This actor, with the look of a tombeur and the charming smile, left, in a boat, a cigar between his teeth and in his hands two cups of Dom Pérignon, after having deposited on the lips of a gaunt death, a kiss, a stolen kiss, a last kiss.
The one who had survived Solitaire, Shark and the man with the golden gun died on Tuesday, May 23, 2017 from cancer. He would have turned ninety this year. His name was Moore, Roger Moore.
Roger Moore: an actor to whom the costume fit like a glove
After suffering a car accident during his service for the Royal Army at the age of 18, he, who left school very early, is destined for a career in cinema.A time extra, then actor in small roles in Hollywood, he returns to his native England, the past twenty.
If the title role in the eponymous series Ivanoé (1958-1959) brought him out of the shadows, it was the role of detective Simon Templar in The Saint (1962-1969), where he appeared as a handsome young man, half-detective half-vigilante, which brought him international fame, and which prefigured that of Agent 007.
Nevertheless, before wearing the costume of the secret agent, he assumes that of the rich and cultured British aristocrat, Lord Brett Sinclair, in the series Amicably Yours (1971-1972) where he gives the answer to the American Tony Curtis. A series that ends up convincing the producers to take him in the title role of the James Bond franchise, after Sean Connery, in particular, and George Lazemby, during a furtive passage.
His unique interpretation of Agent 007
If the first actor gave shape to the character of James Bond is none other than Sir Sean Connery, if Daniel Craig injected testosterone and action (by performing the stunts himself), it was Roger Moore who brought a touch of humor and elegance to the most famous secret agent!
Indeed, in an interview with RTL the actor explains that his character no matter where he went was known to all bartenders, "ah James Bond, a Vodka-Martini, shaker and not spoon", reason why, he had played it with this humor without laughing. How can he be a good secret agent, if everyone is able to recognize him?
Conf: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rsf_iXFbWyg&t=606s
A very marked hiatus between the era of Sean Connery and other James Bond and that of Roger Moore, much more offbeat … Mooraker as a perfect example.
And yet from this difference, he draws strength from it. Since if the interpretations of Timothy Dalton and Pierce Brosnan were intended to be more serious, they seem less convincing than their colleagues, including that of Roger Moore.
Roger Moore by playing in a different register, wishes, with the complicity of his directors, to bring elsewhere the legend built by Ian Flemming and Sean Connery. A direction that surprises or infuriates but that we never manage to blame for it.
What costumes for Roger Moore after Dangerously Yours ?
After his last James Bond, Dangerously Yours, in 1985, he continued the cinema, occupying almost exclusively roles close to the character of James Bond – or a character in costume, or a soldier, or a policeman … Many roles will never be entrusted to him, because now too recognizable.
In 1991, he became a UNICEF ambassador for children's rights. A fight for which he was rewarded by Queen Elizabeth II who ennobled him in 2003.
He was also made Commander of Arts and Letters, in 2008, by the Minister of Culture Christine Albanel.
Following the death of Roger Moore many anecdotes resurface. One of them caught the eye. It is signed Mark Haynes, a London screenwriter and corroborates his reputation as a nice man and his taste for humor.
I was seven years old around 1983, before the first class lounges spread to the airports, I was with my grandfather in Nice and I saw Roger Moore, sitting next to the boarding gate, reading the newspaper. I told my grandfather I had just seen James Bond and asked him if we could go see him, that I get an autograph. My grandfather had no idea who James Bond or Roger Moore were, so we stepped forward and he approached me about Roger Moore, saying, "My grandson says you're famous, can you sign that?"
As charming as one might expect, Roger asks me my name and promptly signs behind my plane ticket, a nice message. I'm ecstatic, but as we walk back to our seats, I glance at the signing. It is hard to decipher but clearly, it is not written "James Bond", my grandfather looks at it deciphering "Roger Moore". I have no idea who it is, and my heart is broken. I explain to my grandfather that he signed badly, that he wrote someone else's name – so my grandfather goes back to see him, holding the note he just signed.
I remember listening to it from the seat where I sat. "He says you signed with the wrong name. He says your name is James Bond." Roger Moore's face lit up when he understood, after which he motioned for me to approach. When I got to him next to him, he leaned over, pretended to look left, then right, raised an eyebrow and explained to me in a worried voice "I have to sign Roger Moore because otherwise… Blofeld might know I've been there." He made me promise not to tell anyone that I had seen James Bond, and he thanked me for keeping it a secret. I returned to my seat, my nerves twisting with delight. My grandfather asked me if he had finally signed "James Bond". I told him no, I had misunderstood. I was working with him now.
Many years later, I was working as a screenwriter on a project in which UNICEF was involved, and Roger Moore was doing an image intervention as an ambassador. He was adorable and while the cameraman was setting everything up, I took the opportunity to tell him the story of our meeting at Nice airport. He was happy to hear it, he laughed and said "Well, I don't remember but I'm glad you had the opportunity to meet James Bond", which was very nice.
And then he did something brilliant. After the shooting, he walked past me in the hallway, he was going in the direction of his car – but about to overtake, he stopped, looking right, then left, raised an eyebrow and said in a worried voice "Of course I remember our meeting in Nice. But I didn't say anything in front of these cameramen, any of them could work for Blofeld."
I was as upset at 30 as I was at 7. What a man. What an incredible man.
