English actor Roger Moore, best known for playing secret agent 007 in seven James Bond movies in the 1970s and 1980s, has passed away at age 89.
A Genuine Maverick
Before he took over the role of James Bond, and even before The Saint, Moore played the iconic TV role of Maverick on Maverick…sort of. In 1959, Moore played Silky Harris on the ABC western The Alaskan. The series lasted a year, and its scripts were often old, repurposed Maverick scripts, in which only character names were changed. The Alaskan wasn’t successful, but Maverick producers liked Moore so much that they cast him on that show, playing Beau Maverick, English cousin of American Bret Maverick, played by James Garner, who had left the series. (As he would later replace Sean Connery as James Bond, Moore beat out Connery for the role of Beau Maverick.)
Sainted
He was considered by James Bond producers for the role because of his work portraying Simon Templar on the ‘60s British spy series The Saint, which he also produced and occasionally directed. He was reportedly in consideration to play 007 as early as the first Bond film, Dr. No in 1962, but lost out to Sean Connery…and then lost out again to George Lazenby in 1969…and then to Connery again when he returned for Diamonds are Forever in 1971. Moore was finally offered the film series in late 1972, and producers made him cut his hair and lose weight. (Oddly enough, he played Bond earlier, in an “unofficial” capacity—he guest-starred as 007 in 1964 in a comedy sketch on the British series Mainly Millicent.)
Bonded
Moore set some records with his portrayal of James Bond. He was the oldest actor to ever take on the role—with his debut in Live and Let Die in 1973, he was 45. Upon the release of A View to a Kill and his decision to leave the film series in 1985, he was 58. Moore also played Bond the most—seven official films—and, according to two polls in 2004 and 2008, he was voted the best James Bond by fans.
On Acting
In 1985, Roger Moore told New York Times writer Maureen Dowd that he had boiled down the process of acting to little more than making oneself, “Get up early, say your lines, and not trip over the furniture.”