RIP Roger Moore

[Guest]

My personal favourite Bond, simply because I met him once in the mid 80s, not at an airport as above, but at a restaurant. A more charming, humble, modest and funny man you could not hope to meet. Very sad news.

[Re6/6]

A lovely story that gives the measure of the man

 

This loss has really struck home to me as he was 'always there' if that makes sense.

[Legend]

My favourite Bond. I remember the Saint on a Wednesday night on ITV and the tongue in cheek Persuaders . Never met him but the posts above just show what a charming warm man he was.

 

Thanks for the entertainment. RIP Roger

[LNER4479]

He was my Bond - but then I've always loved irreverence.

 

Went to see 'For your eyes only' and 'Octopussy' when they were first released - the latter being a particular favourite.

 

[bond] 'What's that on your shoulder?' (a small tattoo motive)

[the delectable Maud Adams] 'Why, that's my little Octopussy!'

[bond] 'Really?!' (cue raised eyebrow)

 

Wonderful story, 87029!

[Arthur Budd]

Don't forget Beau Maverick https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maverick_(TV_series)#Roger_Moore_as_Beau_Maverick

[RJS1977]

 The films were a bit silly at that point.

 

 

Not as silly as they could have been:

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lDU4HiZwLbk

[bertiedog]

I think he was one of those actors who did not act, they played a part, and played it well, but not far from their own personality, and Roger Moore was charming, fair to other actors and generous to the public who loved his style and screen presence.

I met him at Pinewood, he came over to see some models delivered to Derek Meddings unit, who were at work on special effects for a Bond Film. He had a genuine interest in the work, and obviously liked to know the background of what was going to be done to his stunt double!! He was perfectly willing to do more stunts, but insurance conditions forbade him. He always seemed to enjoy acting, and gave an honest performance in whatever he did.

[RJS1977]

 

This wonderful tale has been 'shared' to me on Facebook. Sums him up perfectly.

 

"As a seven year old in about 1983, in the days before First Class Lounges at airports, I was with my grandad in Nice Airport and saw Roger Moore sitting at the departure gate, reading a paper. I told my granddad I'd just seen James Bond and asked if we could go over so I could get his autograph. My grandad had no idea who James Bond or Roger Moore were, so we walked over and he popped me in front of Roger Moore, with the words "my grandson says you're famous. Can you sign this?"

 

As charming as you'd expect, Roger asks my name and duly signs the back of my plane ticket, a fulsome note full of best wishes. I'm ecstatic, but as we head back to our seats, I glance down at the signature. It's hard to decipher it but it definitely doesn't say 'James Bond'. My grandad looks at it, half figures out it says 'Roger Moore' - I have absolutely no idea who that is, and my hearts sinks. I tell my grandad he's signed it wrong, that he's put someone else's name - so my grandad heads back to Roger Moore, holding the ticket which he's only just signed.

 

I remember staying by our seats and my grandad saying "he says you've signed the wrong name. He says your name is James Bond." Roger Moore's face crinkled up with realisation and he beckoned me over. When I was by his knee, he leant over, looked from side to side, raised an eyebrow and in a hushed voice said to me, "I have to sign my name as 'Roger Moore' because otherwise...Blofeld might find out I was here." He asked me not to tell anyone that I'd just seen James Bond, and he thanked me for keeping his secret. I went back to our seats, my nerves absolutely jangling with delight. My grandad asked me if he'd signed 'James Bond.' No, I said. I'd got it wrong. I was working with James Bond now.

 

Many, many years later, I was working as a scriptwriter on a recording that involved UNICEF, and Roger Moore was doing a piece to camera as an ambassador. He was completely lovely and while the cameramen were setting up, I told him in passing the story of when I met him in Nice Airport. He was happy to hear it, and he had a chuckle and said "Well, I don't remember but I'm glad you got to meet James Bond." So that was lovely.

 

And then he did something so brilliant. After the filming, he walked past me in the corridor, heading out to his car - but as he got level, he paused, looked both ways, raised an eyebrow and in a hushed voice said, "Of course I remember our meeting in Nice. But I didn't say anything in there, because those cameramen - any one of them could be working for Blofeld."

 

I was as delighted at 30 as I had been at 7. What a man. What a tremendous man."

 

 

I remember reading some years ago that he'd turned up to an airport on one occasion (after he'd retired as Bond) to find his flight had a rather familiar three-digit number...

[bertiedog]

I remember a quote from Roger Moore, on a late night interview I think, when asked how he got into films, and he said "I fitted the clothes....." referring to appearing in "Trottie True" as a "Stage boy Johnny", his seventh film appearance as an extra. The director, Brian Desmond Hurst said ..you will do...and explained that he was just right to fit the costume, which Moore conceded was very much his style at first. And yes, in the scene his eyebrow does give a little flicker!!

Fame only came with the TV work, films eluded him at first, but after The Saint he just settled to a very long run of success.

[Rugd1022]

I think he was one of those actors who did not act, they played a part, and played it well, but not far from their own personality, and Roger Moore was charming, fair to other actors and generous to the public who loved his style and screen presence.

I met him at Pinewood, he came over to see some models delivered to Derek Meddings unit, who were at work on special effects for a Bond Film. He had a genuine interest in the work, and obviously liked to know the background of what was going to be done to his stunt double!! He was perfectly willing to do more stunts, but insurance conditions forbade him. He always seemed to enjoy acting, and gave an honest performance in whatever he did.

 

I think he was a much better actor than most people give him credit for, throughout seventy nine episodes of The Saint and twenty four of The Persuaders there were actually some quite serious moments where he was very convincing in each role, despite the tongue in cheek feeling seen in both series. One of his finest moments is probably as Harold Pelham in The Man Who Haunted Himself where he gave an excellent performance as a man at the edge of his sanity. Immediately after this was in the can he started work on The Persuaders, not just starring in it but having a hand in the production and decision making process as he worked very closely with Bob Baker, who also worked on The Saint. It's often overlooked but he directed episodes of both series too.

 

Who do we have left now of Roger's stature, aside from Michael Caine and Sean Connery...?

Edited May 24, 2017 by Rugd1022

[TT3]

The right Bond for me, just as Tom Baker is the ultimate Dr Who.

 

Octopussy was the first Bond film I saw when released, if seeing it on a 747 on the way to the UK counts. Good old BA, giving us the Best of British entertainment.

[bertiedog]

Whilst the Persuaders was in production I was working in Central London, Tottenham Ct Road, and frequented a sandwich bar at lunchtime, to find a white coated, in fur, with black riding boots, hat and dark glasses, one Tony Curtis, who was there to buy sandwiches, as although non kosher, he said they were New York Style.

He was there on several days, chatting whilst the sandwiches were made, insisted on not jumping the queue, very Hollywood though, then the second week, he ordered and went back to his Rolls and asked through the window "What will you have? It was Roger Moore in the car, and he got out to see what was on offer, and actually attracted more attention than Tony Curtis, signing autographs on the paper food  wraps. Curtis said , "you wait ...he going to be playing James Bond soon, lucky son of a bitch!" Moore quipted in his best posh tones, "well, you could never play him with that NY accent".....Many tales are told that they did not get on whilst filming, but off set they just seemed themselves. On set Curtis could not stand to be upstaged by anybody, it was the way he worked, but Moore was the opposite, he fitted in, played the game and came out on top.

There just are not the same actors these days, to much publicity, too little talent.

Stephen

[Re6/6]

The Russell Davies interview from 2014 was a good listen.

 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b04cp5f6

 

As Davies said in his postscript ...... " We'll miss him because we liked him"

[RJS1977]

Another thing - the 'Roger Moore' Facebook page, though obviously run on his behalf rather than by the man himself, had a feature whereby once a month, followers could post questions for Roger, which would be passed on to him, and he would answer the six he found most interesting. That would be a nice touch from any star, but knowing now how ill he must have been recently (the last set of answers he provided was earlier this month IIRC) makes it even more remarkable.

[bertiedog]

Thinking back on the timing of the shooting of The Persuaders, I think that George Lazenby got the part of James Bond next, and back to Connery before the first Roger Moore 007 outings, so Tony Curtis knew of an early offer to Moore to play Bond, of which there were rumours at the time, that Moore was approached, but Lazenby was far cheaper!. I was told that Patrick McGoohan was re-approached at the time, but again refused the part as it was to violent for his tastes. He was an original choice before Connery......and Moore had been considered, but was thought a bit "light weight", which in the end turned out to be his main asset.

[bertiedog]

I see that on Youtube are a selection of episodes of The Persuaders, perhaps the old game of Spot The Palm Trees could be revived, it was a popular drinking game, aren't they all, based on spotting the famous row of potted palms and travel posters that were added to the sets at Pinewood and Elstree, to make them look "Continental" It was generally thought that Lew Grade must have supplied them! as is saved on Location filming for all the ITC productions. They even appeared in the Miss Marple films on one occasion! Usually planted in square tapering containers, standing neatly in a row across the view from the window, or on a balcony.

 

In fact in the Persuaders they rarely appear as Tony Curtis had insisted on a percentage of location filming as part of his contract. But they turned up most weeks on the Saint! It was a bit of fun for the prop guys to get the trees into the shots! Pine trees of course featured on the first Logo of Pinewood studios.

 

Stephen

[bertiedog]

There is one of the posters to persuade you that he is abroad, but no shots on the net of the trees!

[RJS1977]

Thinking back on the timing of the shooting of The Persuaders, I think that George Lazenby got the part of James Bond next, and back to Connery before the first Roger Moore 007 outings, so Tony Curtis knew of an early offer to Moore to play Bond, of which there were rumours at the time, that Moore was approached, but Lazenby was far cheaper!. I was told that Patrick McGoohan was re-approached at the time, but again refused the part as it was to violent for his tastes. He was an original choice before Connery......and Moore had been considered, but was thought a bit "light weight", which in the end turned out to be his main asset.

 

No, the Persuaders was filmed in 1970-71, and On Her Majesty's Secret Service was released in 1969.

 

Interesting that Patrick McGoohan thought Bond was too violent - McGoohan murdered more people on Columbo than anybody else!

[bertiedog]

Patrick Mc Goohan had a thing about guns in general, if one was involved in a shot he was not shown firing the gun, and in Dangerman few guns are used when he is around. It was the callous attitude to killing that was in the books that he objected to, too near a violent version of his Dangerman character.

With Roger Moore this was never a problem, you went with the flow and jokes abounded in the scripts, the violence is there, but can hardly be counted as serious. He just continued to play the Saint in an expensive production!  Mind you, the thought of McGoohan in the part is interesting, but I doubt that it would have lead to the series continuing as it does with so many Bonds! A lost bit of casting was that Sir Ralph Richardson was going to play M at one very early point, but stage work stopped the plan. He had played such Ministry types in "Qplanes" the pre-war spy adventure film.

[Rugd1022]

No, the Persuaders was filmed in 1970-71, and On Her Majesty's Secret Service was released in 1969.

 

Interesting that Patrick McGoohan thought Bond was too violent - McGoohan murdered more people on Columbo than anybody else!

 

This is correct - preproduction work began on the Persuaders in early to mid 1970 immediately after Moore had finished The Man Who Haunted Himself. Location filming took place in Europe during the Summer and back in Blighty throughout the Autumn / Winter of '70 / '71, the first episode 'Overture' was broadcast on 17/9/71 and the last one was broadcast on 25/2/72. If you watch the episodes set in England you can see the Autumnal backdrops in many scenes. Tony Curtis's hair changes colour several times throughout the series too, even within the same episode occasionally where Pinewood shoots were interlaced with earlier European shot scenes. 

 

Breakfast with another colour episode of The Saint this morning on Freeview, what a joy!

[RJS1977]

I've just discovered that Roger Moore wasn't the only 007 to pass away this month.

 

Daliah Lavi, who played 'The Detainer' (one of the multiple James Bond 007s) in the 1967 version of Casino Royale, died on 3 May.

[Horsetan]

I read that he had recently completed a manuscript for his last book, entitled "Getting On", which sounds as if it will be his take on the effects of old age. Might be worth a read if it makes publication.

[RJS1977]

Grrr .... why did ITV and True Entertainment manage to schedule The Spy Who Loved Me and the Persuaders to be on at the same time!

[RJS1977]

I'd better get on and repaint my PECO skip wagons into 'Zorin' livery, and build my 'San Monique Transport' single deck railbus!

 

Both on view here:

 

 

An additional sound effect has been added to the laptop - when the railbus arrives, Sir Roger's voice calls out "All change! End of the line!"