Roger Moore was a pretty polarising James Bond.
For every fan who swooned over his safari suit and admired his raised eyebrow, there was another who derided his suave persona and hankered for his more physical predecessor Sean Connery.
However, even his strongest critics cannot deny that Sir Roger - who has died aged 89 - helped keep the franchise on track throughout the 1970s and early 80s, long after it could easily have withered with the arrival of big-budget American rivals, and presided over some of the most popular films in the series.
With 12 years in the role, he remains to date the longest-serving 007, with seven films to is name, and not one a dud - following his debut in ‘Live and Let Die’, he starred in ‘Man with the Golden Gun’, ‘The Spy Who Loved Me’, Moonraker’, ‘For Your Eyes Only’, ‘Octopussy’ and ‘A View to a Kill’.
News of the death of this tirelessly charming man (whom we interviewed for his memoir) means today is the perfect moment to stop and admire everything he brought to 007...
His eyebrows:
The star was always the first to poke fun at himself, saying his James Bond only had three expressions, “right eyebrow raised, left eyebrow raised and eyebrows crossed when grabbed by Jaws”.
His fights with said Jaws:
In slightly unrealistic narrative, he always ultimately got the better of his dentally superior Nemesis, but it took a while.
The crocodiles:
Mastering the animal kingdom in ‘Live and Let Die’.
His leading ladies:
From the soft seduction of Jane Seymour in ‘Live and Let Die’ to the altogether more equal footing of Grace Jones in ‘A View to a Kill’, he always had a way with the ladies.
His wit:
Impeccable comic timing.
The safari suit!
Who else could have carried this off?
Farewell, Sir Roger.. a tireless charity worker, friend to many and as charming in real life as he ever appeared on screen.
