RIP Roger Moore

Roger Moore

Just a quick few words about Roger Moore. He was always my faveourite James Bond. Unlike the rest of them, he played the role for laughs and didn't take himself too seriously. He did it with a smile and you always knew that he would come through. Wheras the rest of them were riddled with angst, he was "on her Majesties Secret Service" and would come through. You knew that he'd get the girl, kill the baddie and still look impeccable. His tenure in the Bond role coincided with the time in my life when I liked such things. I believed that that was how secret agents were. Swashbuckling risk takers who were handsome and witty. My Dad would take me along, he was a lover of gadgets, an ex RAF airman and a bit of a maverick. In his post war work in the Middle East he knew what he called "a few funnies". He told me that their jobs were far more mundane than James Bond. He said that usually their biggest challenge was to fiddle their expenses to ensure enough brandy and cigarrettes could be bought to alleviate the extraordinary tedium of the job. For me though, Roger Moore was the reality. I especially liked the sketches with the dopey american cop.

There were several reasons I liked him. When he was The Saint, he used to live up our road (Millway in Mill Hill). It was handy for filming at Elstree. He moved when he got sick of fans appearing on his doorstep, to Denham I believe. He also had a very cool name. In my experience, anyone called Roger is by definition a good guy. Once his acting roles dried up, he became a UNICEF ambassador. He famously used to say we have two hands, one for taking and one for giving.A philosophy we could all benefit from.

Wherever Roger is now, I hope he's enjoying his Martini, shaken, not stirred.