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Log cabin girl: "But, James, I need you!"
James Bond: "So does England."
―James Bond — (audio)Listen (file info)[src]

Commander James Bond is a Senior Operational Officer of the Double-O Section, an ultra-covert Black Ops unit within the Secret Intelligence Service (SIS/MI6). As an agent of MI6, Bond holds cryptonym "007". The '00' prefix indicates his discretionary licence to kill in the performance of his duties. He was invented and developed by British author and former naval intelligence officer Ian Fleming.

Following the final departure of Sean Connery in 1971 from EON productions, the late English actor Roger Moore took over the role between 1973 and 1985. To date he is the second longest-serving James Bond actor, after Daniel Craig, spanning twelve years in the role. He is also the oldest actor to play Bond; having begun the role at 45 and retiring from it at the age of 58. The character was doubled by stuntmen Vic Armstrong, Loren Willard, Rick Sylvester, Willy Bogner, Jake Lombard, Martin Grace, Richard Graydon, Rémy Julienne, and Paul Weston. And portrayed by Argentinan actor German Kraus in Mi Familia es un Dibujo.[3][4] He appeared in Live and Let Die (1973), The Man with the Golden Gun (1974), The Spy Who Loved Me (1977), Moonraker (1979), For Your Eyes Only (1981), Octopussy (1983) and A View to a Kill (1985).

Biography[]

Shared background[]

Although very little of Bond's past is directly addressed during the Roger Moore era, it is assumed that his Bond continues to share the common background laid out by the Ian Fleming novels and preceding Bond films.

In the novels, James Bond is the son of a Scottish father, Andrew Bond of Glencoe, and a Swiss mother, Monique Delacroix, from the Canton de Vaud. He acquired a first-class command of the French and German languages during his early education, which he received entirely abroad. Both parents were tragically killed during a climbing accident in the French Alps when he was eleven.

After the death of his parents, Bond goes to live with his aunt, Miss Charmian Bond, where he completes his early education. Later, he briefly attends Eton College at "12 or thereabouts", but is removed after two terms because of girl trouble with a maid. After being sent down from Eton, Bond was sent to Fettes College in Scotland, his father's school.[5]

After leaving Fettes, earlier EON films note that Bond studied at Cambridge University. [6] [7] There, he achieved a first in Oriental languages. [8] In Fleming's novels, Bond alluded to briefly attending the University of Geneva (as did Fleming), before being taught to ski in Kitzbühel. [9]Following his graduation, Bond joined the Ministry of Defence and became a lieutenant in the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserves, rising though the ranks to commander. Bond applied to M for a position within the "Secret Service", part of the Civil Service, and rose to the rank of principal officer.

Live and Let Die (1973)[]

After a successful mission in Rome, Italy, alongside Italian agent Miss Caruso, James Bond is sent to investigate the murder of three British MI6 agents, Dawes, Hamilton and Baines (who in fact shared the same bootmaker with Bond), all of whom have been killed within 24 hours. He discovers the victims were all separately investigating the operations of Dr. Kananga, the dictator of a small Caribbean island, San Monique. He also establishes that Kananga also acts as "Mr. Big", a ruthless and cunning gangster in the United States.

Upon visiting San Monique, Bond determines that Kananga is producing two tons of heroin and is protecting the poppy fields by exploiting the locals' fear of voodoo and the occult. Through his alter ego, Mr. Big, Kananga plans to distribute the heroin free of charge at his Fillet of Soul restaurants, which will increase the number of addicts. Bond teams up with Kananga's womanservant, Solitaire to foil his plans, but is captured by Kananga, but they escape, killing Kananga and destroying the drug crops.

The Man with the Golden Gun (1974)[]

After being tasked with finding missing British scientist, Gibson who has invented the Solex Agitator a device to harness solar power, thereby solving the global energy crisis, but after receiving a golden bullet with the code "007" etched into its surface, M relieves Bond of the mission. The bullet signifies Bond is a target of hired assassin Francisco Scaramanga and Bond sets out unofficially to find him. From a spent golden bullet, Bond tracks Scaramanga to Macau, where he sees Scaramanga's mistress, Andrea Anders, collecting golden bullets at a casino. Bond follows her to Hong Kong, where he witnesses Scaramanga murder Gibson the missing scientist, the theft of the Solex agitator and kidnapping of Mary Goodnight.

Bond is subsequently assigned to retrieve the agitator and neutralise Scaramanga. Bond meets with Hai Fat, a wealthy Thai entrepreneur suspected of hiring Scaramanga for Gibson's murder, and is captured, but subsequently escapes. He tracks Scaramanga to an island in Red Chinese waters, where the two men fight a duel: Bond kills the assassin. He and Goodnight acquire the Solex agitator and escape in Scaramanga's yacht.

The Spy Who Loved Me (1977)[]

Bond is tasked with investigating the disappearance of British and Soviet submarines, along with their payload of atomic intercontinental ballistic missiles, and the subsequent offer to sell te Microfilm Plans for a Submarine Tracking System. For this new mission, Bond works alongside Major Anya Amasova of the KGB. The pair track the plans across Egypt and identify the person responsible for the thefts as shipping tycoon, scientist and anarchist Karl Stromberg.

Bond and Amasova follow a suspicious tanker owned by Stromberg and establish it is responsible for the missing submarines; the submarine in which they are travelling is also captured by Stromberg. Stromberg plans to destroy Moscow and New York, triggering nuclear war: he planned to then establish a new civilisation underwater. Bond escapes Stromberg's henchmen and frees the submariners captured from the other submarines and follows Stromberg to his headquarters, where he shoots the tycoon and a torpedo destroys the base.

Moonraker (1979)[]

A Drax Industries Moonraker space shuttle on loan is hijacked and Bond is ordered to investigate. Bond meets the owner of the company, Hugo Drax and one of Drax's scientists, Dr. Holly Goodhead. Bond follows the trail to Venice, where he establishes that Drax is manufacturing the nerve gas of an orchid, deadly to humans, but harmless to plants and animals. Bond again meets Goodhead and finds out that she is a CIA agent.

Bond travels to Brazil looking for Drax's research facility, where he is captured. He and Goodhead escape and pose as pilots on one of six space shuttles being sent by Drax to an hidden orbital space station. There Bond finds out that Drax plans to destroy all human life by launching fifty globes containing the toxin into the Earth's atmosphere. Bond and Goodhead disable the radar jammer hiding the station from Earth and the U.S. sends a platoon of Marines in a military space shuttle. During the battle, Bond kills Drax and his station is destroyed.

For Your Eyes Only (1981)[]

After a British spy boat sinks, a marine archaeologist, Sir Timothy Havelock, is tasked to retrieve its Automatic Targeting Attack Communicator (ATAC) communication system before the Russians do. After Havelock is murdered by Hector Gonzales, a Cuban hitman, Bond is ordered to find out who hired Gonzales. While investigating, Bond is captured, but Gonzales is subsequently killed by Havelock's vengeful daughter, Melina and she and Bond escape. Bond identifies one of those present with Gonzales as Emile Leopold Locque and so follows a lead to Italy and meets his contact, Luigi Ferrara, and a well-connected Greek businessman and intelligence informant, Aris Kristatos. Kristatos tells Bond that Locque is employed by Milos Columbo, Kristatos' former partner in the Greek resistance during World War II.

After Ferrara is murdered, all the evidence points to Columbo. Bond is captured by men working for Columbo. Columbo then explains that Locque was actually hired by Kristatos, who is working for the KGB to retrieve the ATAC. The two then form a working relationship to take down Kristatos. Bond and Melina recover the ATAC from the sunken ship, but are captured by Kristatos who keelhauls them over a coral reef behind his yacht. They escape and follow Kristatos to a hilltop monastery in Greece, where he is killed by Colombo and the ATAC is destroyed by Bond to prevent it falling into Soviet hands.

Octopussy (1983)[]

Bond is sent to South America to impersonate Colonel Luis Toro, who is in charge of enemy spy planes factory and destroy the factory. After successfully infiltrating the premises with the help of his co-agent Bianca, Bond attaches bombs to radar and weapons equipment but is caught in the act by the real Toro. After being take prisoner, Bianca helps Bond escape in his one-seater fighter jet and evades capture after he is attacked by a missile which he directs into the path of Toro's weapons factory, destroying both Colonel Toro and the spy plane.

Bond then investigates the murder of 009, who is found dead in East Berlin while dressed as a circus clown and clutching a fake Fabergé Egg. An identical egg, "The Property of A Lady", appears at an auction in London and Bond establishes the buyer, exiled Afghan prince, Kamal Khan is working with General Orlov, a renegade Soviet general, who is seeking to expand Soviet borders into Europe. Bond travels to India and meets Octopussy, a wealthy woman who leads the Octopus Cult. Bond finds out that Orlov has been supplying Khan with priceless Russian treasures, replacing them with replicas, while Khan has been smuggling the real versions into the West, via Octopussy's circus troupe's railcars.

Bond infiltrates the circus, and finds that Orlov replaced the Soviet treasures with a nuclear warhead, primed to explode at a U.S. Air Force base in West Germany. The explosion would trigger Europe into seeking disarmament, in the belief that the bomb was an American one that was detonated by accident, leaving the West's borders open to Soviet invasion. Orlov is revealed as a traitor and is shot by Soviet troops under General Gogol. Bond deactivates the warhead and then he returns to India, leading an assault on Kamal's palace. He chases after Kamal who has kidnapped Octopussy in his plane, where he saves Octopussy and causes Kamal to crash.

A View to a Kill (1985)[]

Bond investigates into the operations of millionaire industrialist Max Zorin, who is trying to monopolise the world market in microchips. He establishes that Zorin was previously trained and financed by the KGB, but has now gone rogue. Zorin unveils to a group of investors his plan to destroy Silicon Valley which will give him a monopoly in the manufacturing of microchips.

Bond discovers Zorin's plan is to detonate explosives beneath the lakes along the Hayward and San Andreas faults, which will cause them to flood. A larger bomb is also on site in the mine to destroy a "geological lock" that prevents the two faults from moving at the same time. Bond recovers the the bomb thanks to a self sacrifice by Zorin's ex-henchwoman, May Day. He travels to San Francisco and subsequently kills Zorin on top of the Golden Gate Bridge, who falls to his death.

Mainly Millicent[]

When filming started on Live and Let Die, Roger Moore had already appeared as a non-Eon version of Bond. On 3rd March 1964, between playing Simon Templar on The Saint, Roger Moore actually starred as James Bond in an episode of the ITV comedy sketch show Mainly Millicent.[10]

In the seven minute sketch, James Bond is on holiday and goes for lunch, only to meet Russian Spy Sonia Sekova (Millicent Martin), who is also on holiday. They both suspect that the other one is spying on them, resulting in some comical situations. Bond discovers the waiter is wearing a wig and punches him over the balcony and the two throw several drinks over there shoulders, suspecting cyanide pills. They both get called back on to cases and end the episode with a kiss.

Although this is notable for being Moore's first appearance as Bond, it is more of a curiosity and contributed nothing to the storyline of the subsequent Bond films, although it is possible that it was an influence on his subsequent casting in the role.

Awards & Decorations[]

  • Naval General Service Medal: Awarded to Bond for serving in one or more unspecified campaigns before 1962.
  • General Service Medal: Bond was awarded the 1962 General Service Medal for serving in one of the British military campaigns.

Quotes[]

  • "We all get our jollies one way or another" - The Man With the Golden Gun
  • "Keeping the British end up, sir" - The Spy Who Loved Me

Behind the scenes[]

Roger Moore (Cover image from 'My Word is My Bond')

Roger Moore on the set of Live and Let Die.

Because of his successful television shows, in particular the long-lasting spy thriller series The Saint (1962-1969), Roger Moore was unavailable for the James Bond franchise for a considerable time. His participation in The Saint was not only as actor, but also as a producer and director, and he also became involved in developing the series The Persuaders!. For The Saint, Moore was cast as Leslie Charteris' literary character Simon Templar; a suave and sophisticated Robin Hood-like adventurer. Moore's portrayal of Templar was considered a training ground for his later work as James Bond, establishing the suave, quipping style which he would carry forward to the Ian Fleming character. In one early episode of the series, Luella (Season 2, Episode 19), Templar actually poses as Bond in a bid to persuade landlady Miss Hill (Jean St. Clair) into divulging information about her tenants. The episode ends with Hill exclaiming "I'm so excited to be working for James Bond! You're not just teasing me, are you? You really are James Bond?".

As Roger Moore frankly explains in his autobiography My Word Is My Bond, he had neither been approached to play James Bond in Dr. No, nor had he felt that he had been considered. He was reportedly offered the role of 007 at least twice during the run of the series, but had to turn it down both times owing to his television commitments.

Roger Moore, Albert R

Roger Moore, Albert R. Broccoli, Harry Saltzman.

When he played James Bond briefly in the Mainly Millicent Sketch, Moore used one of his own suits. This also appeared in The Saint.

It was only after Sean Connery had declared in 1966 that he would not play Bond any longer that Moore became aware that he might be a contender for the role.[11] But after George Lazenby was cast instead and then Connery played Bond again, he didn't consider the possibility until it seemed abundantly clear that Connery had in fact stepped down as Bond for good. At that point he was indeed approached and accepted the producer's offer in August 1972.[12] Moore says in his autobiography that he had to cut his hair and lose weight, but although he resented it, he was finally cast as James Bond in 1973's Live and Let Die.[11]

James Bond was different during this era because times had changed and the scripts were different. Authors like George MacDonald Fraser provided scenarios in which 007 was a kind of seasoned, debonair playboy who would always have a trick or gadget in stock when he needed it. This was designed to serve the contemporary taste of the 1970s. Moore's version of Bond was also known for his sense of humour and witty one liners as Moore himself said, "My personality is different from previous Bonds. I'm not that cold-blooded-killer type. Which is why I play it mostly for laughs."[13]

Gallery[]

James Bond (Roger Moore)/Gallery

Trivia[]

  • Moore was originally supposed to be replaced by Timothy Dalton earlier as the actor of Bond. Due to competitor Warner Bros producing Never Say Never Again, Moore was kept as Bond until 1985 in A View To A Kill.
  • In The Spy Who Loved Me Bond (Moore) wears the Naval General Service Medal and the General Service Medal. This is different from the Sean Connery Bond in You Only Live Twice.
  • Also in The Spy Who Loved Me, it is indicated that, for at least part of his service in the Royal Navy, Bond served aboard the aircraft carrier HMS Ark Royal, which is mentioned by Admiral Hargreaves.
  • In 1987 Moore also hosted Happy Anniversary 007: 25 Years of James Bond.
  • Moore was the first Bond actor who was never seen driving an Aston Martin (especially the famous DB5) as Bond.
  • Moore's Bond was the first one to visit a fictional country. In Live and Let Die, some portions of his adventures (including the final battle and its aftermath) is set in a fictional Caribbean state, San Monique. However, in reality, scenes in San Monique were actually shot in Jamaica.
  • Moore was the oldest EON actor to start playing James Bond, at the age of 46. He was also the oldest actor to finish playing as Bond, at the age of 58.
  • In 2004 Moore was voted 'Best Bond' in an Academy Awards poll, and he won with 62% of votes in 2008.
  • Moore was presumably the only actor who had meet the 1960s pop icon The Beatles, having met them at the New Musical Express (NME) Poll Winners Concert in 1964. Nine years later, former producer of The Beatles, Sir George Martin, composed the score for Moore's first James Bond film, Live and Let Die, of which the title song was composed by former Beatle, Paul McCartney and his wife Linda, and performed by McCartney and his band Wings.
  • Roger Moore maintained very good friendships with his fellow EON-series Bond actors Sean Connery, George Lazenby, Timothy Dalton, Pierce Brosnan, and Daniel Craig. In fact, when Octopussy was being filmed at Pinewood. in close proximity to where Never Say Never Again started production at Elstree Studios, Moore and Connery met for dinner in their free time.
  • Sadly, on May 23, 2017, Roger Moore became the first EON Bond actor to pass away.

See also[]

External links[]

References[]

  1. 01:20. Octopussy: Blu-ray Edition: MGM Home Entertainment.
  2. This was his first appearance in an Eon production, however, he had played James Bond a few years before in a short Mainly Millicent sketch.
  3. Double-0 Stuntmen. The Man With the Golden Gun (Blu-Ray Edition): MGM Home Entertainment.
  4. Inside Octopussy: An Original Documentary. Octopussy (Ultimate Edition): MGM Home Entertainment.
  5. (2004) You Only Live Twice. Kent, England: Penguin Books, pp.200-202. ISBN 978-0-1411-8754-9. 
  6. (1967). You Only Live Twice [Motion Picture]. United Artists.
  7. (1977). The Spy Who Loved Me [Motion Picture]. United Artists.
  8. (1967). You Only Live Twice [Motion Picture]. United Artists.
  9. (2006) Octopussy and The Living Daylights. Kent, England: Penguin Books, p.35. ISBN 978-0-1411-8874-4. 
  10. 50 Years of James Bond: Roger Moore, Seven Times 007. BBC America (19 October 2012). “"[Moore] played James Bond in 1964 on TV opposite British actress Millicent Martin in a guest appearance on her BBC comedy show, Mainly Millicent."”
  11. 11.0 11.1 "Roger Moore: From Saint to 007, Entertainment News & Top Stories". 
  12. (2008) My Word is My Bond: The Autobiography. Australia: HarperCollins Publishers, 172. ISBN 978-0-7322-8871-6. 
  13. "Roger Moore: debonair 007 played Bond role for laughs", The Australian. 

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