Former James Bond Actor Roger Moore Passes Away at 89

Sir Roger Moore’s family has announced that the former James Bond actor, Unicef Ambassador and Author has passed away at the age of 89.

In a statement, his children – Deborah, Geoffrey and Christian – said: “It is with a heavy heart that we must announce our loving father, Sir Roger Moore, has passed away today in Switzerland after a short but brave battle with cancer. The love with which he was surrounded in his final days was so great it cannot be quantified in words alone.

“We know our own love and admiration will be magnified many times over, across the world, by people who knew him for his films, his television shows and his passionate work for UNICEF which he considered to be his greatest achievement.

“The affection our father felt whenever he walked on to a stage or in front of a camera buoyed him hugely and kept him busy working into his 90th year, through to his last appearance in November 2016 on stage at London’s Royal Festival Hall. The capacity crowd cheered him on and off stage, shaking the very foundations of the building just a short distance from where he was born.

“Thank you Pops for being you, and for being so very special to so many people.

“Our thoughts must now turn to supporting Kristina [his wife since 2002] at this difficult time, and in accordance with our father’s wishes there will be a private funeral in Monaco.”

In a tweet on Tuesday afternoon, the children said “we are all devastated”.

Moore was most famous for his leading roles in James Bond and The Saint (as Simon Templar).

He was criticised for making three movies in South Africa during the Apartheid ’70s – Gold, Shout at the Devil, and The Wild Geese. His all time hero was South Africa’s late President Nelson Mandela, who told him and his wife Kristina what important work they were doing through Unicef.

Here Roger Moore talks about meeting Nelson Mandela (his hero) and Robert Mugabe (whom he hated – “most evil f’ing bastard in the world”):

https://youtu.be/XzhJIN3–L4