Roger Moore

Roger George Moore was born on 14 October 1927 in Stockwell, London, the only child of George Alfred Moore, a Metropolitan Police officer stationed at Bow Street, and Lillian "Lily" Pope, who had been born in Calcutta, India, to an English family. Moore attended Battersea Grammar School before being evacuated to Devon during the Second World War, subsequently attending Launceston College in Cornwall and later Dr Challoner's Grammar School in Amersham, Buckinghamshire. His entry into the entertainment industry came through an unlikely chain of events: after being dismissed from an animation studio following an error with animation cels, his father investigated a robbery at the home of film director Brian Desmond Hurst, who hired the young Moore as an extra for the 1945 film Caesar and Cleopatra. Hurst subsequently paid Moore's fees at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, where Moore spent three terms and was a classmate of Lois Maxwell, who would later originate the role of Miss Moneypenny in the James Bond film series. He graduated from RADA in 1945.

Following the end of the Second World War, Moore was conscripted for national service and commissioned into the Royal Army Service Corps as a second lieutenant on 21 September 1946. He eventually reached the rank of captain, commanding a small depot in West Germany where he oversaw entertainers passing through Hamburg for the armed forces. His professional screen debut came in Alexander Korda's Perfect Strangers (1945), alongside Robert Donat, Deborah Kerr, and Glynis Johns. Early uncredited film appearances followed, including Gaiety George and Piccadilly Incident (both 1946) and Trottie True (1949), in which he and an uncredited Christopher Lee were both cast by Hurst. Moore recorded his first television appearance on 27 March 1949, playing the minor role of Bob Drew in a live broadcast of The Governess by Patrick Hamilton. In the early 1950s he worked as a model in British print advertisements for knitwear, a stint that earned him the nickname "The Big Knit."

Moore's Broadway career spanned five decades, from 1953 to 2003, with credits including A Pin to See the Peepshow and The Play What I Wrote. His stage work ran alongside a prolific screen career that took him from London to Hollywood. In March 1954, MGM signed Moore to a seven-year contract, during which he appeared in The Last Time I Saw Paris (1954), Interrupted Melody (1955), and The King's Thief (1955). In the 1956 period film Diane, he played Prince Henri, the future king of France, billed third beneath Lana Turner and Pedro Armendariz. The film's commercial and critical failure led to his release from the MGM contract after two years.

Moore's first significant television success came with the 1958–59 series Ivanhoe, in which he played the title character Sir Wilfred of Ivanhoe across 39 half-hour episodes. The series was shot primarily at Elstree Studios and in Buckinghamshire, with some filming in California through a partnership with Columbia Studios' Screen Gems. Guest stars included Christopher Lee and John Schlesinger, while series regulars included Robert Brown, who would later play M in several Bond films, as the squire Gurth. Moore performed some of his own stunts during production and sustained broken ribs as well as a blow to his helmet from a battle-axe. He subsequently signed with Warner Bros., taking the lead role in The Miracle (1959) and starring as "Silky" Harris in the ABC/Warner Bros. Western series The Alaskans (1959–60), which ran for a single season of 37 episodes. He then played Beau Maverick in the American Western series Maverick from 1960 to 1961, replacing James Garner as the lead.

On British television, Moore starred as Simon Templar in the mystery thriller series The Saint from 1962 to 1969, and later co-starred with Tony Curtis in the action-comedy series The Persuaders! from 1971 to 1972. His most internationally prominent role came when he was cast as Ian Fleming's secret agent James Bond for Eon Productions, becoming the third actor to portray the character. Moore appeared as Bond in seven feature films: Live and Let Die (1973), 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). His seven appearances in the role represent the most of any actor in the Eon-produced entries of the franchise. He continued acting after his departure from the Bond series, with his final screen appearance coming in a pilot for a new Saint series that was released as a television film in 2017.

Beyond his performing career, Moore was appointed a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador in 1991. Queen Elizabeth II knighted him in 2003 for services to charity, the same year his Broadway career concluded with The Play What I Wrote. In 2007, he received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, and in 2008 the French government made him a Commander of the Order of Arts and Letters. Moore, who was originally from London, England, died on 23 May 2017.