’s Secret Service (1969),” write Mike Barnes and Duane Byrge in the Hollywood Reporter, “Moore took on the guise of Agent 007 in Live and Let Die (1973) and stayed for The Man With the Golden Gun (1974), The Spy Who Loved Me (1977), Moonraker (1979), For Your Eyes Only (1981), Octopussy (1983) and A View to a Kill (1985), which hit theaters when he was nearly 58. He said it was his choice to leave the franchise. His Bond was more of a charmer than a fighter, more of a stirrer than was the shaker embodied by the first Bond, Scotsman Sean Connery. . . . ‘I’m not that cold-blooded killer type. Which is why I play it mostly for laughs,’ he once said. Moore’s devilish smile and famously cocked eyebrow made his Bond a more polished, albeit less pugnacious, chap than former bodybuilder Connery’s robust warrior.”
“Moore continued to appear in other films during this period, with notable releases including wartime actioners The Wild Geese (1978) and The Sea Wolves (1980) and the South Africa-set thriller Gold (1974),” notes the BFI. “Later roles tended to play on Moore’s debonair image as a English gentleman, notably opposite Michael Caine in the con-artist comedy Bullseye! (1990). His final cinema role was in the festive 2011 release A Princess for Christmas.”
“Born in Stockwell, London on 14 October 1927, he studied at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts [RADA], where he was a classmate of future costar Lois Maxwell—the original Miss Moneypenny.” notes Roisin O’Connor in the Independent.
“Moore embraced the Bond legend for decades afterward; none of the other Bonds burnished the legend as lovingly as he did,” writes Jacki Lyden for NPR. “He published four books about his time as Agent 007, all of them with a sense of humor . . . Throughout his long life, Moore appeared to lead a charmed existence—he even titled a memoir One Lucky Bastard.”
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