14 Facts About Roger Moore

He was more than just people’s unfavorite James Bond.

Creative Commons: original photo by Allan warren, CC BY-SA 3.0. Crop by Andrew Sherman

There was a brief period in my life where I thought Roger Moore was a better James Bond than Sean Connery. But I got over it. While Moore seemed like the most affable of James Bonds, he didn’t seem up to the action sequences. His movements seemed awkward, and he even had a body double run for him. But at least he didn’t seem like he was going to drop dead from angst like Timothy Dalton.

Actually, I haven’t watched a lot of Roger Moore’s work, but that seems like more of an oversight on my part rather a criticism of what Moore has done. So, I’ll look up some information on Roger Moore and maybe find some stuff he’s done that I’d like to watch.

1: He played Bret, Brent and Bart Maverick’s cousin Beau Maverick in the popular TV series.

As we shall see, his playing a character named Beau seemed to foreshadow his personal life.

2: In the early 50s, Roger modeled knitwear products in print ads. He also did some toothpaste ads.

Those knitwear ads earned him the nickname “The Big Twit.” Oops, sorry, that should be “The Big Knit.” Yeah, that makes a lot more sense.

3: Moore signed a seven -year contract with MGM but was cut loose after two years.

Apparently MGM thought of Moore as "The Big Twit.” Moore himself said he was no good when he was with MGM, but things got better for him.

4: Moore played Sir Wilfred of Ivanhoe in the late 1950s series, Ivanhoe.

From what I can gather, the series seemed like a poor-man’s Robin Hood and lasted only a few episodes

5: After Ivanhoe, Roger went on to sainthood.

Well, actually, he played Simon Templar, aka “The Saint” from 1962–69. Think of Queen Latifa’s “The Equalizer” character played by a suave British guy. That’s kind of sort of the concept. I think.

6: When Moore was 18, he married the actress and ice skater Doorn Van Steyn. She was six years older him.

The marriage broke up over money matters and Van Steyn’s doubts about Moore’s acting ability. Was she an MGM exec?

7: That marriage broke up and Moore proceeded to marry Dorothy Squires, who was his senior by 13 years.

Not surprisingly, that marriage didn’t work. A number of factors were involved. The couple’s age difference, the fact that Squires had several miscarriages, and probably most importantly, Moore developed a thing for Dorothy Provine.

The thing with Provine was a change of pace of Moore as she was actually a few years younger than him. Reverse age discrimination wasn’t an issue for him.

8: The Moore-Squires relationship was volatile to say the least.

At one point, Squires broke a guitar over Moore’s head. Another time she threw a brick through a window and then reached threw the broken window and grabbed Moore’s shirt, cutting her arms in the process.

This after she discovered Moore was having an affair with his eventual third wife, Luisa Mattioli. The process of Moore divorcing Squires was a long, ugly process, taking seven years. I believe a film adaptation of their relationship is called, “The War of the Roses.” Wait, being told that’s not the case.

9: Moore and Mattioli were finally married in 1969.

And they lived happily ever after. Well not quite. They did have three children together but separated in 1993. At that point, Moore began a thing with Mattioli’s friend, Kristina “Kiki” Tholstrup.

Not surprisingly, Mattioli didn’t take it well. She finally granted Moore a divorce in 2000, realizing it was futile to try to hang on to him. A settlement of £10 million may also have helped.

10: Moore and Tholstrup married in 2002.

And it proved to be Moore’s last marriage. Honestly, Moore’s romantic life sounds more dangerous than James Bond’s life.

11: Roger appeared in “The Curse of the Pink Panther” as Turk Thrust II.

Not sure if he was related to Turk Thrust I.

12: On October 3, 2003, Moore was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II.

And to the relief of everyone, he didn’t hit on her.

13: Roger Moore was afraid of guns.

That put his James Bond in a tough spot. He didn’t like guns and had to have a double do his running for him.

14: In 1971 he starred in a TV series with Tony Curtis called, “The Persuaders!”

Despite the title, not a lot of American viewers were persuaded to tune in.

If you’ve enjoyed what I’ve written, how about buying me some coffee? https://ko-fi.com/larryelambert89220