Fans of the James Bond 007 movies are mourning the death of Sir Roger Moore, who portrayed the famous fictional spy in seven EON film productions. Roger Moore was 89 years old and passed away in Switzerland. According to Moore's family, he lost a brief battle with cancer.
With the heaviest of hearts, we must share the awful news that our father, Sir Roger Moore, passed away today. We are all devastated. pic.twitter.com/6dhiA6dnVg
— Sir Roger Moore (@sirrogermoore) May 23, 2017
Moore's 007 resume
While not the first actor to play 007, Moore holds the record of EON movie productions appearing as James Bond.
He followed George Lazenby and Sean Connery's performances as Bond and was the third to play him in the EON productions. He made his 007 film debut in 1973's "Live and Let Die," which was the eight EON Bond production. Six more Bond films starring Moore came out, including "The Man with the Golden Gun," "The Spy Who Loved Me," "Moonraker," "For Your Eyes Only," "Octopussy," and "A View to a Kill." In terms of years, Moore was James Bond from 1973-1985.
The Moore era of James Bond was interesting. The movies during this time had a lot of different things: voodoo themes, sci-fi, super-human henchmen, psychotic villains, and powerful golden weapons that can kill with one shot. He worked with big-time actors during these films with the likes of Geoffrey Holder, Christopher Lee, Richard Kiel, and Christopher Walken.
Putting together all seven of his films, they made over a billion dollars at the worldwide box office; "Moonraker" was the first Bond film to hit over $200 million worldwide.
Moore's 007 legacy
Since there have been numerous actors to play James Bond, opinions on his performance vary. His movies are often seen as "less serious" and a bit more "cheesy." From "Live and Let Die" with Baron Samedi (Geoffrey Holder), an immortal voodoo master, to the silly sci-fi space adventure of "Moonraker" that involved laser guns and space battles, there was a lot more fantasy involved in the Moore films.
Not to say that the other films don't have some fantasy in them, but the Moore films contained more than the others. Also, people cannot help but notice the silly puns and jokes Moore made throughout the movies.
With that being said, the films still had great success and are still big parts of the Bond franchise. Not to mention that many of his films featured some of the most successful theme songs: "A View to a Kill" by Duran Duran hit number one on the billboard charts in 1985 and Paul McCartney & the Wings performed "Live and Let Die," which hit number 2 in 1973.
Will an actor ever match Moore's record for EON James Bond performances? Only time will tell. Rest in Peace, Sir Roger Moore.
