From Roger Moore with Love (2024) Movie Script
New Orleans, October 1972.
I've arrived in America
to begin playing
the biggest role of my life.
This is me
newly Bond-ed in Live and Let Die.
Suave and skilled,
even though I say it myself
outmanoeuvring the baddies
at breakneck speed.
It's my first time in a power boat
and learning to corner
one of these powerful beasts
at 60 miles an hour takes nerves of steel.
I wouldn't say I'm out of
my depth but the water is, er
tickling my nipples.
They say when death is imminent
your entire life flashes
in front of your eyes.
The only thing flashing before my eyes
was a large corrugated shed.
I knew I was going to hit it
and there wasn't a damned thing
I could do about it.
I would end up in a heap on
the floor, clutching my mouth
my knee throbbing, my shoulder numb.
Here I was, about to start
playing James Bond
with no teeth.
But that's just a little taste
of what's to come.
It's not where this story starts.
So, where do we begin?
Over to my son Geoffrey
who's rooting round my old house.
I mean, this is basically Roger's
our shrine of the old man.
These are Roger's ashes.
Oy, oy, oy.
Nope.
No. No.
Hang about.
Ooh, I think this is it.
I think my eyesight
has really gone
because I can't focus anymore.
Get that camera away from me.
This must be about 40 tapes.
Well, hello, Mr Moore.
Come on, sweetie
do myself Ha-ha, that's me!
Ooh, cars! Quickly, quickly, quickly!
Daddy, get on the Ferrari!
Oh, shit!
What was that you were saying, Maud
about not being able to eat anymore?
It keeps flashing up,
there's not enough light.
Oh, let's come into the light, darling!
Go, Maud.
Terrific.
I lived a pretty glamorous life
somehow becoming one
of the world's most famous
and desirable stars.
When people asked me about
the biggest character I played
I always answered.
"Of course, it's the
world's most loved spy."
Oh, James.
But my greatest creation?
Ladies and
gentlemen, Roger Moore.
- Mr Roger Moore.
- Roger Moore.
Well the truth is, my greatest creation
was somebody called Roger Moore.
This is me.
Well the truth is, my greatest creation
was somebody called Roger Moore
Roger Moore
Roger Moore.
Ah!
Roger Moore.
Well, the first time I met Roger
I came home from school
standing in the hallway
of our apartment flat
in Great Portland Street
which also doubled
as my father's agency
because he had the Will Collins Agency
was this incredibly
handsome young man.
And I almost went weak at
the knees, he walked towards me
and said, "Oh, you must be Joan.
My name's Roger Moore."
I think I was swinging my satchel
I said, "Yes, hi, how are you?"
My manager called me on the phone
and said, "Gloria, they want
to see you for a Bond movie"
I said, "Oh, you're kidding."
And Roger walks in,
I said "Oh, my God!"
And I said, "Gloria, be calm."
He was so handsome.
He just has "it".
When he looks at you, you feel like
he's just looking at you and no one else.
As a woman, you just go "Wow."
I was 11 years of age
and we went to Battersea Park,
Mum and my dad
Roger was there signing autographs.
And I queued up.
That's how I met Roger Moore.
The only man's autograph I ever got.
When they asked me
about this interview.
I thought, well, you know,
to talk about people I know.
I'm not so crazy
about doing that, generally.
But in the case of Roger
you know, Roger was so good-natured.
He was so generous as an actor
on the set, with his time
and his hospitality
I thought this was an opportunity
to, you know, say thanks.
It was my birthday.
It's like 8 o'clock in
the morning and I get a call:
I said, "Thank you for calling me
I'm lying in bed naked."
He went, "So am I!"
I said, "It's a shame we're not together."
He said, "I know!"
And I thought,
"I'm flirting with James Bond!"
You shut your eyes.
Bang!
That's the way you shoot - OK.
If you don't want to play Bond.
If you want to play Bond, you
just shoot - bang! Like that.
Like Bond Immediately?
- Immediately.
- Can you do it from the back?
What, like that?
Mm-hmm - Of course.
What else can he do?
Make love.
You may think
I was born wearing black tie
and cradling a martini
but nothing could be further
from the truth.
I was born in October 1927 in Stockwell
then a working-class area
of South London.
There I am!
Look at those cheeks.
Ripe for squeezing.
Lily, his
mother, was a kind, nice woman.
She was extraordinarily
beautiful, you know.
You could see where Roger came from.
And she was
a lovely looking woman, yeah
George was a bluff old policeman
playing his banjo
around the place, you know.
They weren't rich.
They were working class.
My grandmother worked in a tearoom
and my grandfather was,
you know, on the beat.
One would suspect
if you're from that strata.
you'd be talking like this
I thought all those people talk like that.
And you're terribly, "Helloooo."
You know what I mean?
I don't want to say you're pretentious.
No, no, no, that would be wrong.
But my father was
a very posh policeman, you see.
Was he?
From
an early age I perfected the art
of pretending to listen
50% of the actor's craft.
At school, I sailed through
my exams, orals and all.
Was I a little chubby?
Maybe.
But when they called me
"tall, fat and ugly"
that was a little harsh.
By 17, I was shy and gangly
and didn't know what I was
going to do with my life.
But a simple twist of fate
on a dark and stormy night
would bring me my big break
in the shape of my first real mentor
film director Brian Desmond Hurst.
Roger's father was investigating
a robbery at Brian Desmond
Hurst's house in Belgravia.
He was just going through
the interactions that happen
as a policeman visiting a victim
and then somehow into that
and Roger never explained exactly how
he was introduced
to Brian Desmond Hurst.
He was a flamboyant, gay,
Oscar-Wildean man
Brian at the time was in his first
kind of flush of success as a filmmaker.
But he was also someone
who loved young men.
Caesar
and Cleopatra was an epic film
with a huge budget.
As director, Brian could do what he liked.
And what he liked
was Roger Moore in a toga.
Can you see me
in this cast of thousands?
No, neither can I.
So that's my origin story
a starstruck father
and a Roman miniskirt
I don't know what Brian thought
was beneath it
but I owe everything to his imagination.
Anyway, let's just say that
by the time I became famous
I had learned to embellish things a little.
And either I had a long spear,
or a short toga
but I was noticed,
you know, by the director
who said, you know,
"Do you want to be an actor?"
Why not?
Clearly, Brian Desmond Hurst
saw something inside me.
I know what you're thinking,
and it wasn't that.
He became a mentor to me.
OK, it was a little "My Fair Lady"
but through Brian, I learned how to dress
how to hold a room, and how to tell a tale.
He spoke with my father
and even offered
to pay my fees for drama school.
I was going to RADA
I went to The Royal Academy
of Dramatic Art.
Where they taught me, I suppose,
to speak posh.
RADA concentrated a lot on elocution.
You had to have
received English pronunciation
upper-class accent.
Do you know,
I loved RADA for two reasons.
First, I developed "the voice"
which would eventually become
my trademark.
And second?
Almost all of my classmates were female.
I may not have
learned much about acting
but I did begin to unravel
the mysteries of the fairer sex.
One of them would become
my first wife, Doorn van Steyn.
By God, for the next 8 years,
that woman had me in a spin.
There's a box full of treasures here.
A lot of secrets in this box.
My name is Shaun van Steyn.
My mother married Roger Moore
and he became my stepfather.
Here's some love letters.
"Darling Doorny, precious heart."
I'd love to hold you, and kiss you
and feel your baby body in my arms.
You snooker little angel puss!
Oh God, yellow pussy!
How I should like
to spank your wonderful
pimply goose-flesh bottom!
Well, darling precious,
goodnight and God bless you.
Your own ever-loving,
ever-faithful husband, Roger.
"P.S. I'd love to bite your bottom!"
Yes, thank you, Shaun.
No one wants to hear this.
What can I say?
I was smitten and she was bitten.
My mother was
vivacious and mesmerising.
He was besotted with her.
She was six years older than him.
She liked the young studs,
what can I say?
Here's a picture of her
ice-skating in Monte Carlo.
That was her passion, she loved it.
He learned to skate just to be next to her
Roger was dish washing.
Anything he could find
to make a few pence.
Doorn was busy
ice-skating around the world.
So he was my mother and my father.
This wasn't quite what
RADA had trained me for.
He used to take me
to Clapham Common
help me sail my little
toy yacht that he bought me
18 years old.
You think back to when you were 18
you didn't want to be lumbered with a kid.
So sweet, gentle, kind.
He was my hero.
Doorn was constantly away,
and when we did see each other
she harangued me about
my dreams of becoming an actor.
She once told me,
"You'll never be an actor."
Your face is too weak
"your jaw is too big
and your mouth's too small."
How kind.
Intense love, and intense bitchiness.
She was a real bitch to him.
So it's 1952.
There I was, living in a one-room flat
looking after a 9-year-old,
washing dishes
modelling knitting patterns for a living
and getting
occasional jobs as a film extra.
Little did I know that
in four years I'd be starring
opposite Lana Turner
in a Hollywood movie.
You might well be asking:
how did that happen?
I could thank Brian for teaching
me the value of old-world charm
and Doorn for bringing out my inner poet.
But for the most part, it was
thanks to wife number two.
Singer Dorothy Squires.
Or "Dot" to her friends.
Dorothy Squires, oh,
she was something else.
Oh, I remember
Dorothy Squires very well.
She was a big chapter in Roger's life.
She was a wild lady.
Terrifying, actually.
People, when they come in and
see you, they wanna see glamour.
This is what they want, an escape!
She was a huge star.
She'd been a star since the '40s.
Worldwide hits.
She bought this wonderful house
in Bexley, which had 22 rooms
four acres of land and a swimming pool.
It was like Hollywood.
And she'd have these parties
and everybody would turn up.
And there'd be Shirley Bassey
there, there'd be Diana Dors.
Cliff Richard was there
I was sat next to one guy,
I said who's this?
He said it was Phil Spector.
Now, I mean, you don't expect to be
sitting next to Phil Spector
in Kent, do you?
When Dot had a party, everybody went.
That's where she met Roger, of course.
The telephone went,
I picked up the telephone
and he said, "I'm at the station."
I said, "Who are you?"
"Roger Moore." Well, I said,
"What do you look like?"
So he said, "I'm short, fat and bald"
so I went back and I said,
"Somebody go down the station
and get a short, fat, bald guy", you know.
I said, "How do you do?
Would you have a drink?"
So he said, "I have an ulcer."
So I said, "Oh, I am sorry."
Oh, he said, "Don't be sorry,
it's quite fashionable."
I thought, "Oh, what a bore!"
"It's quite fashionable..."
Oh, I said, "Who writes
his scripts?", you know.
He said, "Well, the last train
must be gone by now, Dorothy."
"So you'll have to
bloody stay then, won't you?"
And he picked her up
carried her up this
Gone With The Wind staircase.
And that was it, that's how it started.
He carried me upstairs.
And I thought, what the hell.
And I watched him go down
the lawn the following morning
I thought, "What the hell have I done?
I've never slept with anybody
in my house like that before."
Dot was
a good 12 years older than me
and she was in another league.
I was now mingling with top
musicians, actors, and agents
and Dot had big plans for me.
She was the one that pushed him.
He took advantage of it.
Dorothy's my auntie
and I remember she said to me once.
"Why wouldn't you do this
if you loved him?"
She took him to America
cos she had lots of connections.
She said to Roger, you know,
"They like handsome guys.
You're struggling here.
You're doing photo sessions
for knitting patterns.
You've got to go to America."
In the summer of 1953,
Doorn and I were divorced.
Dot became wife number two
and we were headed for Hollywood.
I think she moulded him.
He's 23, and he's got
this charismatic woman
who's a huge star.
She told him to get his teeth done.
He's gonna listen to her, isn't he?
I was young and living in the moment.
It wasn't until years later
that I came to appreciate
just how much Dot did for me.
She had that secret ingredient
and somehow, a little rubbed off.
The great things I learned from Dorothy
was to become my own person.
I used to be very, very nervous.
Rather timid.
From the time I met Dorothy
I then started developing a persona.
I became somebody called Roger Moore.
Roger Moore.
And "Roger Moore"
was about to become somebody.
MGM offered me a seven-year contract.
The character I'd created
seemed to be having the desired effect.
I was to play opposite Lana Turner.
I didn't ask to keep the tights.
Look out for your hearts, girls.
This Roger Moore is
going places in pictures.
He's quite a fellow.
Two years ago
I'd been eating beans on toast ever night.
Now I was sampling
some of the finer dishes
and I don't mean the food.
He said, "Lana Turner, you know?"
And then I went, "Yeah, yeah."
And he said, "Lana Turner teaching".
"Roger from London to kiss!" You know?
This kind of elevated sense of
you know, winning the lottery
and really knowing
you're winning the lottery.
"Your number is 546 - you won!
Kiss her!"
Hollywood life was wonderful.
We met Elvis, a big fan of Dot's.
I was rubbing shoulders with the stars
and many of them
became lifelong friends.
Here, captured by my own trusty camera
many years later
is a very memorable visit
from a Hollywood legend.
Gorgeous, gorgeous.
My old pal, Kirk Douglas.
Was that it?
Oh, now you come and see it!
Could I have a retake, please?
I sang my goddamn heart out
- now you come!
- Can we have a retake? Great.
Other dear
friends I made around this time
were David Niven, Gregory Peck
and Ol' Blue Eyes himself, Frank Sinatra.
They met in the late '50s, in Los Angeles.
And became close friends.
Hey, Rog!
You're a generous and caring person
and a hell of a classy guy.
Frank, he'd want
all the men to sit around
and drink with him
I remember Dad
trying to keep up with Frank.
"Come on, Roger!
It's not time to go to bed now!"
And he's like, you know,
he was extraordinary.
So Dad and all the men
used to walk around
with their whiskies, and sort of
put them in the plant pots
because they just
could not keep up with Frank.
Salud!
So I was
fortunate to have played
a bit part in The Golden Age of Movies.
But back in the late '50s, I didn't realise
how short-lived my dream would be.
First, my marriage began to fall apart.
Dot already had fame.
What she wanted most
was to be a mother.
She was always a bit worried
about not having children.
And Roger did want to have children.
I wanted a baby
I had my fallopian tubes
blown in England
but it wasn't a success so I had
them done in Beverly Hills.
She told me afterwards
that she'd had three miscarriages.
My heart broke for Dot.
We'd arrived
in America with such high hopes
but within a few years
both our dreams began to fall apart.
Dot couldn't get pregnant
and Diane, the movie
that was supposed to
catapult me to stardom, flopped.
"Quote:" By mutual consent,
MGM and Roger Moore
have terminated their contract."
There was nothing mutual about it.
And the stigma from that kind of failure
left me with only one option.
Television.
I now had a ridiculous plumed
helmet to go with the tights.
And 36 inches of flashing steel.
The dialogue was medieval.
Stop him! He's making for the dungeons!
Thank you, Bruno - now I know the way!
And my audience may
all have been 12-year-olds
but I was the undisputed king
of the playground.
The Alaskans!
Starring Roger Moore!
Here I was in yet another
popular period piece for television.
Dorothy Provine!
But for me,
TV just didn't have the cachet
or the cash, of cinema
However, working in
television did have certain
advantages.
Now, the rumour was
that he liked the ladies.
And the rumour was true, of course!
Dorothy Provine was my co-star.
Hey now, come on! Give her to me!
What can I say?
We had an on-screen chemistry
that continued off it.
Now where's that $100
you borrowed from me?
Now don't worry about that
I have a goldmine here, I think.
Dorothy found out
that he was having the affair
cos he was talking in his sleep.
She woke up in the night
and she said, "You bastard.
You're having an affair
with that Dorothy Provine!"
"What are you talking about,
Dorothy? I'm not!"
She said, "Yes, you were.
You were calling
her name out in your sleep."
He said, "Well, your name's Dorothy."
She said, "Yeah, but you call me Dot."
Got him HE LAUGHS.
We were driving between
the sound stages on the lot.
He said if we see Dorothy Provine
he said, because I've fallen out with her
cos I've packed up with her and that
she's doing this business now
where every time I see her
she sticks her nose in the air
goes all haughty and walks by and that.
And sure enough as she saw us,
the nose went in the air
and round the corner she walked.
And Roger and I continued on our way
just giggling and laughing.
May 1961.
Dot was away touring Australia,
and I flew to Italy.
The good news: I was in a film at last.
The bad news.
I was back in a toga.
But the Gods had brought me
to Rome for a reason.
A rather gorgeous, Italian reason.
Luisa Mattioli.
Well.
My mother said
they were watching something
on television in Italy
and my mother's mother
turned around to my mother and said.
"That's the sort of man
that you should marry."
And it was Dad in, I think,
something like Ivanhoe.
It was one of those things that
had been dubbed into Italian.
Luisa had accomplished
a lot in her career, you know
from racing car driver, and then she was
one of the first Miss Italys
and one of the first TV presenters in Italy
as an actress and a singer.
She had a name for herself.
She had a beautiful voice
Her mother was an opera singer.
She was somebody
that was a real go-getter.
This producer of the film
that she was going to be in
had said to her.
"There's an American actor
coming, Roger Moore."
Can you go and meet him
at the airport and, you know
"just, make him feel at home,
whatever, bring him into Rome?"
So that's how they met.
He didn't speak a word of Italian.
She didn't speak a word of English.
"Ciao. Hello."
"My name Luisa."
"Roger. Ciao."
Must have been very strange.
It was on a film called
The Rape of the Sabine Women.
Don't laugh.
These movies were
all the rage in the '60s.
The low cost of labour in Italy
meant you could afford huge
crowd scenes like this one.
With all these Italians, it was down to me
to, uh, keep the British end up.
Just ignore the dodgy dubbing.
He was wearing, you know,
one of those centurion outfits
and she had the Greek goddess
sort of hairstyle.
My father asked my
mother out for dinner one night
and he kept sort of pointing at his finger.
He didn't have the ring on
because he was filming.
He was going like this,
and she thought he meant.
"Will you marry me?"
And she was like, "Are you
crazy? I'm already engaged!"
And she was engaged to quite
a well-known gynaecologist.
But I think they must have had this spark
and they fell in love.
She had charisma.
I could see why the old man
was besotted with her.
She was absolutely beautiful.
And you could
understand why, you know
Roger would've fallen
madly in love with her.
What can I say?
We spoke the international
language of love.
There was, however, the small matter of
my wife.
He told me that
he'd met this lovely actress.
And so we looked
at each other and went:
"Oh, my God, this is going
to cause a lot of trouble."
Roger moved in with Luisa.
So Dorothy went round there,
and threw bricks
through every window in the house, see?
Roger came out
apparently and grabbed her
and said they'd called the police.
And he's got hold of her and he said.
"Dorothy, your hand is bleeding."
She said, "It's my fucking heart
that's bleeding!"
Always very dramatic, Dorothy, you see?
June 1962.
I admit, in my personal life,
I was no saint.
Professionally, on the other hand.
Mr Moore,
why do you think you were chosen
to play the Saint?
Because Sean Connery wasn't available.
The Saint was what I'd been waiting for.
He would be the "Roger Moore"
I had spent many years
and two marriages perfecting.
Come, darling, I want you to
meet the most fantastic man
I've told you about him
John, this is Simon Templar.
No swords, no sandals, no armour
not even a toga.
Instead it was a cool car, a stiff drink
and some sharp suits.
Monsieur Simon Templar.
He was the foundation
for the rest of my career:
Simon Templar.
Or if you like, "Simon Template."
Simon Templar is a
thief, the modern Robin Hood.
We never show how I live,
where do I get my money from?
So he is a man with a past
which always makes
a leading man more interesting.
I was 11 years of age
and we used to draw The Saint
on our textbooks,
or you'd write, you know
you'd draw The Saint
on the back of your hand.
There was something
very magical about it.
It was a massive breakthrough
for Roger, The Saint.
He created his own look,
his own life, his own image.
The image
of The Saint for me
was all wrapped up in the cool
of black and white film.
But by the end of the '60s,
we looked even better in colour.
Oh look, there's Steven Berkoff
playing a moustachioed henchman
all in a lovely duck-egg blue.
What made him look famous is that
he had the most ridiculous
haircut I've ever seen.
His hair went all the way up, like that.
With a quiff
I thought, that's a bit poncy, even then.
I wanted to have hair
like Roger Moore.
I used to try and get
my hair to look like Roger's.
Good looks, humour
and kindness.
We were starting with
a scene that was quite wordy.
The director calls "right, action".
Mr Williams, I heard
about Owen Thomas.
And I do a part of the scene.
I saw the light of
the search party from the house.
Suddenly he starts screaming.
"Cut! Cut! No! We'll have to do it again!"
I'm sort of like this, you know.
And I'm standing waiting for the cue
and I feel a hand on my hand, holding it.
And I look up and there's Roger
looking at me, and he said.
"Don't let him worry you.
He does this all the time."
And then he walked just very nicely
very quietly down to the director.
Had a few words.
I never had any trouble again
throughout the entire episode.
Thanks for rescuing me
in there, Mr... er?
Templar, Simon Templar.
It was a pleasure.
That put him on the map,
that put him in all our hearts.
Once Roger found Roger in life,
Roger became Roger
and embellished Roger, which is
a great talent unto itself.
You know, I think to some
degree, actor or not
we all invent ourselves.
You know, we decide somewhere,
probably very young
who we'd like to be,
who we imagine ourselves as.
You know, becoming
the hero of our own story.
The Saint
was sold to over 60 countries
around the world
reaped more than? 350 million in profit.
Roger Moore's there
to make the presentation.
and made me a household name
from Bogota to Bognor Regis.
I used to drive my grandmother crazy
because she would take me to the park
and there would be like
the swings and the slides
and everything like that, and she said
that I was the most
embarrassing grandchild
because I'd get on the top of
the slide and go.
"My daddy's famous!
My daddy's The Saint!"
I'd say that Roger
Moore never had it so good.
What is the attraction behind playing in
these long-running series?
Money.
The Saint had
made me both rich and famous
I had two wonderful children,
a beautiful home
and a woman who, shall we say,
put the lead in my pencil.
But for nine years.
Dot's refusal to sign
on the, uh, dotted line
and give me a divorce
cast a pretty dark shadow
over my success.
I always felt
that she put him where he was.
He wasn't anything before her,
and he was after her.
She never got over him. Ever.
Never got over him.
Look, this is when he loved me, actually.
It became
an obsession, I suppose.
Sadly, Dot's efforts to hold on to me
became increasingly desperate.
And that, this is the jacket.
It was really bad
She did everything she could.
She was determined, you're
not going to get away from me.
No way.
I remember
one time I was staying
with my grandparents,
and my mother got a phone call.
She thinks it was Dorothy or somebody
with Dorothy,
saying that I'd been kidnapped.
She got into the litigation
Roger Moore and Luisa
were at some gala on TV
and Kenneth More was the MC.
Now, Roger and Luisa Moore.
And he introduced
them as "Mr and Mrs Moore".
"You said that was Mrs Moore,
no, I'm Mrs Moore!
That's Luisa Mattioli, it's not Mrs Moore."
So she sued him She sued everybody!
Twenty court cases, that's
how she lost a lot of money.
The 11th of April 1969.
Finally, after nine long years.
Dot agreed to a divorce.
Luisa and I were married at Caxton Hall.
It was meant to be a small ceremony
but 600 people came to watch.
She hardly spoke English
but she was so beautiful and funny.
We did lots of family
pictures and group pictures.
One of her favourite remarks
when we're all sitting there is.
"Oh, try to look pretty!"
Luisa was enchanting.
She would ring me
sometimes and she'd go, "Allo
I wanna speak-a Nanette-a".
And I'd say, "Oh, hello, Luisa."
And she'd say, "'Ow you know it's-a me?"
And I'd say "Because nobody else
speaks English like you, Luisa!"
"'Ow you know it's-a me?!"
It was a restaurant
called the White Elephant
where everybody congregated.
And then this beautiful girl
comes in with the hot pants.
Little velvet hot pants.
You know, even as a woman,
it was really extraordinary.
And Luisa goes to Roger
and slaps him across the face.
And he said, "What's that for?"
And she said, "Just-a in-a case!"
True story!
We formed a club.
It was Roger's idea
Michael Caine and his wife Shakira
Leslie Bricusse, the brilliant
songwriter and his wife Evie
Brian and me, and Roger and Luisa.
We would just get together
and we called ourselves
the See You Next Tuesday Club
Roger loved it.
And we loved it!
Now that there are so many years
you are Simon Templar,
do you still like this man?
He's kept me in good clothes
good food, good company.
Of course I like him!
Simon Templar
had given me confidence
and class.
My South London upbringing
was by now a distant memory.
Oh, Your Starkness, you're so bright.
Your carriage awaits.
So playing an English lord
in The Persuaders.
It's got a hat
wasn't too big a stretch.
Let me carry your train for you, sir
Daniel, you really do bring
a fresh meaning
to the word peasant.
Your Dukeship, anything!
I shared top billing with
Hollywood legend Tony Curtis
who played Danny Wilde,
a Brooklyn kid made good.
Roger was perfect.
See, Roger had this attitude of
an English lord, Lord Sinclair.
You know?
He already was the Lord Sinclair
because he'd been in movies,
handsome Englishman.
"Thank you very much."
The show was built
around beautiful women
fast cars, and glamorous locations.
I got a call from Roger.
"Joanie, I want you to come
to the South of France
to do The Persuaders
with me and Tony Curtis."
I said, "Oh, wow That sounds great."
He said, "Well, we'll
put you up in a hotel."
I thought, "Well, this is nice."
It's a hard
life being an actor, isn't it?
Why don't you switch that thing off?
I think I'll switch that thing off.
I was a photographer
I was very bohemian.
Somewhat avant-garde.
You may kiss me.
Kissing Roger was fine.
Kissing Tony was like kissing an ashtray.
Mmm!
Is this an excuse me
or can we all join in?
Sorry.
Mmm, I like it! I like it!
It was The Persuaders
that added the final piece of
the jigsaw to my repertoire
something that would
become my trademark.
You must forgive him.
His early life was influenced
rather heavily
by Rudolph Valentino.
A soupcon of tongue-in-cheek humour.
There's no need to kneel,
I'm a very democratic lord.
With Lord Brett Sinclair
I had become an upper-class
gentleman, literally
I'd gone from a one-room flat
in South London
to a mansion in Buckinghamshire.
Maybe growing up and
having to provide for a family
was the making of Roger Moore.
All these TV roles, Ivanhoe,
The Saint, The Persuaders
had me playing the hero,
saving damsels in distress.
From them, I had put together the voice
the charm, a modicum of comic timing
and the ability
to look half decent in a suit.
And... out of one.
All I needed to make my life complete
was to get back on the big screen.
And then, one day
the call I'd been waiting for.
PICKS UP PHONE ...finally came.
The three last digits were 007.
Double-O seven.
And he answered the phone with
"007?" Cos that's what you do.
And the voice said,
"That you are, Roger."
He must have played it down,
"Oh great, that's wonderful."
"Luisa!" HE CHUCKLES.
We had a drink, he said,
"I've got some great news
I've got some great news."
Chin, chin!
Everybody was thrilled
and we toasted the new 007.
I said, "Can I be a Bond girl?"
Roger Moore is an amazing man
because he seems to be
a very humble, human guy
who lets it all sort of, hang out.
You're talking about all of us!
LAUGHTER - No, I'm not.
He now, as you all know,
is the new James Bond
and is going to be, if not already
an enormous major motion picture star.
Following my speedboat crash,
I was carted off to the clinic
where the doctor gave me the good news
that my leg wasn't broken
and my wife Luisa gave me the
most un-James-Bond-like news
that I'd made a mess of my underwear.
The speed boat incident
did nothing to calm the nerves.
Not mine, and certainly
not that of my bosses.
Harry Saltzman and Cubby Broccoli.
I do remember when they
brought me out to New Orleans
I don't know that he was nervous
but they were nervous about him.
The studio bosses
wanted a big American name.
Paul Newman or Steve McQueen.
But Cubby and Harr fought
for yours truly
and I was forever grateful.
Everyone was nervous about
anyone replacing "the" Bond
who was Sean.
Connery just took
the world by storm.
You know, Bond.
A martini, shaken not stirred.
And Roger had to pick up that mantle.
Very demanding, because
Connery had made
such an indelible impression
Sean had established the role
and was a diamond in the rough.
And Roger was a well-honed diamond.
He had this charm about him.
He had a casualness that seemed
to go with the times.
Such a delicate touch.
Sheer magnetism, darling.
When I met him, the first thing
he was trying to do
was make sure he could shoot this
silver magnum thing without
going like that every time.
Every time, he went like that.
He definitely had a problem and it was
not looking Bond-like
to go "brr!" every time.
And then came the line
that would determine whether
I would succeed or fail.
I had practised it over and over
but no matter how many times I said it
in my head,
I always heard the same thing.
I was terrified I would open my mouth
and out would come.
My name is Bond. James Bond.
LAUGHTER - And I mustn't do that.
The first proper scene
I remember doing with him
you know, the first time
he says, "I'm Bond, James Bond"
I was terrified.
It was scary SHE LAUGHS.
Oh.
Alright.
What's my name?
The name's Bond
James Bond.
My name's Bond
James Bond.
Yes, it's a big, big name to say.
"The weather turned
suddenly colder today."
But the chill in the air warmed
under the sunny smile of
Gloria Hendry
whose entry into
the French Quarter Inn courtyard
"was straight out of a Bond movie."
Would you believe that?
"The overall effect is: Wow!"
That's a compliment!
So here we are on the set.
Guy said to me, "Stay out of the sun!"
Because my God, it was burning up!
And I'm on top of him.
So the night before.
I had a lot of garlic.
Oh, James!
He said, "You're lucky my wife is Italian!"
This was one of the first major films
that had an interracial relationship.
It was quite a remarkable thing
for the time.
I couldn't believe my luck.
Glorious Gloria,
and sensational Seymour.
He was just incredibly helpful
to me as a young actress.
I remember when we did
the love scene and
the famous "deflowering" love scene.
I just need a little bit
of information, that's all.
The eyebrow
was the hugest issue.
Every time his eyebrow
went up, they went, "Cut!
Roger! The eyebrow!"
I've lost it.
They thought that he could choose
to do it or not do it, but he couldn't.
That's just how he'd be,
that was his thing.
Ah yes, my eyebrow.
Some say I built a career on it.
The very singular ability
to manipulate his left eyebrow.
The eyebrow would go "bzz!"
That was... how can he do
just the one eyebrow?
That furry little fella seduced the world.
And so did I.
We wrapped filming on Live and Let Die
and all I could do was wait and hope.
Wait to see what the critics
would make of my Bond.
And hope?
Well, hope the buggers liked it!
What about the Bond reviews now?
Are you ready for that?
I'll tell you, I think
the good critics in America
are the ones who liked it.
It's just that you have
to go through the envy barrier.
They will try to destroy you
because they also feel
that they made you.
Well, you see, they don't
decide who becomes a star
the people decide who becomes a star.
Oh, that's very good.
It's a good thing
it's the people who decide
because the critics were not impressed.
It's Live and Let Die.
Roger Moore is James Bond, 007.
Our
box office, on the other hand
was in rude health.
It's Live and Let Die.
We were off to the races!
Ladies and gentlemen, Roger Moore!
The success of Live and Let Die meant
I was very much in demand
on the chat show circuit
Roger Moore.
This was where
the "Roger Moore" character
I built so carefully could really shine.
You seem perfect.
Are you proposing or something?
No, nothing like that.
I... I... you just seem perfect.
He had it all, I would say.
He seemed to really, really enjoy it.
To make movies and be famous.
He said, "I was one lucky bastard."
This, of course, consequently
causes a great number of women
to be attracted to you
all over the place
which as everyone knows can become.
All over which place?
The entire globe.
Which means that
this can become tiresome
and present problems to you
as these ladies lay in waiting for you
outside your hotel room door
and other places too numerous
to mention.
Is this a monologue?
LAUGHTER - Oh, uh.
The combination of
his looks and his personality
and his pleasantness and his humour
and the fact that he liked me.
I'm trying to get to the question
- and I can't...
- He's not reading it either!
How do you handle all these women?
My wife looks after it for me
She's, uh, she's Italian.
- Your wife's Italian?
- Yeah.
Ah. Then you have no problem at all
I have no problem whatsoever Ooh!
Was hardly worth
that long question, was it?
LAUGHTER - He was very amusing.
Pleasing as a personality.
He was just the perfect talk show guest.
He was a laugh
I mean, there's a thing I remember
Michael Caine said about him.
If he hadn't been so good-looking
they'd have let him be a comedian.
Is there anyone in England
that's got that kind of zany
nutty, marvellous kind of humour?
No, no Not since I left.
Naughty sense of humour.
Really naughty.
He'd start telling a story
and everybody would go.
"Oh, Roger, stop it, for God's sake."
I always wanted to be a comic.
The reason
I wanted to be a comic was that
when I did drama, everybody laughed
so I thought, "Well, I'm a comedian."
When I kill, I kill for Queen and country.
When I kill, I kill for Queen and country.
When I kill, I kill for Queen and country.
Though I admit,
killing you would be a pleasure.
Alright, enough larking about.
Back to the day job.
The Man with the Golden Gun
began filming in Thailand.
There was a lot riding on it.
Despite the box office success
of Live and Let Die
plenty of fans were still pining for Sean.
They said I was too light.
I've always been a lover, not a fighter.
Director Guy Hamilton, however
wanted me ruthless.
Ow, you're hurting my arm!
I'll break it unless you tell me
where those bullets go.
It didn't sit easily with me
I wanted my Bond to be
a bit of a romantic.
Naturally, I suggested
bedding Maud Adams
to extract the information
but Guy was insistent I toughen up.
You see what you can do when you try?
Where did you get the reputation
for being such a male chauvinist pig?
LAUGHTER - Uh.
Somebody had that impression of you.
- Through playing Bond.
- I suppose that would be it.
I said where?
Playing Bond, yes, you get
accused of male chauvinism.
And I could see why.
This trailer is practically
an advert for male chauvinism.
James Bond, on the job.
The girls are willing.
In December 1974.
The Man with the Golden Gun
hit the cinemas.
And the reviews weren't exactly glowing.
The New York Times called me
a "vast garden ornament".
The box office wasn't quite
what we expected either.
Terrifyingly, for my bank balance
I may have to go back to working in TV.
The Man with the Golden Gun
isn't a financial success
so suddenly, it all started to look messy.
Can we talk about the knocks?
People all said, "Oh, well,
Roger Moore is not
my idea of 007
and it's all a great failure."
I mean, do you mind
that kind of hammering?
It is always nice to get a good notice.
- You know, its lovely.
- You like a good notice?
Well, of course you do,
but you don't take any notice
if they're bad.
And so by the same token
I shouldn't take any notice
of the good ones.
Not that there are many, but still!
March 1976.
Pinewood Studios.
The Spy Who Loved Me
goes into production.
After my last Bond,
and the harsh reviews.
I found my own way
to deal with questions
about my acting ability.
Have you ever forgiven the critic
who called you a lump
of English roast beef?
Yup - Can you find it in your heart?
Oh sure, I can
I know where I'd like
to stick the mustard too.
You're very self-deprecating
about your acting.
- Is that defensive?
- Yes, it's defensive
I always try to say it
before anybody else does.
But if you didn't say it,
perhaps nobody else would?
I'd never thought of that
Maybe I started the wrong way!
He was so self-deprecating
that people joined in.
But actually, you know,
he was a very fine actor.
Why do you always put yourself down?
Well, I've stopped doing that - You have?
No I now say I'm marvellous.
You do?
That's alright. What caused
the change of heart?
The critics started believing me.
Yeah, he was modest.
He was maybe even, uh, shy.
You know, he was so handsome
that you forgot what a good actor he was.
He was never enormously confident.
But he could give the impression
of being confident.
The audience doesn't
have to know what you're doing.
They just have to know
that you know what you're doing.
He was an actor
and a movie star.
And I think often movie stars
people don't give them
the credit for the acting chops
because they're so magnetic on screen
that they think,
well, that's just who they are.
Oh, did you want me to go up?
I thought I had to go down?
Alright, one more straight away, let's go!
I'd wrestled
with the question of
how to become James Bond,
with limited success.
In the end, the answer was so simple.
Stop trying to turn
Roger Moore into James Bond.
Turn James Bond
into Roger Moore.
Hope you enjoyed the show.
Goodnight.
He knew how to play Roger Moore
and that's a gift That's a real, real gift.
If there's anything you would like?
Anything at all?
Well, I had lunch but.
I seem to have missed dessert.
He said, "I had my stride."
I always remember that
"I had my stride with that."
It's just great entertainment.
It was shocking just
how much fun Jaws and I had
in this, ahem, electrifying scene.
The Spy Who Loved Me
couldn't be more different
to Live and Let Die
and Man with the Golden Gun.
We're now in quite
a different world in a way
a world where you can have
an underwater base, and a world
where you can have a sports car
that turns into a submarine.
As you can see, it is noisy and, uh
it is cold.
Ready, action!
The whole crew couldn't wait
to get to work in the morning.
He was so entertaining,
we almost used to have to allow
half an hour a day for the jokes
and the fun that used to go on.
People have to be
willing to have a joke.
And then it is fun, as you said
before, an experience.
It's raining on this set.
You see, this is what I mean
by being able to take a joke.
I will go down and kill them in a second.
Thank you very much, fellas!
And I love him
in his naval outfit.
He looks incredible.
Your time's running out, Stromberg.
The worst thing that happened
to me on The Spy Who Loved Me
was the sequence,
if you remember, where I.
My final confrontation
with Curd Jurgens, Stromberg.
Well, unfortunately, the chair
blew up before I got out of it.
And that did quite a lot
of damage to my rear end.
And he leapt in the air
with his backside on fire
and ran round the set.
Anyway, Roger had to have.
Vaseline dressings for two weeks.
And afterwards he said
"I have got two holes
where most people have one!"
It's the biggest.
Despite the damage
to my perfect posterior
the marketing team remained
confident of my sex appeal.
We get that extra push
especially where
the women are concerned
because they're less interested in
the action aspects of the film.
When you talk to them,
they're more interested in Roger
and sublimating themselves into the role
of whatever woman he's making love to.
Can I have that trim, John?
Editor and 2nd unit director John Glen
was hard at work in the edit suite
cutting the opening sequence.
It promised to be something...
rather special.
Tell you what would help it -
if you were just a touch longer.
Yep. OK.
I directed the pre-title sequence
I found myself in Mount Asgard
on the Canadian Arctic.
Three weeks it took us
to get this shot, this one shot.
It was Roger's favourite action scene.
He just loved it.
And he's falling and falling
and falling, and this
and it's silence.
I remember watching that
you know, it's one of the most
famous bits in cinema, isn't it?
Parachute opens - doof!
When that Union Jack came up...
oh, boy.
Everyone goes bananas.
The movie had only been going
for like five or ten minutes.
Standing ovation.
The reaction was incredible.
A day I never thought I'd see
but the reviews came in,
and would you believe it
they were positive.
It is a fantastically entertaining movie.
You've got a performance in Roger's
that he knows he's there
to give you a great time.
If The Spy Who Loved Me hadn't worked
it would have been very, very difficult
I think, for the franchise.
There was Roger
coming down the mountain.
Of course he saved the franchise.
But, James, I need you!
So does England.
In reality,
I had little in common with 007.
Except perhaps a taste for the high life
exotic locations, fancy cars
and a nice pair of, ahem, gadgets.
These time-shifting devices.
The portable VCR machine
and home movie camera.
Gadgets
He loved his gadgets.
Especially the home video camera
the huge five-kilo box
you'd have to carry around
with the battery pack.
Recording life, such a novelty.
You know, certainly from his childhood
where none of that existed.
OK, more tapes.
Alright, what's your name?
Christian Moore
Christian Moore, what a horror you are.
And there is Geoffrey.
This must be about 40 tapes.
He liked to record, you know,
what was going on
and "here we are,
look how beautiful it is"
and Roger narrating.
Right now, we're
going to have impersonations.
Oh, hi!
Who is it? Oh, Roger!
Ah! Deborah!
Oh, Roger, come on, who wants
to do all these little things?
"Your father is-a pushing you too far
- "you will come to realise..."
- Pushing you to fart?
LAUGHTER - Pushing you too far!
You could see more of
the funny, humorous side of him
I trust I'm in focus, Luisa
because I get very upset
if I'm not in focus.
Ah, mucking about Great memories.
There's a lot of South of France
home footage.
- Geoffrey dug all this up, right?
- Yes.
No, I haven't seen it.
The car does not wanna work.
Can you come and look at it, please?
Please, look at the car!
Stefanie Powers.
Do you wanna get a close-up on that?
I'm moving in for a close-up.
You wanna get a close-up on that?
Oh, Stefanie!
Oh, and spin on it.
Just spin on that one!
They had so much fun
I mean fun, silly fun.
Laughter.
And it was a magical time of the year.
It's like a dream.
Hi, darling!
OK, Valentino, Portofino.
Olivia Newton John,
yeah, that's probably here.
We're really shy!
It kind of hit me
that we were surrounded by fame.
But for us, they were just their friends.
It wasn't, "Oh, he's famous."
You know what I mean?
Ah,
there's my favourite Bond Girl.
Maud Adams.
And how's this for a shot
straight out of the Bond playbook?
Eat your heart out, Cubby Broccoli!
Go, Maud!
All his friends
would come round.
Growing up, seeing his friends on TV
I thought that's what people did.
They were in this little box,
and they'd come round.
Chopper is arriving in five minutes.
The chopper's
arriving in five minutes.
Oh, is this Roger
with his camera?
The noise!
Oh, God.
I mean, to land on
a tennis court is really brave.
Who the hell is it?
Oh!
Oh, oh, oh.
This is Elton.
This is Elton arriving.
Extraordinary.
There's Joan.
That's lovely.
Is this with sound?
With sound?
Of course it's got sound
Roger never changed
from the time I met him.
He was always charming, funny
full of joie de vivre, telling jokes.
Now, it's quite
amazing, the flora that you find
- on the hills of St Paul.
- I haven't got my costume.
Gorilla costume HE LAUGHS.
It's just lovely
to remember that day, you know.
Extraordinary.
What would Al Pacino say?
Walking back in time.
Enough of that.
I haven't seen this, this
is like, super-duper emotional.
Luisa, I'm waiting for you
to say, "You look beautiful."
I can't work until I'm told I look lovely.
And here we are,
on the boat of Valentino.
Life turned out pretty well
I had nice houses, dotted around
some lovely parts of the world
I had fancy cars and luxury yachts
and good friends
who happened to be famous.
But, um... well, no, there is no but
I just had a really good life.
ROGER Tracking shots.
Look at them Crumpets, the pair of them.
- How much?
- How much?
It was a very surreal childhood
I knew he was somebody important.
A lot of people that I would
recognise from film, coming in.
And at the age I was,
I didn't like attention.
I became very shy.
Well, it's a very nice
static picture, you know.
Oh, this is not, this is a moving picture!
You know, I see pictures of myself
always hiding
behind my mother or my father.
When I first
realised how famous he was
cos he came to pick me up at school
all these kids were coming out
you know, around the car and stuff
and that's when I realised,
you know, they knew who he was.
And I didn't want anyone to know
cos I thought I was, you know,
the son of James Bond
and I looked like a doughnut.
I thought it would be better to blend in.
For me, fame was a choice.
But there came a time when I felt
my children deserved
a more normal upbringing.
So, reluctantly, we left England.
And, er, there were
some tax benefits as well.
Ahem.
To the left here, Peter Sellers' house.
That one up there. Do you
see it? It's a cool house.
He was one of the first guys here.
Him, Niven, and obviously Rog.
And then Burton
I mean, that was the Rat Pack here.
And Julie Andrews' house
is where the train is, it's
basically above those trees
I mean, it's all very nonchalant
when you talk about these people
but you know, these are family friends
and they're all in a make-believe world.
Y'know, they're getting
paid to make believe, so
they didn't take
themselves very seriously.
What is the
great attraction, do you think
for celebrities? Do they come
here to get away from it all?
Well, we come up here
because there's no such thing
as microphones and television cameras!
A lot of stars like Switzerland,
and like to live in Switzerland
cos the locals, they don't bother them.
He loved it on the mountain,
he was happy.
Despite my fabulous
skiing exploits on screen
I couldn't actually ski.
In my 50s, I decided to learn.
Thanks to my wonderful instructors
I found swooping down
the piste to be fairly easy.
It was, uh, stopping I had a problem with.
We meant to stop here.
And what happened?
Roger panicked.
What happened, he went, went, went
the worst thing was that
the metal edges of the skis
on the concrete were sparking!
Sparking like you wouldn't
imagine, like in a film.
He flew through the terrace,
kicked a table, kicked a table
kicked another, and we ended up here
like an ostrich,
with a head plant, on the table.
And then Roger stands up.
"Madam!
A pleasure to make your acquaintance."
Well, that was wonderful, Vijay.
For six more years
and a further four films
I played the part, on and off screen
Roger Moore
007 for the fifth time and fit as a fiddle.
How do you do it, dare I ask?
I play the fiddle!
The trailer for my final Bond film
introduced Christopher Walken
as my enemy.
This man has a secret ambition!
I propose to end the domination
of Silicon Valley.
In real life,
we became great chums
100 million dollars
I was a big Bond fan.
So the idea of being
a villain was very attractive
Max Zorin is a genetically
altered human being.
He drives a blimp, you know?
You know, who do you know who
and he drives it himself,
you know, with the switches.
Pick you up in my blimp!
Action, Chris!
Physically, they're hard work.
You're in every scene
and the schedule is
usually about six months.
And that means every day
from the crack of dawn.
So they're long hours.
It was a long shoot.
We were about to break for Christmas.
And he said to me on set one day.
"What are you doing for the holidays?"
And I said "Well, I guess I'm just gonna
sit in my apartment."
And he said, "Well, no, you come
to my house in Switzerland."
So I did.
He was very much
the Roger that you saw on film.
You know,
he was funny, he was charming
he was handsome, he dressed well
Chris, come this side.
Yeah, very much the same guy.
He had a nice life.
Alas, old age
catches up with all of us in the end.
I think it was the moment
one of my leading ladies told me
I reminded her of her father
that I decided it was time
to hang up the Walther PPK.
He was getting too old.
Simple.
You know, I mean, he looked pretty good
but he was sort of knocking 60
and I think he was right
to quit when he did.
I wanted to find a way
to put my fame to good use.
Audrey Hepburn,
who was a UNICEF ambassador
and a neighbour of mine in Switzerland
suggested I too become an ambassador.
Upside: A chance to do something good.
Downside: Not a martini in sight.
I was exceedingly grateful to Audrey
for having steered me
in the right direction.
In 1991, my life, in a strange way
began to mirror that of
my most famous character.
I was sent to far-flung
locations and war zones
but this time,
I had a licence to help people.
I'm so violently opposed
to the use of weapons and mines
that I didn't like that image of me
going around the world,
holding the Walther PPK.
And it's.
It appears rather heroic, and it's not.
I had changed and
how I lived my life had changed.
By 1993, the children had flown the nest.
Luisa and I had
been together for 30 years
but that relationship was also changing.
She was quite tough, Luisa.
And she used to get
very angry with him, a lot.
A lot.
She did turn a
little bit unkindly towards him.
And she'd humiliate him at the table
I don't know why she did that.
It's tough because
a lot of women would
throw themselves over him so.
It's a tough, tough role.
You know, she really
had to put up with a lot.
When they were living in Gstaad,
I went to stay with them.
I said, "Where's the bedroom?"
And Luisa said, "This is my room"
and it was a big, lovely bedroom.
And Roger said, "Come and see mine."
And so, under the stairs
there was this little kind of cubby hole.
And he said, "This is where I sleep."
And I didn't want to ask
the obvious question:
how's the marriage going?
Uh.
You know, I think it was
when he got slightly older.
Yeah, they sort of drifted apart
and that made my mother very
very upset, very angry.
She could tell that something
wasn't right, and I think
by that point he'd, you know,
already met Kristina.
Kristina
was a friend of Luisa's.
She was calm and empathetic
and as the distance
between Luisa and me grew.
Kristina and I became closer.
She was such
a different person to my wife.
They just had spent 30 years together
and I think it was time for him
to move on with his life and be happy.
My mother knew about it when she
opened the newspapers
and there it was:
"The new woman in Roger Moore's life."
Phone call from my old man saying.
"Kid, listen, it's just
made news that I'm leaving."
OK
"You'd better go see your mother."
The paparazzi would only come
round when there was a scandal.
They were outside the flat.
I go to open the door,
I open the door and it's like.
It's out there before you know it.
Ugh... I found out from co-workers.
It was in the papers
and someone threw it down.
Some people
may have disapproved of Kristina
or Kiki as I called her
but she was a big support to me
and came on many of my UNICEF trips.
Sir Roger Moore,
for services to charity.
Arise, Sir Rog!
Being knighted meant a lot to me
all the more so because
it wasn't for services
to entertainment,
but for my charitable work.
Luckily, I didn't have to wear tights.
There we are.
In my later years, I found peace.
I was very happy with Kiki.
Of course, like many in old age,
I had some health issues.
Spending the last
few weeks in hospital with him
I had asked him if he was
frightened and he said no.
That he enjoyed every minute of his life
I don't think he found regret in anything.
The doctor said,
"I'm really sorry but
I don't think he's got long to live."
We went into the room
and he said, "Right!
I don't want bad news
I just want the good news."
So we just put on a brave face
and pretended everything was
going to be alright, you know?
And
and it wasn't.
I just sat and talked to him for a while.
Held his hand and stuff.
It slowly sunk in.
And I struggled because
we always had a phone call
we always spoke, every day at 11 o'clock.
It took a while for me
not to press the button.
"It's 11 o'clock,
shit, I've gotta call Roger."
He's no longer here.
How will
Roger Moore be remembered?
Well, I made
over 60 movies in my career
but most people only
ever wanted to talk about seven.
When someone else became Bond,
I enjoyed a new kind of fame
as "Roger Moore, national treasure".
It is a huge honour to be
entrusted by his family
to hold this very special sale today
?32,000
?35,000
?38,000
?40,000
Why anybody would
want this stuff is beyond me.
But oh, well I'm glad they do.
Going once at? 50,000.
At least some of this money
will go to charity.
You're a brilliant bidder, thank you.
There at? 55,000.
Sixty it is, ?60,000.
Sold!? 60,000, there we are!
It's my dad, it's our father
I don't think you really fathom
who he was until after death.
And we're all looking for Roger tonight.
He's here in spirit.
Allow me to raise a glass
and an eyebrow one last time.
A toast!
To those who shared the journey with me.
He never forgot me
I never forgot him
to those who made me what I was.
Before she died, the phone goes,
and it was Roger on the phone.
He said, "Take Dorothy's hand.
Squeeze it, and say
Roger's thinking of her."
She smiled, and she died
and to my dear friends
with whom I laughed and loved.
Oh, there. Right down
the cakehole, there it goes.
I miss him.
I suppose that's what this is about.
A chance to tell him,
you know, I never saw him again.
Everyone will miss Roger,
but the memories
of what he brought us far outweighs that
Roger was timeless.
All that is left is to send my love
to Doorn.
Dot.
Luisa
and Kiki.
Of course he was married four times.
He was Roger Moore!
You know?
He had to let other people have
a turn to be married to him!
But you know, who wouldn't?
Who wouldn't?
I'd have liked to have slept
with Roger Moore!
My mum would've liked to have
slept with Roger Moore!
We'd all like to have slept
with Roger Moore!
Yeah. Roger Moore.
What a guy.
A man becomes what he dreams.
He dreamt well.
Did I save the world?
Not really.
But I put a smile on people's faces
did my bit, then buggered off.
Always leave them wanting more.
Roger Moore
I've arrived in America
to begin playing
the biggest role of my life.
This is me
newly Bond-ed in Live and Let Die.
Suave and skilled,
even though I say it myself
outmanoeuvring the baddies
at breakneck speed.
It's my first time in a power boat
and learning to corner
one of these powerful beasts
at 60 miles an hour takes nerves of steel.
I wouldn't say I'm out of
my depth but the water is, er
tickling my nipples.
They say when death is imminent
your entire life flashes
in front of your eyes.
The only thing flashing before my eyes
was a large corrugated shed.
I knew I was going to hit it
and there wasn't a damned thing
I could do about it.
I would end up in a heap on
the floor, clutching my mouth
my knee throbbing, my shoulder numb.
Here I was, about to start
playing James Bond
with no teeth.
But that's just a little taste
of what's to come.
It's not where this story starts.
So, where do we begin?
Over to my son Geoffrey
who's rooting round my old house.
I mean, this is basically Roger's
our shrine of the old man.
These are Roger's ashes.
Oy, oy, oy.
Nope.
No. No.
Hang about.
Ooh, I think this is it.
I think my eyesight
has really gone
because I can't focus anymore.
Get that camera away from me.
This must be about 40 tapes.
Well, hello, Mr Moore.
Come on, sweetie
do myself Ha-ha, that's me!
Ooh, cars! Quickly, quickly, quickly!
Daddy, get on the Ferrari!
Oh, shit!
What was that you were saying, Maud
about not being able to eat anymore?
It keeps flashing up,
there's not enough light.
Oh, let's come into the light, darling!
Go, Maud.
Terrific.
I lived a pretty glamorous life
somehow becoming one
of the world's most famous
and desirable stars.
When people asked me about
the biggest character I played
I always answered.
"Of course, it's the
world's most loved spy."
Oh, James.
But my greatest creation?
Ladies and
gentlemen, Roger Moore.
- Mr Roger Moore.
- Roger Moore.
Well the truth is, my greatest creation
was somebody called Roger Moore.
This is me.
Well the truth is, my greatest creation
was somebody called Roger Moore
Roger Moore
Roger Moore.
Ah!
Roger Moore.
Well, the first time I met Roger
I came home from school
standing in the hallway
of our apartment flat
in Great Portland Street
which also doubled
as my father's agency
because he had the Will Collins Agency
was this incredibly
handsome young man.
And I almost went weak at
the knees, he walked towards me
and said, "Oh, you must be Joan.
My name's Roger Moore."
I think I was swinging my satchel
I said, "Yes, hi, how are you?"
My manager called me on the phone
and said, "Gloria, they want
to see you for a Bond movie"
I said, "Oh, you're kidding."
And Roger walks in,
I said "Oh, my God!"
And I said, "Gloria, be calm."
He was so handsome.
He just has "it".
When he looks at you, you feel like
he's just looking at you and no one else.
As a woman, you just go "Wow."
I was 11 years of age
and we went to Battersea Park,
Mum and my dad
Roger was there signing autographs.
And I queued up.
That's how I met Roger Moore.
The only man's autograph I ever got.
When they asked me
about this interview.
I thought, well, you know,
to talk about people I know.
I'm not so crazy
about doing that, generally.
But in the case of Roger
you know, Roger was so good-natured.
He was so generous as an actor
on the set, with his time
and his hospitality
I thought this was an opportunity
to, you know, say thanks.
It was my birthday.
It's like 8 o'clock in
the morning and I get a call:
I said, "Thank you for calling me
I'm lying in bed naked."
He went, "So am I!"
I said, "It's a shame we're not together."
He said, "I know!"
And I thought,
"I'm flirting with James Bond!"
You shut your eyes.
Bang!
That's the way you shoot - OK.
If you don't want to play Bond.
If you want to play Bond, you
just shoot - bang! Like that.
Like Bond Immediately?
- Immediately.
- Can you do it from the back?
What, like that?
Mm-hmm - Of course.
What else can he do?
Make love.
You may think
I was born wearing black tie
and cradling a martini
but nothing could be further
from the truth.
I was born in October 1927 in Stockwell
then a working-class area
of South London.
There I am!
Look at those cheeks.
Ripe for squeezing.
Lily, his
mother, was a kind, nice woman.
She was extraordinarily
beautiful, you know.
You could see where Roger came from.
And she was
a lovely looking woman, yeah
George was a bluff old policeman
playing his banjo
around the place, you know.
They weren't rich.
They were working class.
My grandmother worked in a tearoom
and my grandfather was,
you know, on the beat.
One would suspect
if you're from that strata.
you'd be talking like this
I thought all those people talk like that.
And you're terribly, "Helloooo."
You know what I mean?
I don't want to say you're pretentious.
No, no, no, that would be wrong.
But my father was
a very posh policeman, you see.
Was he?
From
an early age I perfected the art
of pretending to listen
50% of the actor's craft.
At school, I sailed through
my exams, orals and all.
Was I a little chubby?
Maybe.
But when they called me
"tall, fat and ugly"
that was a little harsh.
By 17, I was shy and gangly
and didn't know what I was
going to do with my life.
But a simple twist of fate
on a dark and stormy night
would bring me my big break
in the shape of my first real mentor
film director Brian Desmond Hurst.
Roger's father was investigating
a robbery at Brian Desmond
Hurst's house in Belgravia.
He was just going through
the interactions that happen
as a policeman visiting a victim
and then somehow into that
and Roger never explained exactly how
he was introduced
to Brian Desmond Hurst.
He was a flamboyant, gay,
Oscar-Wildean man
Brian at the time was in his first
kind of flush of success as a filmmaker.
But he was also someone
who loved young men.
Caesar
and Cleopatra was an epic film
with a huge budget.
As director, Brian could do what he liked.
And what he liked
was Roger Moore in a toga.
Can you see me
in this cast of thousands?
No, neither can I.
So that's my origin story
a starstruck father
and a Roman miniskirt
I don't know what Brian thought
was beneath it
but I owe everything to his imagination.
Anyway, let's just say that
by the time I became famous
I had learned to embellish things a little.
And either I had a long spear,
or a short toga
but I was noticed,
you know, by the director
who said, you know,
"Do you want to be an actor?"
Why not?
Clearly, Brian Desmond Hurst
saw something inside me.
I know what you're thinking,
and it wasn't that.
He became a mentor to me.
OK, it was a little "My Fair Lady"
but through Brian, I learned how to dress
how to hold a room, and how to tell a tale.
He spoke with my father
and even offered
to pay my fees for drama school.
I was going to RADA
I went to The Royal Academy
of Dramatic Art.
Where they taught me, I suppose,
to speak posh.
RADA concentrated a lot on elocution.
You had to have
received English pronunciation
upper-class accent.
Do you know,
I loved RADA for two reasons.
First, I developed "the voice"
which would eventually become
my trademark.
And second?
Almost all of my classmates were female.
I may not have
learned much about acting
but I did begin to unravel
the mysteries of the fairer sex.
One of them would become
my first wife, Doorn van Steyn.
By God, for the next 8 years,
that woman had me in a spin.
There's a box full of treasures here.
A lot of secrets in this box.
My name is Shaun van Steyn.
My mother married Roger Moore
and he became my stepfather.
Here's some love letters.
"Darling Doorny, precious heart."
I'd love to hold you, and kiss you
and feel your baby body in my arms.
You snooker little angel puss!
Oh God, yellow pussy!
How I should like
to spank your wonderful
pimply goose-flesh bottom!
Well, darling precious,
goodnight and God bless you.
Your own ever-loving,
ever-faithful husband, Roger.
"P.S. I'd love to bite your bottom!"
Yes, thank you, Shaun.
No one wants to hear this.
What can I say?
I was smitten and she was bitten.
My mother was
vivacious and mesmerising.
He was besotted with her.
She was six years older than him.
She liked the young studs,
what can I say?
Here's a picture of her
ice-skating in Monte Carlo.
That was her passion, she loved it.
He learned to skate just to be next to her
Roger was dish washing.
Anything he could find
to make a few pence.
Doorn was busy
ice-skating around the world.
So he was my mother and my father.
This wasn't quite what
RADA had trained me for.
He used to take me
to Clapham Common
help me sail my little
toy yacht that he bought me
18 years old.
You think back to when you were 18
you didn't want to be lumbered with a kid.
So sweet, gentle, kind.
He was my hero.
Doorn was constantly away,
and when we did see each other
she harangued me about
my dreams of becoming an actor.
She once told me,
"You'll never be an actor."
Your face is too weak
"your jaw is too big
and your mouth's too small."
How kind.
Intense love, and intense bitchiness.
She was a real bitch to him.
So it's 1952.
There I was, living in a one-room flat
looking after a 9-year-old,
washing dishes
modelling knitting patterns for a living
and getting
occasional jobs as a film extra.
Little did I know that
in four years I'd be starring
opposite Lana Turner
in a Hollywood movie.
You might well be asking:
how did that happen?
I could thank Brian for teaching
me the value of old-world charm
and Doorn for bringing out my inner poet.
But for the most part, it was
thanks to wife number two.
Singer Dorothy Squires.
Or "Dot" to her friends.
Dorothy Squires, oh,
she was something else.
Oh, I remember
Dorothy Squires very well.
She was a big chapter in Roger's life.
She was a wild lady.
Terrifying, actually.
People, when they come in and
see you, they wanna see glamour.
This is what they want, an escape!
She was a huge star.
She'd been a star since the '40s.
Worldwide hits.
She bought this wonderful house
in Bexley, which had 22 rooms
four acres of land and a swimming pool.
It was like Hollywood.
And she'd have these parties
and everybody would turn up.
And there'd be Shirley Bassey
there, there'd be Diana Dors.
Cliff Richard was there
I was sat next to one guy,
I said who's this?
He said it was Phil Spector.
Now, I mean, you don't expect to be
sitting next to Phil Spector
in Kent, do you?
When Dot had a party, everybody went.
That's where she met Roger, of course.
The telephone went,
I picked up the telephone
and he said, "I'm at the station."
I said, "Who are you?"
"Roger Moore." Well, I said,
"What do you look like?"
So he said, "I'm short, fat and bald"
so I went back and I said,
"Somebody go down the station
and get a short, fat, bald guy", you know.
I said, "How do you do?
Would you have a drink?"
So he said, "I have an ulcer."
So I said, "Oh, I am sorry."
Oh, he said, "Don't be sorry,
it's quite fashionable."
I thought, "Oh, what a bore!"
"It's quite fashionable..."
Oh, I said, "Who writes
his scripts?", you know.
He said, "Well, the last train
must be gone by now, Dorothy."
"So you'll have to
bloody stay then, won't you?"
And he picked her up
carried her up this
Gone With The Wind staircase.
And that was it, that's how it started.
He carried me upstairs.
And I thought, what the hell.
And I watched him go down
the lawn the following morning
I thought, "What the hell have I done?
I've never slept with anybody
in my house like that before."
Dot was
a good 12 years older than me
and she was in another league.
I was now mingling with top
musicians, actors, and agents
and Dot had big plans for me.
She was the one that pushed him.
He took advantage of it.
Dorothy's my auntie
and I remember she said to me once.
"Why wouldn't you do this
if you loved him?"
She took him to America
cos she had lots of connections.
She said to Roger, you know,
"They like handsome guys.
You're struggling here.
You're doing photo sessions
for knitting patterns.
You've got to go to America."
In the summer of 1953,
Doorn and I were divorced.
Dot became wife number two
and we were headed for Hollywood.
I think she moulded him.
He's 23, and he's got
this charismatic woman
who's a huge star.
She told him to get his teeth done.
He's gonna listen to her, isn't he?
I was young and living in the moment.
It wasn't until years later
that I came to appreciate
just how much Dot did for me.
She had that secret ingredient
and somehow, a little rubbed off.
The great things I learned from Dorothy
was to become my own person.
I used to be very, very nervous.
Rather timid.
From the time I met Dorothy
I then started developing a persona.
I became somebody called Roger Moore.
Roger Moore.
And "Roger Moore"
was about to become somebody.
MGM offered me a seven-year contract.
The character I'd created
seemed to be having the desired effect.
I was to play opposite Lana Turner.
I didn't ask to keep the tights.
Look out for your hearts, girls.
This Roger Moore is
going places in pictures.
He's quite a fellow.
Two years ago
I'd been eating beans on toast ever night.
Now I was sampling
some of the finer dishes
and I don't mean the food.
He said, "Lana Turner, you know?"
And then I went, "Yeah, yeah."
And he said, "Lana Turner teaching".
"Roger from London to kiss!" You know?
This kind of elevated sense of
you know, winning the lottery
and really knowing
you're winning the lottery.
"Your number is 546 - you won!
Kiss her!"
Hollywood life was wonderful.
We met Elvis, a big fan of Dot's.
I was rubbing shoulders with the stars
and many of them
became lifelong friends.
Here, captured by my own trusty camera
many years later
is a very memorable visit
from a Hollywood legend.
Gorgeous, gorgeous.
My old pal, Kirk Douglas.
Was that it?
Oh, now you come and see it!
Could I have a retake, please?
I sang my goddamn heart out
- now you come!
- Can we have a retake? Great.
Other dear
friends I made around this time
were David Niven, Gregory Peck
and Ol' Blue Eyes himself, Frank Sinatra.
They met in the late '50s, in Los Angeles.
And became close friends.
Hey, Rog!
You're a generous and caring person
and a hell of a classy guy.
Frank, he'd want
all the men to sit around
and drink with him
I remember Dad
trying to keep up with Frank.
"Come on, Roger!
It's not time to go to bed now!"
And he's like, you know,
he was extraordinary.
So Dad and all the men
used to walk around
with their whiskies, and sort of
put them in the plant pots
because they just
could not keep up with Frank.
Salud!
So I was
fortunate to have played
a bit part in The Golden Age of Movies.
But back in the late '50s, I didn't realise
how short-lived my dream would be.
First, my marriage began to fall apart.
Dot already had fame.
What she wanted most
was to be a mother.
She was always a bit worried
about not having children.
And Roger did want to have children.
I wanted a baby
I had my fallopian tubes
blown in England
but it wasn't a success so I had
them done in Beverly Hills.
She told me afterwards
that she'd had three miscarriages.
My heart broke for Dot.
We'd arrived
in America with such high hopes
but within a few years
both our dreams began to fall apart.
Dot couldn't get pregnant
and Diane, the movie
that was supposed to
catapult me to stardom, flopped.
"Quote:" By mutual consent,
MGM and Roger Moore
have terminated their contract."
There was nothing mutual about it.
And the stigma from that kind of failure
left me with only one option.
Television.
I now had a ridiculous plumed
helmet to go with the tights.
And 36 inches of flashing steel.
The dialogue was medieval.
Stop him! He's making for the dungeons!
Thank you, Bruno - now I know the way!
And my audience may
all have been 12-year-olds
but I was the undisputed king
of the playground.
The Alaskans!
Starring Roger Moore!
Here I was in yet another
popular period piece for television.
Dorothy Provine!
But for me,
TV just didn't have the cachet
or the cash, of cinema
However, working in
television did have certain
advantages.
Now, the rumour was
that he liked the ladies.
And the rumour was true, of course!
Dorothy Provine was my co-star.
Hey now, come on! Give her to me!
What can I say?
We had an on-screen chemistry
that continued off it.
Now where's that $100
you borrowed from me?
Now don't worry about that
I have a goldmine here, I think.
Dorothy found out
that he was having the affair
cos he was talking in his sleep.
She woke up in the night
and she said, "You bastard.
You're having an affair
with that Dorothy Provine!"
"What are you talking about,
Dorothy? I'm not!"
She said, "Yes, you were.
You were calling
her name out in your sleep."
He said, "Well, your name's Dorothy."
She said, "Yeah, but you call me Dot."
Got him HE LAUGHS.
We were driving between
the sound stages on the lot.
He said if we see Dorothy Provine
he said, because I've fallen out with her
cos I've packed up with her and that
she's doing this business now
where every time I see her
she sticks her nose in the air
goes all haughty and walks by and that.
And sure enough as she saw us,
the nose went in the air
and round the corner she walked.
And Roger and I continued on our way
just giggling and laughing.
May 1961.
Dot was away touring Australia,
and I flew to Italy.
The good news: I was in a film at last.
The bad news.
I was back in a toga.
But the Gods had brought me
to Rome for a reason.
A rather gorgeous, Italian reason.
Luisa Mattioli.
Well.
My mother said
they were watching something
on television in Italy
and my mother's mother
turned around to my mother and said.
"That's the sort of man
that you should marry."
And it was Dad in, I think,
something like Ivanhoe.
It was one of those things that
had been dubbed into Italian.
Luisa had accomplished
a lot in her career, you know
from racing car driver, and then she was
one of the first Miss Italys
and one of the first TV presenters in Italy
as an actress and a singer.
She had a name for herself.
She had a beautiful voice
Her mother was an opera singer.
She was somebody
that was a real go-getter.
This producer of the film
that she was going to be in
had said to her.
"There's an American actor
coming, Roger Moore."
Can you go and meet him
at the airport and, you know
"just, make him feel at home,
whatever, bring him into Rome?"
So that's how they met.
He didn't speak a word of Italian.
She didn't speak a word of English.
"Ciao. Hello."
"My name Luisa."
"Roger. Ciao."
Must have been very strange.
It was on a film called
The Rape of the Sabine Women.
Don't laugh.
These movies were
all the rage in the '60s.
The low cost of labour in Italy
meant you could afford huge
crowd scenes like this one.
With all these Italians, it was down to me
to, uh, keep the British end up.
Just ignore the dodgy dubbing.
He was wearing, you know,
one of those centurion outfits
and she had the Greek goddess
sort of hairstyle.
My father asked my
mother out for dinner one night
and he kept sort of pointing at his finger.
He didn't have the ring on
because he was filming.
He was going like this,
and she thought he meant.
"Will you marry me?"
And she was like, "Are you
crazy? I'm already engaged!"
And she was engaged to quite
a well-known gynaecologist.
But I think they must have had this spark
and they fell in love.
She had charisma.
I could see why the old man
was besotted with her.
She was absolutely beautiful.
And you could
understand why, you know
Roger would've fallen
madly in love with her.
What can I say?
We spoke the international
language of love.
There was, however, the small matter of
my wife.
He told me that
he'd met this lovely actress.
And so we looked
at each other and went:
"Oh, my God, this is going
to cause a lot of trouble."
Roger moved in with Luisa.
So Dorothy went round there,
and threw bricks
through every window in the house, see?
Roger came out
apparently and grabbed her
and said they'd called the police.
And he's got hold of her and he said.
"Dorothy, your hand is bleeding."
She said, "It's my fucking heart
that's bleeding!"
Always very dramatic, Dorothy, you see?
June 1962.
I admit, in my personal life,
I was no saint.
Professionally, on the other hand.
Mr Moore,
why do you think you were chosen
to play the Saint?
Because Sean Connery wasn't available.
The Saint was what I'd been waiting for.
He would be the "Roger Moore"
I had spent many years
and two marriages perfecting.
Come, darling, I want you to
meet the most fantastic man
I've told you about him
John, this is Simon Templar.
No swords, no sandals, no armour
not even a toga.
Instead it was a cool car, a stiff drink
and some sharp suits.
Monsieur Simon Templar.
He was the foundation
for the rest of my career:
Simon Templar.
Or if you like, "Simon Template."
Simon Templar is a
thief, the modern Robin Hood.
We never show how I live,
where do I get my money from?
So he is a man with a past
which always makes
a leading man more interesting.
I was 11 years of age
and we used to draw The Saint
on our textbooks,
or you'd write, you know
you'd draw The Saint
on the back of your hand.
There was something
very magical about it.
It was a massive breakthrough
for Roger, The Saint.
He created his own look,
his own life, his own image.
The image
of The Saint for me
was all wrapped up in the cool
of black and white film.
But by the end of the '60s,
we looked even better in colour.
Oh look, there's Steven Berkoff
playing a moustachioed henchman
all in a lovely duck-egg blue.
What made him look famous is that
he had the most ridiculous
haircut I've ever seen.
His hair went all the way up, like that.
With a quiff
I thought, that's a bit poncy, even then.
I wanted to have hair
like Roger Moore.
I used to try and get
my hair to look like Roger's.
Good looks, humour
and kindness.
We were starting with
a scene that was quite wordy.
The director calls "right, action".
Mr Williams, I heard
about Owen Thomas.
And I do a part of the scene.
I saw the light of
the search party from the house.
Suddenly he starts screaming.
"Cut! Cut! No! We'll have to do it again!"
I'm sort of like this, you know.
And I'm standing waiting for the cue
and I feel a hand on my hand, holding it.
And I look up and there's Roger
looking at me, and he said.
"Don't let him worry you.
He does this all the time."
And then he walked just very nicely
very quietly down to the director.
Had a few words.
I never had any trouble again
throughout the entire episode.
Thanks for rescuing me
in there, Mr... er?
Templar, Simon Templar.
It was a pleasure.
That put him on the map,
that put him in all our hearts.
Once Roger found Roger in life,
Roger became Roger
and embellished Roger, which is
a great talent unto itself.
You know, I think to some
degree, actor or not
we all invent ourselves.
You know, we decide somewhere,
probably very young
who we'd like to be,
who we imagine ourselves as.
You know, becoming
the hero of our own story.
The Saint
was sold to over 60 countries
around the world
reaped more than? 350 million in profit.
Roger Moore's there
to make the presentation.
and made me a household name
from Bogota to Bognor Regis.
I used to drive my grandmother crazy
because she would take me to the park
and there would be like
the swings and the slides
and everything like that, and she said
that I was the most
embarrassing grandchild
because I'd get on the top of
the slide and go.
"My daddy's famous!
My daddy's The Saint!"
I'd say that Roger
Moore never had it so good.
What is the attraction behind playing in
these long-running series?
Money.
The Saint had
made me both rich and famous
I had two wonderful children,
a beautiful home
and a woman who, shall we say,
put the lead in my pencil.
But for nine years.
Dot's refusal to sign
on the, uh, dotted line
and give me a divorce
cast a pretty dark shadow
over my success.
I always felt
that she put him where he was.
He wasn't anything before her,
and he was after her.
She never got over him. Ever.
Never got over him.
Look, this is when he loved me, actually.
It became
an obsession, I suppose.
Sadly, Dot's efforts to hold on to me
became increasingly desperate.
And that, this is the jacket.
It was really bad
She did everything she could.
She was determined, you're
not going to get away from me.
No way.
I remember
one time I was staying
with my grandparents,
and my mother got a phone call.
She thinks it was Dorothy or somebody
with Dorothy,
saying that I'd been kidnapped.
She got into the litigation
Roger Moore and Luisa
were at some gala on TV
and Kenneth More was the MC.
Now, Roger and Luisa Moore.
And he introduced
them as "Mr and Mrs Moore".
"You said that was Mrs Moore,
no, I'm Mrs Moore!
That's Luisa Mattioli, it's not Mrs Moore."
So she sued him She sued everybody!
Twenty court cases, that's
how she lost a lot of money.
The 11th of April 1969.
Finally, after nine long years.
Dot agreed to a divorce.
Luisa and I were married at Caxton Hall.
It was meant to be a small ceremony
but 600 people came to watch.
She hardly spoke English
but she was so beautiful and funny.
We did lots of family
pictures and group pictures.
One of her favourite remarks
when we're all sitting there is.
"Oh, try to look pretty!"
Luisa was enchanting.
She would ring me
sometimes and she'd go, "Allo
I wanna speak-a Nanette-a".
And I'd say, "Oh, hello, Luisa."
And she'd say, "'Ow you know it's-a me?"
And I'd say "Because nobody else
speaks English like you, Luisa!"
"'Ow you know it's-a me?!"
It was a restaurant
called the White Elephant
where everybody congregated.
And then this beautiful girl
comes in with the hot pants.
Little velvet hot pants.
You know, even as a woman,
it was really extraordinary.
And Luisa goes to Roger
and slaps him across the face.
And he said, "What's that for?"
And she said, "Just-a in-a case!"
True story!
We formed a club.
It was Roger's idea
Michael Caine and his wife Shakira
Leslie Bricusse, the brilliant
songwriter and his wife Evie
Brian and me, and Roger and Luisa.
We would just get together
and we called ourselves
the See You Next Tuesday Club
Roger loved it.
And we loved it!
Now that there are so many years
you are Simon Templar,
do you still like this man?
He's kept me in good clothes
good food, good company.
Of course I like him!
Simon Templar
had given me confidence
and class.
My South London upbringing
was by now a distant memory.
Oh, Your Starkness, you're so bright.
Your carriage awaits.
So playing an English lord
in The Persuaders.
It's got a hat
wasn't too big a stretch.
Let me carry your train for you, sir
Daniel, you really do bring
a fresh meaning
to the word peasant.
Your Dukeship, anything!
I shared top billing with
Hollywood legend Tony Curtis
who played Danny Wilde,
a Brooklyn kid made good.
Roger was perfect.
See, Roger had this attitude of
an English lord, Lord Sinclair.
You know?
He already was the Lord Sinclair
because he'd been in movies,
handsome Englishman.
"Thank you very much."
The show was built
around beautiful women
fast cars, and glamorous locations.
I got a call from Roger.
"Joanie, I want you to come
to the South of France
to do The Persuaders
with me and Tony Curtis."
I said, "Oh, wow That sounds great."
He said, "Well, we'll
put you up in a hotel."
I thought, "Well, this is nice."
It's a hard
life being an actor, isn't it?
Why don't you switch that thing off?
I think I'll switch that thing off.
I was a photographer
I was very bohemian.
Somewhat avant-garde.
You may kiss me.
Kissing Roger was fine.
Kissing Tony was like kissing an ashtray.
Mmm!
Is this an excuse me
or can we all join in?
Sorry.
Mmm, I like it! I like it!
It was The Persuaders
that added the final piece of
the jigsaw to my repertoire
something that would
become my trademark.
You must forgive him.
His early life was influenced
rather heavily
by Rudolph Valentino.
A soupcon of tongue-in-cheek humour.
There's no need to kneel,
I'm a very democratic lord.
With Lord Brett Sinclair
I had become an upper-class
gentleman, literally
I'd gone from a one-room flat
in South London
to a mansion in Buckinghamshire.
Maybe growing up and
having to provide for a family
was the making of Roger Moore.
All these TV roles, Ivanhoe,
The Saint, The Persuaders
had me playing the hero,
saving damsels in distress.
From them, I had put together the voice
the charm, a modicum of comic timing
and the ability
to look half decent in a suit.
And... out of one.
All I needed to make my life complete
was to get back on the big screen.
And then, one day
the call I'd been waiting for.
PICKS UP PHONE ...finally came.
The three last digits were 007.
Double-O seven.
And he answered the phone with
"007?" Cos that's what you do.
And the voice said,
"That you are, Roger."
He must have played it down,
"Oh great, that's wonderful."
"Luisa!" HE CHUCKLES.
We had a drink, he said,
"I've got some great news
I've got some great news."
Chin, chin!
Everybody was thrilled
and we toasted the new 007.
I said, "Can I be a Bond girl?"
Roger Moore is an amazing man
because he seems to be
a very humble, human guy
who lets it all sort of, hang out.
You're talking about all of us!
LAUGHTER - No, I'm not.
He now, as you all know,
is the new James Bond
and is going to be, if not already
an enormous major motion picture star.
Following my speedboat crash,
I was carted off to the clinic
where the doctor gave me the good news
that my leg wasn't broken
and my wife Luisa gave me the
most un-James-Bond-like news
that I'd made a mess of my underwear.
The speed boat incident
did nothing to calm the nerves.
Not mine, and certainly
not that of my bosses.
Harry Saltzman and Cubby Broccoli.
I do remember when they
brought me out to New Orleans
I don't know that he was nervous
but they were nervous about him.
The studio bosses
wanted a big American name.
Paul Newman or Steve McQueen.
But Cubby and Harr fought
for yours truly
and I was forever grateful.
Everyone was nervous about
anyone replacing "the" Bond
who was Sean.
Connery just took
the world by storm.
You know, Bond.
A martini, shaken not stirred.
And Roger had to pick up that mantle.
Very demanding, because
Connery had made
such an indelible impression
Sean had established the role
and was a diamond in the rough.
And Roger was a well-honed diamond.
He had this charm about him.
He had a casualness that seemed
to go with the times.
Such a delicate touch.
Sheer magnetism, darling.
When I met him, the first thing
he was trying to do
was make sure he could shoot this
silver magnum thing without
going like that every time.
Every time, he went like that.
He definitely had a problem and it was
not looking Bond-like
to go "brr!" every time.
And then came the line
that would determine whether
I would succeed or fail.
I had practised it over and over
but no matter how many times I said it
in my head,
I always heard the same thing.
I was terrified I would open my mouth
and out would come.
My name is Bond. James Bond.
LAUGHTER - And I mustn't do that.
The first proper scene
I remember doing with him
you know, the first time
he says, "I'm Bond, James Bond"
I was terrified.
It was scary SHE LAUGHS.
Oh.
Alright.
What's my name?
The name's Bond
James Bond.
My name's Bond
James Bond.
Yes, it's a big, big name to say.
"The weather turned
suddenly colder today."
But the chill in the air warmed
under the sunny smile of
Gloria Hendry
whose entry into
the French Quarter Inn courtyard
"was straight out of a Bond movie."
Would you believe that?
"The overall effect is: Wow!"
That's a compliment!
So here we are on the set.
Guy said to me, "Stay out of the sun!"
Because my God, it was burning up!
And I'm on top of him.
So the night before.
I had a lot of garlic.
Oh, James!
He said, "You're lucky my wife is Italian!"
This was one of the first major films
that had an interracial relationship.
It was quite a remarkable thing
for the time.
I couldn't believe my luck.
Glorious Gloria,
and sensational Seymour.
He was just incredibly helpful
to me as a young actress.
I remember when we did
the love scene and
the famous "deflowering" love scene.
I just need a little bit
of information, that's all.
The eyebrow
was the hugest issue.
Every time his eyebrow
went up, they went, "Cut!
Roger! The eyebrow!"
I've lost it.
They thought that he could choose
to do it or not do it, but he couldn't.
That's just how he'd be,
that was his thing.
Ah yes, my eyebrow.
Some say I built a career on it.
The very singular ability
to manipulate his left eyebrow.
The eyebrow would go "bzz!"
That was... how can he do
just the one eyebrow?
That furry little fella seduced the world.
And so did I.
We wrapped filming on Live and Let Die
and all I could do was wait and hope.
Wait to see what the critics
would make of my Bond.
And hope?
Well, hope the buggers liked it!
What about the Bond reviews now?
Are you ready for that?
I'll tell you, I think
the good critics in America
are the ones who liked it.
It's just that you have
to go through the envy barrier.
They will try to destroy you
because they also feel
that they made you.
Well, you see, they don't
decide who becomes a star
the people decide who becomes a star.
Oh, that's very good.
It's a good thing
it's the people who decide
because the critics were not impressed.
It's Live and Let Die.
Roger Moore is James Bond, 007.
Our
box office, on the other hand
was in rude health.
It's Live and Let Die.
We were off to the races!
Ladies and gentlemen, Roger Moore!
The success of Live and Let Die meant
I was very much in demand
on the chat show circuit
Roger Moore.
This was where
the "Roger Moore" character
I built so carefully could really shine.
You seem perfect.
Are you proposing or something?
No, nothing like that.
I... I... you just seem perfect.
He had it all, I would say.
He seemed to really, really enjoy it.
To make movies and be famous.
He said, "I was one lucky bastard."
This, of course, consequently
causes a great number of women
to be attracted to you
all over the place
which as everyone knows can become.
All over which place?
The entire globe.
Which means that
this can become tiresome
and present problems to you
as these ladies lay in waiting for you
outside your hotel room door
and other places too numerous
to mention.
Is this a monologue?
LAUGHTER - Oh, uh.
The combination of
his looks and his personality
and his pleasantness and his humour
and the fact that he liked me.
I'm trying to get to the question
- and I can't...
- He's not reading it either!
How do you handle all these women?
My wife looks after it for me
She's, uh, she's Italian.
- Your wife's Italian?
- Yeah.
Ah. Then you have no problem at all
I have no problem whatsoever Ooh!
Was hardly worth
that long question, was it?
LAUGHTER - He was very amusing.
Pleasing as a personality.
He was just the perfect talk show guest.
He was a laugh
I mean, there's a thing I remember
Michael Caine said about him.
If he hadn't been so good-looking
they'd have let him be a comedian.
Is there anyone in England
that's got that kind of zany
nutty, marvellous kind of humour?
No, no Not since I left.
Naughty sense of humour.
Really naughty.
He'd start telling a story
and everybody would go.
"Oh, Roger, stop it, for God's sake."
I always wanted to be a comic.
The reason
I wanted to be a comic was that
when I did drama, everybody laughed
so I thought, "Well, I'm a comedian."
When I kill, I kill for Queen and country.
When I kill, I kill for Queen and country.
When I kill, I kill for Queen and country.
Though I admit,
killing you would be a pleasure.
Alright, enough larking about.
Back to the day job.
The Man with the Golden Gun
began filming in Thailand.
There was a lot riding on it.
Despite the box office success
of Live and Let Die
plenty of fans were still pining for Sean.
They said I was too light.
I've always been a lover, not a fighter.
Director Guy Hamilton, however
wanted me ruthless.
Ow, you're hurting my arm!
I'll break it unless you tell me
where those bullets go.
It didn't sit easily with me
I wanted my Bond to be
a bit of a romantic.
Naturally, I suggested
bedding Maud Adams
to extract the information
but Guy was insistent I toughen up.
You see what you can do when you try?
Where did you get the reputation
for being such a male chauvinist pig?
LAUGHTER - Uh.
Somebody had that impression of you.
- Through playing Bond.
- I suppose that would be it.
I said where?
Playing Bond, yes, you get
accused of male chauvinism.
And I could see why.
This trailer is practically
an advert for male chauvinism.
James Bond, on the job.
The girls are willing.
In December 1974.
The Man with the Golden Gun
hit the cinemas.
And the reviews weren't exactly glowing.
The New York Times called me
a "vast garden ornament".
The box office wasn't quite
what we expected either.
Terrifyingly, for my bank balance
I may have to go back to working in TV.
The Man with the Golden Gun
isn't a financial success
so suddenly, it all started to look messy.
Can we talk about the knocks?
People all said, "Oh, well,
Roger Moore is not
my idea of 007
and it's all a great failure."
I mean, do you mind
that kind of hammering?
It is always nice to get a good notice.
- You know, its lovely.
- You like a good notice?
Well, of course you do,
but you don't take any notice
if they're bad.
And so by the same token
I shouldn't take any notice
of the good ones.
Not that there are many, but still!
March 1976.
Pinewood Studios.
The Spy Who Loved Me
goes into production.
After my last Bond,
and the harsh reviews.
I found my own way
to deal with questions
about my acting ability.
Have you ever forgiven the critic
who called you a lump
of English roast beef?
Yup - Can you find it in your heart?
Oh sure, I can
I know where I'd like
to stick the mustard too.
You're very self-deprecating
about your acting.
- Is that defensive?
- Yes, it's defensive
I always try to say it
before anybody else does.
But if you didn't say it,
perhaps nobody else would?
I'd never thought of that
Maybe I started the wrong way!
He was so self-deprecating
that people joined in.
But actually, you know,
he was a very fine actor.
Why do you always put yourself down?
Well, I've stopped doing that - You have?
No I now say I'm marvellous.
You do?
That's alright. What caused
the change of heart?
The critics started believing me.
Yeah, he was modest.
He was maybe even, uh, shy.
You know, he was so handsome
that you forgot what a good actor he was.
He was never enormously confident.
But he could give the impression
of being confident.
The audience doesn't
have to know what you're doing.
They just have to know
that you know what you're doing.
He was an actor
and a movie star.
And I think often movie stars
people don't give them
the credit for the acting chops
because they're so magnetic on screen
that they think,
well, that's just who they are.
Oh, did you want me to go up?
I thought I had to go down?
Alright, one more straight away, let's go!
I'd wrestled
with the question of
how to become James Bond,
with limited success.
In the end, the answer was so simple.
Stop trying to turn
Roger Moore into James Bond.
Turn James Bond
into Roger Moore.
Hope you enjoyed the show.
Goodnight.
He knew how to play Roger Moore
and that's a gift That's a real, real gift.
If there's anything you would like?
Anything at all?
Well, I had lunch but.
I seem to have missed dessert.
He said, "I had my stride."
I always remember that
"I had my stride with that."
It's just great entertainment.
It was shocking just
how much fun Jaws and I had
in this, ahem, electrifying scene.
The Spy Who Loved Me
couldn't be more different
to Live and Let Die
and Man with the Golden Gun.
We're now in quite
a different world in a way
a world where you can have
an underwater base, and a world
where you can have a sports car
that turns into a submarine.
As you can see, it is noisy and, uh
it is cold.
Ready, action!
The whole crew couldn't wait
to get to work in the morning.
He was so entertaining,
we almost used to have to allow
half an hour a day for the jokes
and the fun that used to go on.
People have to be
willing to have a joke.
And then it is fun, as you said
before, an experience.
It's raining on this set.
You see, this is what I mean
by being able to take a joke.
I will go down and kill them in a second.
Thank you very much, fellas!
And I love him
in his naval outfit.
He looks incredible.
Your time's running out, Stromberg.
The worst thing that happened
to me on The Spy Who Loved Me
was the sequence,
if you remember, where I.
My final confrontation
with Curd Jurgens, Stromberg.
Well, unfortunately, the chair
blew up before I got out of it.
And that did quite a lot
of damage to my rear end.
And he leapt in the air
with his backside on fire
and ran round the set.
Anyway, Roger had to have.
Vaseline dressings for two weeks.
And afterwards he said
"I have got two holes
where most people have one!"
It's the biggest.
Despite the damage
to my perfect posterior
the marketing team remained
confident of my sex appeal.
We get that extra push
especially where
the women are concerned
because they're less interested in
the action aspects of the film.
When you talk to them,
they're more interested in Roger
and sublimating themselves into the role
of whatever woman he's making love to.
Can I have that trim, John?
Editor and 2nd unit director John Glen
was hard at work in the edit suite
cutting the opening sequence.
It promised to be something...
rather special.
Tell you what would help it -
if you were just a touch longer.
Yep. OK.
I directed the pre-title sequence
I found myself in Mount Asgard
on the Canadian Arctic.
Three weeks it took us
to get this shot, this one shot.
It was Roger's favourite action scene.
He just loved it.
And he's falling and falling
and falling, and this
and it's silence.
I remember watching that
you know, it's one of the most
famous bits in cinema, isn't it?
Parachute opens - doof!
When that Union Jack came up...
oh, boy.
Everyone goes bananas.
The movie had only been going
for like five or ten minutes.
Standing ovation.
The reaction was incredible.
A day I never thought I'd see
but the reviews came in,
and would you believe it
they were positive.
It is a fantastically entertaining movie.
You've got a performance in Roger's
that he knows he's there
to give you a great time.
If The Spy Who Loved Me hadn't worked
it would have been very, very difficult
I think, for the franchise.
There was Roger
coming down the mountain.
Of course he saved the franchise.
But, James, I need you!
So does England.
In reality,
I had little in common with 007.
Except perhaps a taste for the high life
exotic locations, fancy cars
and a nice pair of, ahem, gadgets.
These time-shifting devices.
The portable VCR machine
and home movie camera.
Gadgets
He loved his gadgets.
Especially the home video camera
the huge five-kilo box
you'd have to carry around
with the battery pack.
Recording life, such a novelty.
You know, certainly from his childhood
where none of that existed.
OK, more tapes.
Alright, what's your name?
Christian Moore
Christian Moore, what a horror you are.
And there is Geoffrey.
This must be about 40 tapes.
He liked to record, you know,
what was going on
and "here we are,
look how beautiful it is"
and Roger narrating.
Right now, we're
going to have impersonations.
Oh, hi!
Who is it? Oh, Roger!
Ah! Deborah!
Oh, Roger, come on, who wants
to do all these little things?
"Your father is-a pushing you too far
- "you will come to realise..."
- Pushing you to fart?
LAUGHTER - Pushing you too far!
You could see more of
the funny, humorous side of him
I trust I'm in focus, Luisa
because I get very upset
if I'm not in focus.
Ah, mucking about Great memories.
There's a lot of South of France
home footage.
- Geoffrey dug all this up, right?
- Yes.
No, I haven't seen it.
The car does not wanna work.
Can you come and look at it, please?
Please, look at the car!
Stefanie Powers.
Do you wanna get a close-up on that?
I'm moving in for a close-up.
You wanna get a close-up on that?
Oh, Stefanie!
Oh, and spin on it.
Just spin on that one!
They had so much fun
I mean fun, silly fun.
Laughter.
And it was a magical time of the year.
It's like a dream.
Hi, darling!
OK, Valentino, Portofino.
Olivia Newton John,
yeah, that's probably here.
We're really shy!
It kind of hit me
that we were surrounded by fame.
But for us, they were just their friends.
It wasn't, "Oh, he's famous."
You know what I mean?
Ah,
there's my favourite Bond Girl.
Maud Adams.
And how's this for a shot
straight out of the Bond playbook?
Eat your heart out, Cubby Broccoli!
Go, Maud!
All his friends
would come round.
Growing up, seeing his friends on TV
I thought that's what people did.
They were in this little box,
and they'd come round.
Chopper is arriving in five minutes.
The chopper's
arriving in five minutes.
Oh, is this Roger
with his camera?
The noise!
Oh, God.
I mean, to land on
a tennis court is really brave.
Who the hell is it?
Oh!
Oh, oh, oh.
This is Elton.
This is Elton arriving.
Extraordinary.
There's Joan.
That's lovely.
Is this with sound?
With sound?
Of course it's got sound
Roger never changed
from the time I met him.
He was always charming, funny
full of joie de vivre, telling jokes.
Now, it's quite
amazing, the flora that you find
- on the hills of St Paul.
- I haven't got my costume.
Gorilla costume HE LAUGHS.
It's just lovely
to remember that day, you know.
Extraordinary.
What would Al Pacino say?
Walking back in time.
Enough of that.
I haven't seen this, this
is like, super-duper emotional.
Luisa, I'm waiting for you
to say, "You look beautiful."
I can't work until I'm told I look lovely.
And here we are,
on the boat of Valentino.
Life turned out pretty well
I had nice houses, dotted around
some lovely parts of the world
I had fancy cars and luxury yachts
and good friends
who happened to be famous.
But, um... well, no, there is no but
I just had a really good life.
ROGER Tracking shots.
Look at them Crumpets, the pair of them.
- How much?
- How much?
It was a very surreal childhood
I knew he was somebody important.
A lot of people that I would
recognise from film, coming in.
And at the age I was,
I didn't like attention.
I became very shy.
Well, it's a very nice
static picture, you know.
Oh, this is not, this is a moving picture!
You know, I see pictures of myself
always hiding
behind my mother or my father.
When I first
realised how famous he was
cos he came to pick me up at school
all these kids were coming out
you know, around the car and stuff
and that's when I realised,
you know, they knew who he was.
And I didn't want anyone to know
cos I thought I was, you know,
the son of James Bond
and I looked like a doughnut.
I thought it would be better to blend in.
For me, fame was a choice.
But there came a time when I felt
my children deserved
a more normal upbringing.
So, reluctantly, we left England.
And, er, there were
some tax benefits as well.
Ahem.
To the left here, Peter Sellers' house.
That one up there. Do you
see it? It's a cool house.
He was one of the first guys here.
Him, Niven, and obviously Rog.
And then Burton
I mean, that was the Rat Pack here.
And Julie Andrews' house
is where the train is, it's
basically above those trees
I mean, it's all very nonchalant
when you talk about these people
but you know, these are family friends
and they're all in a make-believe world.
Y'know, they're getting
paid to make believe, so
they didn't take
themselves very seriously.
What is the
great attraction, do you think
for celebrities? Do they come
here to get away from it all?
Well, we come up here
because there's no such thing
as microphones and television cameras!
A lot of stars like Switzerland,
and like to live in Switzerland
cos the locals, they don't bother them.
He loved it on the mountain,
he was happy.
Despite my fabulous
skiing exploits on screen
I couldn't actually ski.
In my 50s, I decided to learn.
Thanks to my wonderful instructors
I found swooping down
the piste to be fairly easy.
It was, uh, stopping I had a problem with.
We meant to stop here.
And what happened?
Roger panicked.
What happened, he went, went, went
the worst thing was that
the metal edges of the skis
on the concrete were sparking!
Sparking like you wouldn't
imagine, like in a film.
He flew through the terrace,
kicked a table, kicked a table
kicked another, and we ended up here
like an ostrich,
with a head plant, on the table.
And then Roger stands up.
"Madam!
A pleasure to make your acquaintance."
Well, that was wonderful, Vijay.
For six more years
and a further four films
I played the part, on and off screen
Roger Moore
007 for the fifth time and fit as a fiddle.
How do you do it, dare I ask?
I play the fiddle!
The trailer for my final Bond film
introduced Christopher Walken
as my enemy.
This man has a secret ambition!
I propose to end the domination
of Silicon Valley.
In real life,
we became great chums
100 million dollars
I was a big Bond fan.
So the idea of being
a villain was very attractive
Max Zorin is a genetically
altered human being.
He drives a blimp, you know?
You know, who do you know who
and he drives it himself,
you know, with the switches.
Pick you up in my blimp!
Action, Chris!
Physically, they're hard work.
You're in every scene
and the schedule is
usually about six months.
And that means every day
from the crack of dawn.
So they're long hours.
It was a long shoot.
We were about to break for Christmas.
And he said to me on set one day.
"What are you doing for the holidays?"
And I said "Well, I guess I'm just gonna
sit in my apartment."
And he said, "Well, no, you come
to my house in Switzerland."
So I did.
He was very much
the Roger that you saw on film.
You know,
he was funny, he was charming
he was handsome, he dressed well
Chris, come this side.
Yeah, very much the same guy.
He had a nice life.
Alas, old age
catches up with all of us in the end.
I think it was the moment
one of my leading ladies told me
I reminded her of her father
that I decided it was time
to hang up the Walther PPK.
He was getting too old.
Simple.
You know, I mean, he looked pretty good
but he was sort of knocking 60
and I think he was right
to quit when he did.
I wanted to find a way
to put my fame to good use.
Audrey Hepburn,
who was a UNICEF ambassador
and a neighbour of mine in Switzerland
suggested I too become an ambassador.
Upside: A chance to do something good.
Downside: Not a martini in sight.
I was exceedingly grateful to Audrey
for having steered me
in the right direction.
In 1991, my life, in a strange way
began to mirror that of
my most famous character.
I was sent to far-flung
locations and war zones
but this time,
I had a licence to help people.
I'm so violently opposed
to the use of weapons and mines
that I didn't like that image of me
going around the world,
holding the Walther PPK.
And it's.
It appears rather heroic, and it's not.
I had changed and
how I lived my life had changed.
By 1993, the children had flown the nest.
Luisa and I had
been together for 30 years
but that relationship was also changing.
She was quite tough, Luisa.
And she used to get
very angry with him, a lot.
A lot.
She did turn a
little bit unkindly towards him.
And she'd humiliate him at the table
I don't know why she did that.
It's tough because
a lot of women would
throw themselves over him so.
It's a tough, tough role.
You know, she really
had to put up with a lot.
When they were living in Gstaad,
I went to stay with them.
I said, "Where's the bedroom?"
And Luisa said, "This is my room"
and it was a big, lovely bedroom.
And Roger said, "Come and see mine."
And so, under the stairs
there was this little kind of cubby hole.
And he said, "This is where I sleep."
And I didn't want to ask
the obvious question:
how's the marriage going?
Uh.
You know, I think it was
when he got slightly older.
Yeah, they sort of drifted apart
and that made my mother very
very upset, very angry.
She could tell that something
wasn't right, and I think
by that point he'd, you know,
already met Kristina.
Kristina
was a friend of Luisa's.
She was calm and empathetic
and as the distance
between Luisa and me grew.
Kristina and I became closer.
She was such
a different person to my wife.
They just had spent 30 years together
and I think it was time for him
to move on with his life and be happy.
My mother knew about it when she
opened the newspapers
and there it was:
"The new woman in Roger Moore's life."
Phone call from my old man saying.
"Kid, listen, it's just
made news that I'm leaving."
OK
"You'd better go see your mother."
The paparazzi would only come
round when there was a scandal.
They were outside the flat.
I go to open the door,
I open the door and it's like.
It's out there before you know it.
Ugh... I found out from co-workers.
It was in the papers
and someone threw it down.
Some people
may have disapproved of Kristina
or Kiki as I called her
but she was a big support to me
and came on many of my UNICEF trips.
Sir Roger Moore,
for services to charity.
Arise, Sir Rog!
Being knighted meant a lot to me
all the more so because
it wasn't for services
to entertainment,
but for my charitable work.
Luckily, I didn't have to wear tights.
There we are.
In my later years, I found peace.
I was very happy with Kiki.
Of course, like many in old age,
I had some health issues.
Spending the last
few weeks in hospital with him
I had asked him if he was
frightened and he said no.
That he enjoyed every minute of his life
I don't think he found regret in anything.
The doctor said,
"I'm really sorry but
I don't think he's got long to live."
We went into the room
and he said, "Right!
I don't want bad news
I just want the good news."
So we just put on a brave face
and pretended everything was
going to be alright, you know?
And
and it wasn't.
I just sat and talked to him for a while.
Held his hand and stuff.
It slowly sunk in.
And I struggled because
we always had a phone call
we always spoke, every day at 11 o'clock.
It took a while for me
not to press the button.
"It's 11 o'clock,
shit, I've gotta call Roger."
He's no longer here.
How will
Roger Moore be remembered?
Well, I made
over 60 movies in my career
but most people only
ever wanted to talk about seven.
When someone else became Bond,
I enjoyed a new kind of fame
as "Roger Moore, national treasure".
It is a huge honour to be
entrusted by his family
to hold this very special sale today
?32,000
?35,000
?38,000
?40,000
Why anybody would
want this stuff is beyond me.
But oh, well I'm glad they do.
Going once at? 50,000.
At least some of this money
will go to charity.
You're a brilliant bidder, thank you.
There at? 55,000.
Sixty it is, ?60,000.
Sold!? 60,000, there we are!
It's my dad, it's our father
I don't think you really fathom
who he was until after death.
And we're all looking for Roger tonight.
He's here in spirit.
Allow me to raise a glass
and an eyebrow one last time.
A toast!
To those who shared the journey with me.
He never forgot me
I never forgot him
to those who made me what I was.
Before she died, the phone goes,
and it was Roger on the phone.
He said, "Take Dorothy's hand.
Squeeze it, and say
Roger's thinking of her."
She smiled, and she died
and to my dear friends
with whom I laughed and loved.
Oh, there. Right down
the cakehole, there it goes.
I miss him.
I suppose that's what this is about.
A chance to tell him,
you know, I never saw him again.
Everyone will miss Roger,
but the memories
of what he brought us far outweighs that
Roger was timeless.
All that is left is to send my love
to Doorn.
Dot.
Luisa
and Kiki.
Of course he was married four times.
He was Roger Moore!
You know?
He had to let other people have
a turn to be married to him!
But you know, who wouldn't?
Who wouldn't?
I'd have liked to have slept
with Roger Moore!
My mum would've liked to have
slept with Roger Moore!
We'd all like to have slept
with Roger Moore!
Yeah. Roger Moore.
What a guy.
A man becomes what he dreams.
He dreamt well.
Did I save the world?
Not really.
But I put a smile on people's faces
did my bit, then buggered off.
Always leave them wanting more.
Roger Moore