He may be remembered for his role as the iconic British spy, but Sir Roger Moore's role as UN goodwill ambassador, which he considers his greatest role, will be remembered for making a difference.
In the 1990s, there were only two contenders for the title of 'The Best James Bond' -- Sean Connery and Roger Moore. Timothy Dalton had acted in two movies, and Australian George Lazenby had acted in one, so while they had the distinction of playing James Bond, people would usually ignore them.
It was natural for a friendly rivalry to exist between Connery and Moore. Moore, the first choice for the British secret agent, had already made prior commitments to the commercially successful television series The Saint, where he played a detective. Only after Connery wanted to explore avenues outside 007 that Roger Moore finally stepped in.
People recall some of the more famous Bond movies that had Moore. Live and Let Die (1973) and The Spy Who Loved Me (1977) were my personal favourites, while Octopussy (1883) and A View To A Kill (1985) fall in my list of bottom five Bond movies of all time.
Having said that, my favourite onscreen moment of Roger Moore is a television commercial with UNICEF – a place that the actor said gave him the most satisfaction in his professional career. The commercial has Moore at JFK airport hailing a taxi. When he boards it, the cab driver recognises him as James Bond, following which Moore goes on to explain the importance of the work UNICEF does.
At the end of the commercial, the cab driver refuses to take a fare, and tells Moore that he loved his role in The Untouchables – a 1987 film that had Sean Connery. Moore looks annoyed and walks away.
He may not have been the best James Bond, but Sir Roger Moore had the other actors who played the British secret agent paying tributes to him. Sir Sean Connery in a statement said, ‘We had an unusually long relationship by Hollywood standards that was filled with jokes and laughter, I will miss him.”
Moore was one of UNICEF's longest-serving goodwill ambassadors. In its statement, UNICEF said, "With the passing of Sir Roger Moore, the world has lost one of its great champions for children – and the entire UNICEF family has lost a great friend. In his most famous roles as an actor, Sir Roger was the epitome of cool sophistication; but in his work as a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador, he was a passionate – and highly persuasive – advocate for children. He once said that it was up to all of us to give children a more peaceful future. Together with Lady Kristina, he worked very hard to do so."
Moore was introduced to UNICEF by the late Audrey Hepburn. “My curiosity got the better of me after Audrey Hepburn introduced me to UNICEF," he said. "I wanted to find out more than just the facts and figures." He was appointed a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador on 9 August 1991. His work with UNICEF also took him to Brazil, Ghana, Jamaica, Indonesia, Korea, Japan, Netherlands, Kazakhstan, Slovenia, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Philippines and Mexico. He brought attention to the desperate conditions facing some of the world’s most vulnerable children and was a compelling voice on issues such as children’s rights, HIV/AIDS, land mine injuries, child labour and iodine deficiency.
More recently, a commercial where he promotes clean drinking water while parodying James Bond did the rounds on social media.
Nobody would associate James Bond with goodwill, but for the past 30 years, Moore managed to. And for that, as Daniel Craig's tribute said, 'nobody will ever do it better.'.
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