Editing Roger Moore (section)

===James Bond era (1973–1985)===

====Moore as Bond====
Moore's Bond was very different from the version created by Ian Fleming and the one portrayed by Connery. Screenwriters such as [[George MacDonald Fraser]] provided scenarios in which Moore was cast as a 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."<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/world/the-times/roger-moore-debonair-007-played-bond-role-for-laughs/news-story/4a633deef28a211c1e48006bbdcb7dbc#&gid=1&pid=1 |title=Roger Moore: debonair 007 played Bond role for laughs|work=The Australian|access-date=26 May 2017}}</ref> Moore said, about his decision to leave the role of James Bond, that "It wasn’t because of the physical stuff as I could still play tennis for two hours a day and do a one-hour workout every morning. Physically I was okay, but facially I started looking…well, the leading ladies were young enough to be my granddaughter and it becomes disgusting." In his opinion, he looked too old to be "hanging around women in their early twenties without it appearing creepy."<ref>{{Cite web |date=2024-03-04 |title=Why every James Bond actor quit |url=https://www.digitalspy.com/movies/a869479/james-bond-quit-connery-moore-lazenby-brosnan-dalton/ |access-date=2025-03-24 |website=Digital Spy |language=en-GB}}</ref>

====''Live and Let Die'' (1973)====
[[File:Roger Moore 3 Allan Warren.jpg|thumb|right|upright|{{center|Moore in 1973}}]]
Due to his commitment to several television shows, in particular ''The Saint'', Roger Moore was unavailable for the James Bond films for a considerable time. His participation in ''The Saint'' was as actor, producer, and director, and he also became involved in developing the series ''[[The Persuaders!]]''. In 1964, he made a guest appearance as James Bond in the comedy series ''[[Mainly Millicent]]''.<ref name=millicent>{{cite web |url= https://www.bbcamerica.com/anglophenia/2012/10/50-years-of-james-bond-roger-moore-seven-times-007/|title= 50 Years of James Bond: Roger Moore, Seven Times 007|last1= Rozen|first1= Leah|date= 19 October 2012 |publisher= BBC America |access-date= 20 August 2015|quote="[Moore] played James Bond in 1964 on TV opposite British actress Millicent Martin in a guest appearance on her BBC comedy show, Mainly Millicent."}}</ref> Moore stated in his autobiography ''My Word Is My Bond'' (2008) that he had neither been approached to play the character in ''[[Dr. No (film)|Dr. No]]'', nor did he feel that he had ever been considered. Only after [[Sean Connery]] had declared in 1966 that he would not play Bond any longer did Moore become aware that he might be a contender for the role.<ref name="Bond casting"/> After [[George Lazenby]] was cast in 1969's ''[[On Her Majesty's Secret Service (film)|On Her Majesty's Secret Service]]'' and Connery was enticed back to the role of Bond again for ''[[Diamonds Are Forever (film)|Diamonds Are Forever]]'' (1971), Moore did not consider the possibility until it seemed clear that Connery had stepped down as Bond for good. With ''The Persuaders!'' having been cancelled following poor ratings in the US, Moore was approached, and he accepted producer [[Albert Broccoli]]'s offer in August 1972. In his autobiography, Moore writes that he had to cut his hair and lose weight for the role. Although he resented having to make those changes, he was finally cast as James Bond in ''[[Live and Let Die (film)|Live and Let Die]]'' (1973).<ref name="Bond casting">{{cite news |title=Roger Moore: From Saint to 007, Entertainment News & Top Stories |url=https://www.straitstimes.com/lifestyle/entertainment/roger-moore-from-saint-to-007 |access-date=11 December 2020 |newspaper=[[The Straits Times]]}}</ref> Being 44 when he was cast in the role, Moore remains the oldest actor to portray Bond.

Moore then made ''[[Gold (1974 film)|Gold]]'' (1974), based on a novel by [[Wilbur Smith]] for producer [[Michael Klinger (producer)|Michael Klinger]] and director [[Peter R. Hunt]]. He was paid US$200,000 plus a percentage of the profits.<ref name="britain">{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=smakBgAAQBAJ&dq=gold+wilbur+smith+%22peter+hunt%22&pg=PA192|title=British Culture and Society in the 1970s: The Lost Decade|first1=Laurel|last1=Forster|first2=Sue|last2=Harper|date=14 December 2009|publisher=Cambridge Scholars Publishing|isbn=9781443818384 |via=Google Books}}</ref>

====''The Man with the Golden Gun'' (1974)====
Moore made his second Bond film, ''[[The Man with the Golden Gun (film)|The Man with the Golden Gun]]'' (1974), which was a hit, though less successful than ''Live and Let Die''. It featured [[Christopher Lee]] as the main antagonist. Also appearing are [[Britt Ekland]], [[Herve Villechaize]], and [[Maud Adams]]. He then made a comedy ''[[That Lucky Touch]]'' (1975) which was a box office disaster. Moore made an Italian-shot action film ''[[Street People (film)|Street People]]'' (1976), then went back to South Africa for another Klinger-Hunt movie from a Wilbur Smith novel, ''[[Shout at the Devil (film)|Shout at the Devil]]'' (1976), which was successful in Britain, though less so in the US. Lee Marvin was a main cast member. Ian Holm was also featured, as well as [[Barbara Parkins]].{{Citation needed|date=April 2020}}

==== ''The Spy Who Loved Me'' (1977) ====
Moore returned for a third outing as Bond in ''[[The Spy Who Loved Me (film)|The Spy Who Loved Me]]'' (1977), which was a massive box-office success. It also starred [[Barbara Bach]] and [[Richard Kiel]] in his first appearance as the villain [[Jaws (James Bond)|Jaws]].<ref>{{cite news|title=Richard Kiel Dies at 74; Played Jaws in Bond Films|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/12/arts/richard-kiel-dies-at-74-played-jaws-in-bond-films.html?_r=0|first=Bruce|last=Weber|newspaper=[[The New York Times]]|date=11 September 2014|access-date=5 October 2019}}</ref> He returned to South Africa for a third action movie shot there, ''[[The Wild Geese]]'' (1978), produced by [[Euan Lloyd]] and directed by [[Andrew V. McLaglen]]. It was a sizeable hit in Britain and Europe but, like ''Shout at the Devil'', less so in the US.<ref name="film">"The Global Film: Will It Play in Uruguay?: The Global Film". By John M. Wilson. ''[[The New York Times]]'', 26 November 1978: D1.</ref> The cast featured [[Richard Burton]], who had top billing, and Richard Harris.

Moore played the lead in ''[[Escape to Athena]]'' (1979) partly financed by Lew Grade. It was a heist adventure set in war-time Greece, and stars [[Telly Savalas]] and David Niven, and features mostly American character actors, including [[Elliott Gould]], [[Stefanie Powers]], [[Richard Roundtree]], [[Sonny Bono]], and Italian actress [[Claudia Cardinale]]. Roger Moore (with top billing) plays a charming former Austrian antiquities dealer turned crooked camp commandant, asked to guard Greek antiquities desired by the Third Reich, and also guard the collection of archaeologists who are being forced to work to find and recover these objects, but he has other plans for the treasure he guards and for the people under his watch.

====''Moonraker'' (1979)====
[[File:Roger Moore at the sets of Sea Wolves.jpg|right|thumb|upright|Roger Moore in 1979.]]
Moore followed the success of his fourth outing as Bond, ''[[Moonraker (film)|Moonraker]]'' (1979), with an action film, ''[[North Sea Hijack]]'' (1980), also known as ''ffolkes''. Moore played a very un-Bond-like hero, opposite [[Anthony Perkins]]. The film was a box-office disappointment.<ref>"If a film chews gum, it's American", ''The Guardian'' (1959–2003) [London (UK)] 5 July 1980: 9.</ref>

Better received was ''[[The Sea Wolves]]'' (1980), another World War Two adventure which reunited many of the crew from ''The Wild Geese'' including Euan Lloyd and McLaglen. It was based on the true story of a March 1943 event in British India and Portuguese Goa, in which a group of retired members of the [[Calcutta Light Horse]], colonelled by David Niven's character, assist regular British Army operatives, played by Moore and [[Gregory Peck]], in destroying German ships in neutral [[Mormugao]] harbour, all the time surrounded by German spies and Indian nationalist intrigue. [[Trevor Howard]], [[Patrick Macnee]], and [[Barbara Kellerman]] also co-star, with a who's-who lineup of British character actors.

Moore was in two all-star comedies: ''[[Sunday Lovers]]'' (1980), which flopped at the box office, and ''[[The Cannonball Run]]'' (1981), which was a hit. The latter featured an ensemble cast, including [[Jackie Chan]], [[Burt Reynolds]], [[Dean Martin]], [[Dom DeLuise]], [[Sammy Davis Jr]], and [[Farrah Fawcett]].

====''For Your Eyes Only'' (1981)====
Moore returned for his fifth outing as Bond in ''[[For Your Eyes Only (film)|For Your Eyes Only]]'' (1981).

====''Octopussy'' (1983)====
Following the film ''For Your Eyes Only'', Moore expressed a desire to leave the role, and other actors were screen tested including [[James Brolin]], but Moore was eventually enticed back for ''[[Octopussy]]'' (1983).<ref>{{cite web |title=James Bond: James Brolin was set to REPLACE Roger Moore in Octopussy |url=https://www.express.co.uk/entertainment/films/1266518/James-Bond-James-Brolin-audition-Octopussy-Roger-Moore-Sean-Connery-Never-Say-Never-Again |website=Daily Express |date=8 April 2020 }}</ref>

The circumstances around ''Octopussy'''s release were highly unusual in that another James Bond film was being released in the same year. Spearheaded by ''[[Thunderball (film)|Thunderball]]'' producer [[Kevin McClory]] (who retained film rights to the property because the antecedent 1961 [[Ian Fleming]] novel was based on an unfilmed 1959 screenplay produced under the aegis of McClory, [[Jack Whittingham]] and Fleming), the non-Eon production ''[[Never Say Never Again]]'' featured his predecessor [[Sean Connery]] returning to the role of Bond. Although tantamount to a loose remake of ''Thunderball'', it was not set in the continuity of the previous Eon Bond films. This led to the media dubbing the one-time situation the "Battle of the Bonds".

He made a cameo as Chief [[Inspector Clouseau]], posing as a famous movie star, in ''[[Curse of the Pink Panther]]''<ref name="ebert"/> (1983) (for which he was credited as "Turk Thrust II"). Then he tried a thriller ''[[The Naked Face (film)|The Naked Face]]'' (1984), written and directed by [[Bryan Forbes]].

====''A View to a Kill'' (1985)====
Moore starred in his final Bond film, ''[[A View to a Kill]]'' (1985). He was the oldest actor to have played Bond – he was 45 in ''Live and Let Die'', and 58 when he announced his retirement on 3 December 1985, having played the part for over twelve years. With seven films Moore holds the record for playing Bond the most times in the Eon series but is tied with Sean Connery in number of times playing Bond when counting Connery's non-Eon appearance in ''[[Never Say Never Again]]'' (1983).<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://evert.meulie.net/various/all-james-bond-movies/|title=James Bond: 12(!) actors, and 26 movies in 54 years|work=the web log of Evert |access-date=25 May 2017 |language=en-GB}}</ref>

In 1987 he hosted ''Happy Anniversary 007: 25 Years of James Bond''.<ref name="BFI"/>