(CNN) – Actor Roger Moore, who played secret agent James Bond, has died.
His family says Moore passed away after a short battle with cancer.
Before he was Bond, Sir Roger Moore was just plain old Roger–the only child of a policeman and homemaker mother–growing up in South London.
Moore said,”If it hadn’t been for them, I couldn’t have been an actor. They had to support me while I was studying. Studying, you know, when I was abroad, during the war.”
At age 18, at the end of World War II, he was conscripted for National Service.
He was stationed in West Germany where he looked after the entertainers who were passing through Hamburg to perform for servicemen.
Before his stint in the military, Moore attended drama school at the Royal Academy. And once the war was over he got a jump start on his acting career.
By 1954, he had signed a contract with MGM. But after a string of flops, such as the box office bust “Diane” starring Lana Turner, he was released after only two years.
It was in television where Moore first made a name for himself.
In 1958, he started as the lead character in the British TV series “Ivanhoe.”
Then went on to star in U.S. Tv Westerns “The Alaskans” and “Maverick.”
Ironically it was Sean Connery who was originally offered the Maverick role, but he turned it down.
Moore’s big break came when he was cast as Simon Templar in the long-running British mystery series “The Saint.” It lasted six seasons and turned Moore into an international star.
It also showed off his cool demeanor and quick wit–traits he would catch the eye of Albert Brocolli, famed producer of the James Bond films.
Moore became the third actor to play the spy in the film franchise after Sean Connery and George Lazenby.
But he’s perhaps one of the most memorable, playing in more Bond films than any other.
He had a playful, satirical approach to the role. Whereas Sean Connery was serious and sophisticated, Moore was the comical, charming ladies’ man.
Moore opined, “I always said that Sean was a killer and I was a lover.”
Roger Moore’s first film as the famous spy, 1973’s “Live and Let Die”, saw him traipsing through Harlem and the jungles of the Caribbean on the tail of a bad guy Mr. Big.
Audiences laughed in the theaters as Moore’s Bond went toe-to-toe with the impossible villain “Jaws” in “The Spy Who Loved Me.”
Critics would liken its fantasy action sequence with that of Star Wars.
With the arch of an eye-brow, the smooth star’s take on Bond attracted new audiences.
“They saw things they didn’t see in their everyday life,” said Moore. “And then you mix that up with beautiful girls, a great adventure, the old hero story, the white knight.”
Moore would make his final appearance as 007 in 1985’s “A View to a Kill” after which he would only act sporadically.
Instead, he turned his attention to charity work. He became a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador in 1991 and has participated in campaigns for the animal rights group PETA.
Despite his change in focus, the actor always credited his most famous role for catapulting him to greater influence.
Moore said, “I’ve been terribly lucky. And I don’t know why. Why I should have been selected to be–have sort of the luck shine upon them. But I always kept working. I sort of had some… many, many happy moments.”
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