Trivia

He said he would like to play a villain in a Bond movie starring Daniel Craig, but accepted that it could never happen.

He was good friends with Lois Maxwell, who played Miss Moneypenny in the James Bond movies. They first met in mid 1940s at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts, where they were in the same class in 1944.

Moore and his agent accepted each Bond movie on a film to film basis, instead of signing on for several.

He was the oldest person to debut as James Bond. He was age 45 when Live and Let Die (1973) was filmed.

He remained close friends with Albert R. Broccoli right up until Broccoli's death.

His contract for the 007 films provided him with an unlimited supply of Montecristo cigars during filming. The bill for this typically ran to thousands of pounds.

He never had to audition for the role of Simon Templar on The Saint (1962).

He officially announced his retirement from playing James Bond on December 3, 1985, as it was agreed by all involved in the franchise that Moore had got too old for the role by that point. Moore himself was quoted as saying that he felt embarrassed to be seen performing love scenes with beautiful actresses who were young enough to be his daughters. He said in an interview for This Morning (1988) that he felt too old from his second Bond film, The Man with the Golden Gun (1974).

He named The Spy Who Loved Me (1977) as his favorite Bond movie of the seven he starred in, and A View to a Kill (1985) as his least favorite.

By the late 1970s he was the most bankable British film personality. Like many other big stars, he left the UK and moved the family to Geneva in Switzerland when he refused to pay inflated British taxes, which stood at 83% on income for top earners between 1974 and 1979 when Labour were in power under Harold Wilson and James Callaghan. Curd Jürgens, who played the Bond villain Stromberg in The Spy Who Loved Me (1977), had become a good friend of his and loaned Moore his chalet until the family found a new home.

Whilst doing National Service, Moore served with Military Intelligence.

He has always been very honest about the fact that he did not perform any of his own stunts as Bond, unlike Sean Connery, George Lazenby, Timothy Dalton and Daniel Craig.

On January 13, 2001, Moore and his then companion, Christina 'Kiki' Tholstrup, escaped injury when another vehicle collided with the actor's car. Airbags were attributed to preventing injury. They married the next year.

Both he and his daughter, Deborah Moore, have acted in the James Bond franchise. She played the air hostess in Die Another Day (2002).

When presenting the Best Actor Oscar awards at the The 45th Annual Academy Awards (1973), Moore ended up taking home the Oscar accidentally. The winner of the award, Marlon Brando, refused the award, and Sacheen Littlefeather, who Brando sent to make a speech to refuse the Oscar, also publicly refused to take the statuette from Moore.

All the scenes in which showed Moore running in his seven Bond movies were performed by doubles, since the actor felt he looked awkward running.

In March 1996, when his former wife Dorothy Squires underwent surgery for bladder cancer at the BUPA Hospital in Cardiff, he picked up the £6,000 bill. He did not attend her funeral two years later, but instead sent a bouquet of purple tulips, lilies of the valley and orange flowers with a card saying: "I've said it with flowers. Roger.".

Ironically for his first Razzie nomination (Worst Supporting Actor in Spice World (1997)), he went head to head with another former Bond, Sean Connery in The Avengers (1998), also receiving his first Razzie nomination. However, neither man won.

He was older than any other actor to play James Bond when he portrayed him age 57 in A View to a Kill (1985). Sean Connery was age 52 when he last played Bond in Never Say Never Again (1983).

His father, George Alfred Moore, was a policeman.

He quit smoking cigars after undergoing major surgery for prostate cancer when he was age 65.

While a struggling young actor in the early 1950s, he briefly worked as a truck driver. Many years later, he impressed the crew on the set of A View to a Kill (1985) with his truck driving skills.

He was made a captain in the police by the captain of the Maine state police force. He retains the power to arrest.

Following the suggestion that fugitive train robber Ronald Biggs make a cameo appearance in the Brazil episode of Moonraker (1979), he replied in rather colorful terms that he did not want the escaped prisoner anywhere near the film, as his own father had been a London policeman.

He lived in Switzerland and Monte Carlo with his wife Christina 'Kiki' Tholstrup (2002).

Although critics often accused him of not looking tough enough to play superspy James Bond, he once beat up legendary American hellraiser Lee Marvin while they were filming Shout at the Devil (1976). Marvin recalled, "The guy is built like granite. Nobody will ever underestimate him again.".

In 1964, eight years before he took over the movie role, Moore played James Bond in a hilarious sketch on the BBC comedy show, Episode dated 17 July 1964 (1964). In the sketch, Bond is on holiday at a resort, when he encounters a female Russian spy (played by Millicent Martin, the star of the show), who is also on holiday. Bond and the female spy spend the sketch trying to do each other in. The sketch is included in the "Live and Let Die" Ultimate Edition DVD.

When filming Live and Let Die (1973), he saved Jane Seymour from a nasty accident when a hydraulic lift dropped. She would have fallen some 29 feet if he hadn't grabbed her hair to stop her.

He intended For Your Eyes Only (1981) to be his final Bond movie, since he was nearly age 54.

In an episode of The Persuaders! (1971), a stolen briefcase is opened to find the contents of the original case have been substituted with 10 James Bond novels. Three of the visible titles are Bond movies that Roger Moore would later portray the famous spy. Live and Let Die (1973), For Your Eyes Only (1981) Octopussy (1983).

While filming the interrogation scene opposite Richard Burton and Richard Harris in The Wild Geese (1978), Moore made the unheard of request to have a cut in his lines. After another take he suggested all his lines should be cut. When the director Andrew V. McLaglen asked him why, he replied, "Do you seriously think I want to act against these guys? I'll just sit here and puff on my cigar.".

To pay tribute to the passing away of Sir Roger Moore, two James Bond films, The Spy Who Loved Me (1977) and For Your Eyes Only (1981), Moore's two favorite of his Bond films, as well as the two he considered his best, were re-released on select play-dates in select territories around the world within weeks of his passing, with 50% of the proceeds going to Moore's beloved charity UNICEF, of which he was a Goodwill Ambassador for.

He rode in or drove a motor-powered boat in every James Bond movie he appeared in.

His stepdaughter's boyfriend Janus Friis invented Skype.

He was the final guest ever on The Muppet Show (1976). In his autobiography he implies he may have had an affair during his appearance with Miss Piggy.

He was awarded a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 7007 Hollywood Boulevard in Hollywood, California on October 11, 2007 (three days before his 80th birthday).

Moore was conscripted into National Service after World War II and did not serve during the war. He eventually became a Captain.

He admitted to being a hypochondriac and suffered from vertigo.

He named the lowbrow sitcom Married... with Children (1987) as a guilty pleasure, and was a friend of star Katey Sagal's father, director Boris Sagal.

When Moore had to take Marlon Brando's Oscar home with him, people outside the ceremony thought Moore had won instead. The Academy sent cars around to his house the next morning to retrieve it.

He chose a Swedish conference on child abuse to announce to the world that he too was a victim. He said he was molested as a child, but not seriously. He waited until he was age 16 to tell his mother because he said he was "ashamed".

He has a number of favourites from his own era in the James Bond franchise. His favourite gadget is the magnetic watch from Live and Let Die (1973). His favourite villain is Christopher Lee's Francisco Scaramanga from The Man with the Golden Gun (1974). His favourite girl is Barbara Bach's Anya Amasova from The Spy Who Loved Me (1977). His favourite henchman was Richard Kiel's Jaws from The Spy Who Loved Me (1977) and Moonraker (1979). He has stated more or less that anything from A View to a Kill (1985) is his least favourite.

He spoke Italian perfectly, former wife Luisa Mattioli is an Italian citizen.

He had a pacemaker just like his father.

Like his predecessor Sean Connery, he wore a hairpiece in all his Bond films.

He lived with Luisa Mattoili from 1961 before marrying her in 1968 during which time they had the first two of their three children.

Daniel Craig paid tribute to Moore by simply and succinctly writing "Nobody Does It Better", a reference to Moore's legendary Bond theme performed by Carly Simon.

He confirmed in an interview with the Sunday Telegraph magazine that he'd completely retired from acting in 2009.

Ironically, for an actor who played a weapons-wielding James Bond in no fewer than seven movies, Moore suffered from hoplophobia (fear of firearms). He also professed a strong dislike of blood sports.

He hated being wet when acting. In Moonraker (1979), he had to do a whole scene wet, in the "Mayan pyramid".