146 replies to this topic

[0024]

Knew this day would eventually arrive.  Roger, old friend, goodbye.  It is with utter sadness.  He will be missed.  I know I will be watching a Rog-Bond tonight.  Lucky to have met him once.

[the other fellow]

R.I.P Sir Roger

 

Words can not express my sadness

 

Condolences to family and friends

[The Dove]

Sir Roger was my introduction to the world of James Bond when I saw him in my first Bond film, A View To A Kill.. What a sauve and sophisticated 007 and in real life, such a charming and delightful gentleman. I also commend his tremendous work with UNICEF and it has been a delight of mine to have been able to follow him on Twitter the last few years. R.I.P Sir Roger, Nobody Did It Better than you and Thank you for all the great memories! You will be missed but NEVER forgotten!

[TheREAL008]

I admit to liking Sir Roger's portrayal of Simon Templar more than James Bond. As Connery is pretty much my favorite actor I had alittle disdain for Roger replacing him...yet I'm very glad he did. Roger Moore brought something to Bond that will either be imitated or we'll never see again. I admire and respect the man for his dedication to his works and for the warmness of his heart. And although I woke up reading this not wanting it to be true, I choose to celebrate a very long life filled with success, happiness, and love.

Farewell Sir Roger.  Rest In Pace.

[S K Y F A L L]

RIP Sir Roger Moore. You will be deeply missed. 

[hcmv007]

RIP Roger Moore. He brought a different style to Bond, making it his own and not imitating Connery. I loved the humor he brought to the role, the nod during the car chases, the perfect one liner, etc.

As a person he was better. A longtime spokesman for UNICEF and a very charitable person. He was a proud father, husband and someone who was very generous to struggling actors & actresses offering advice, stories and relating his personal experiences as an actor. Thanks for the memories, and prayers to your family.

[MISALA1994]

RIP

[saint mark]

The best and the greatest of the 00 section is gone, may he rest in peace.

[Navy007Fan]

RIP, sir.  Fond memories of watching Moonraker and Octopussy in the threater as well as his earlier films on ABC-TV while growing up.

[deth]

RIP Sir Roger.

 

Completely gutted. This has hit me harder than the passing of some family members. Perhaps it's because Moore's charm and charisma was such that he made you feel as if you did in fact know him - that the joke was just between the two of you. A real inspiration in more ways than one.

 

He will be missed.

 

 

As an aside, it's hard to believe we've lost our first Bond. One sort of imagines them as immortal (and they are in a sense).

[David_M]

Kudos to Helmut for the brilliant piece on the front page of this site.

 

Nothing I can say here could adequately express how much joy Roger Moore's work has brought to me my entire conscious life.  Suffice to say this day sucks just as much as I always knew it would.  I'll continue to relive all the great moments he gave us on film until my own number is called, but now they'll take on a bittersweet edge.

 

It's occurred to me more than once, participating on these boards, that Roger was the only Bond actor I ever referred to by first name, while all the others I call by their last.  Sometimes I paused and thought maybe that was disrespectful, but then I would decide no, it was a complement, a sign of the affection he alone had earned.  

 

Anyway, it's a good thing Sir Roger got in plenty of practice wearing that halo, because it's sure to be blazing away now, this time to stay.  Today I choose to cherish the line in "Vendetta For the Saint" when the dying mafia don tells the captured and scheduled for execution Simon Templar, "We will not meet again"  and Roger answers "I know," glancing upward with a twinkle and wry smile, "I'm going THAT way."

 

Godspeed, dear Rog.  And thank you.

[Dustin]

Kudos to Helmut for the brilliant piece on the front page of this site.

Thank you very much, kind sir.

[Bryce (003)]

Solid gut punch just up and to the left a bit... Right over my heart.

 

A great Bond and a finer man.

 

He was the spy who loved us... His fans.

 

Truest condolences to his family.  

 

I'm going to need a few days for this.

Indeed. Well done. Thanks.

[Carver]

Well isn't today just a rubbish day?

 

I think we all knew the day would come when the first of the Bonds passed away, although knowing the inevitable doesn't make it any harder to take. I wasn't lucky enough to meet Sir Roger, but reading all the stories (here and elsewhere), seeing how he presented himself in interviews and in the media in general, it is without doubt that he was a true gentleman. A deserving knight of the realm. A suave and sophisticated man of England.

 

Sir Roger Moore, you were and are, James Bond, for so many of us. Rest In Peace.

[clavinbot]

Rip to Roger, one of my favorites if not my favorite bond, absolutely perfect for fun films. I'm not a fan of the current James bond ever since the reboot, but Roger and all the bonds from before this current era have a very special place for me, forever.

[K1Bond007]

Damn. :(

 

He wasn't my favorite James Bond, but I genuinely believed he was a good and wonderful man for his dedication to helping others.This is a huge blow, not just to James Bond fans, but also to so many around the world. Truly, a sad day.

[Yellow Pinky]

Roger leaves behind an indelible legacy, not only on our favorite film franchise but to popular culture.  He set a standard in class and character in real life that will continue to inspire and enrich.  Rest in peace, Mr. Bond.  We are all better for having known you.

Edited by Yellow Pinky, 23 May 2017 - 07:01 PM.

[George Kaplan]

I doubt I can add much to the thoughts above.  Rest in Peace.  Thoughts and prayers with his family and friends.

 

Some of my earliest memories are watching Saint re-runs with my parents or LaLD or MwtGG with same.  It was nice when I grew up to find out, through interviews, his work with UNICEF, etc, that he was a genuinely good guy.

[marktmurphy]

Very sad: a talented, charming, funny and heroic man for all work to help others.

 

This story posted on Twitter is rather magnificent:

https://twitter.com/...036448037511169

[Gay Bond]

Have any of the other Bond actors spoken to the media yet? Just wondering, because if any of them had died, I'm pretty sure Rog would have been among the first on the line paying tribute to them. 

 

And jst to add my thanks for your front page piece Helmut. Well written and nicely judged. Made me well up when I reached the end.

[New Digs]

 

 

He was the spy who loved us... His fans.

 

 

 

 

Yes indeed, and that's why we loved him.

 

Had the privilege of seeing his last stage show in November 2016 in London. Lovely man, terrific actor true gent and will be much missed. 

[marktmurphy]

 

 

 

He was the spy who loved us... His fans.

 

 

 

 

Yes indeed, and that's why we loved him.

 

Had the privilege of seeing his last stage show in November 2016 in London. Lovely man, terrific actor true gent and will be much missed. 

 

 

 

How was he? On good form?

[Dr. Tynan]

Terrible news. 

 

Rest in peace. 

 

I was at one of his stage shows.

[Mr. Somerset]

I am quite gutted by this. To me this feels like losing a beloved family member. As he was the Bond of my generation, his films were the first I saw as a kid. This will take time to process.

[DLibrasnow]

So terribly sad. I feel a great sense of loss.

Sir Roger has always been one of my favorite actors, and not just for the Bond movies but movies such as "The Wild Geese", "North Sea Hijack" (aka Ffolkes) and "The Sea Wolves" I grew up with Sir Roger as the reigning James Bond. He WAS James Bond.

I remember meeting Sir Roger at a book signing (of his autobiography) in New York City. The bookstore was packed and the bookseller said that his appearance had beaten the store record set by Bill Clinton a few months prior. It was obvious from all the excitement that the public had a great fondness for him. I shook his hand and thanked him for his UNICEF work.

Thank you for everything Sir Roger - I will miss you.

[Major Tallon]

No doubt all of us who follow the world of James Bond will mourn the passing of Sir Roger Moore.  RIP, sir.  We will miss you.

[Revelator]

Very sad: a talented, charming, funny and heroic man for all work to help others.

 

This story posted on Twitter is rather magnificent:

https://twitter.com/...036448037511169

 

Yes, it shows what a sweet man Roger was. Here's a non-twitter version with some follow-up: http://b3ta.com/blog...-you-feel-good/

 

I grew up watching Roger's Bond on VHS, and he'll always have a place in my heart. There's a documentary on Roger included with the Blu-Ray of Gold, one of his best non-Bond films (it was directed by Peter Hunt). In it you can see David Niven's son praise Moore as his father's heir and an underrated player of light comedy.

Remembering this makes me realize that Roger Moore was the last of his kind--the suave, unflappable, lighthearted, kindly, and very English gentlemen, in a line with Niven and Cary Grant. There's no one acting today with Roger's savoir faire. He was first to deprecate his gifts, and they're still not fully appreciated: You need talent to project dapper aplomb and skill to play with light touch. Roger did far more than lift an eyebrow--he savored his roles as he played them, knowing when to step outside character to highlight an irony and deploy his charm, that playful complicity with the audience.

Bond would not have survived the 1970s without moving in a more comedic and lighthearted direction, and Roger was the best man for the job. He said The Spy Who Loved Me was his favorite, perhaps because he made the role his own in it. His first two Bond films were still in the Diamonds Are Forever mode--movies that didn't believe in themselves--and they made Roger's style look insubstantial and redundant. The Spy Who Loved Me was, despite its humor, a seriously-done epic, and it allowed Roger to pit his detachment and ironic commentary against the movie's monster-size scale and drama. And when the later Bond films floated down to earth, they allowed Roger to tap into his vulnerability--"the spark in his worried, squinched-up eyes" to quote Pauline Kael--and his good-humored warmth.

The latter quality is why some scenes from his first two Bonds, when he's made to imitate Connery, don't work. We don't buy the idea of Moore's Bond slapping a woman, because Roger isn't given to that sort of enraged brutality. Look instead at For Your Eyes Only, at the scene where he kicks Locque's car off a cliff. His anger is controlled, the usual ironic detachment transmuted to icy, calm vengefulness. The scene is so fine it reminds you how good some of his films could have been if they'd given Roger more material of that strength, more opportunities to act with sober coolness. You can also find it in the scene from The Spy Who Loved Me of him admitting to killing Anya's lover. The detachment behind his usual irony becomes the bedrock for a moment of direct honesty--no quips or raised eyebrows, just the admission of responsibility and a statement of purpose.

All this from an actor who delighted in mocking his own abilities! It's also there in his best non-Bond work--The Man Who Haunted Himself, Gold, Shout at the Devil (also directed by Peter Hunt), ffolkes, and much more. The world is much less charming place without Roger Moore.

[marktmurphy]

 

Very sad: a talented, charming, funny and heroic man for all work to help others.

 

This story posted on Twitter is rather magnificent:

https://twitter.com/...036448037511169

 

Yes, it shows what a sweet man Roger was. Here's a non-twitter version with some follow-up: http://b3ta.com/blog...-you-feel-good/

 

 

 

That's great; thank you. Love that photo too!

[Blofeld's Cat]

RIP

 

 

BACK IN HEAVEN

[FlemingBond]

Sir Roger Moore seemed like a true English Gentleman and one of the few public figures that if you met him you would probably not be disappointed.