Roger Moore was born on October 14, 1927 in Stockwell, South London. Roger's father,George A. Moore, was a police officer and his mother's name was Lily. A very intellegent boy growing up, Roger didn't have much trouble with school and he enjoyed art and drawing the most. Well before he ventured into show buisness, he landed a job as an animators assistant which he felt would help him in his hopes of becoming an artist.
Then in 1940, it all started. Roger was out of work and a friend of his suggested that he should earn some money by becoming a film extra. Acting as a profession had never really occurred to Roger, but he worked hard as an extra, and eventually he got a break. The co-director on "Caesar and Cleopatra", Brian Hurst, where Roger was working asked him if he was interested in becoming an actor.
Starting off, Roger worked on television plays and stories where he built up a solid reputation as an actor. Not yet into the "real" buisness of film and movies, Roger worked on the tv series "Ivanhoe" for some time and then he landed his breakthrough role. "The Saint", a fairly popular British adventure series dealt with a man by the name of Simon Templar and his worldwide escapades. Moore became the illustious icon and soon after the show was brought to stardom, Harry Saltzman and Cubby Brocoli approached Roger, asking him to be the first James Bond. Unfortunately, he could not accept due to his working contract with "The Persauaders", another television series, so Sean Connery got the role.
Work continued for Roger as an actor but with the unsuccesfulness of "The Persuaders", Roger wanted more. In 1971 when Sean Connery called it quits for good, Roger was approached again to continue the poularity of James Bond, and this time he accepted with delight. Many were skeptical about his approach at the role. He was far more humorus and witty than Connery ever was, but Live and Let Die was a huge success and the public seemed to like him. So much in fact, that he remained James Bond with MGM for twelve years creating seven films in that span, making him the longest running Bond in franchise history.
After he retired from the Bond world in 1985 following A View to A Kill, Roger Moore went on to play some small supporting roles in various movies, his latest credit being Spiceworld (1998). His main concern now though is in helping needy children around the world. For that reason, he has recently become a generous spokesperson for UNICEF and he travels throughout the world speaking and working on their behalf.
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