13 posts tagged “roger moore”

Before Steve Martin, Roger Moore, not Peter Sellers, was the last person to play Chief Insp Jacques Clouseau.

I was, of course, referring to Simon Templar, or at least the TV incarnation of him as played by Roger Moore. For today I spotted the following down the road from the office:

It’s a beautifully maintained Volvo 1800S from 1967 (and yes, I could tell without looking at the registration certificate).
   A few hours before there was this beautiful 1959 MGA hardtop on the other side of Latimer Park:    Earlier today, I also spotted a Karmann Ghia Typ 3 and yesterday, a 1972 Volkswagen Typ 4.
   Christchurch seems to be the home of many a classic car—two months ago, I came across a beautiful old Ford Falcon Wagon. These Cantabrians seem to love their classics.

Jen mentioned that she attended a concert where ‘Gotta Get Away’ was performed. Since she was born in a different decade to me, I am pretty sure she does not mean this:

Show us a fictional character that you have been a fan of since your childhood.
Submitted by Jack Yan.

That’s two Vox Hunts from yours truly this week. Since I wrote it, I should answer it.

   This chap would have to qualify, being the Saint I grew up with, rather than Roger Moore. I’m pretty sure that Leslie Charteris, the Singaporean-born Leslie Bowyer-Yin, intended Simon Templar to be a Chinese bloke, but just as I didn’t blink when the cinematic Felix Leiter went from a white Texan to an African–American in the James Bond films, so what if a Caucasian is the Saint?
   Since then I have seen all the colour Roger Moore episodes and read many of Charteris’s stories. I even saw the pilot where Australian actor, Andrew Clarke, played a Templar-with-a-mo, as well as the Val Kilmer movie which tried to get back to the literary character, with Simon Templar’s numerous aliases.

Better than having interviewers asking him exactly the same questions every time, Sir Roger Moore markets his own book, My Word Is My Bond, in 2008.

This was a real treat: The Persuaders’ Tony Curtis and Sir Roger Moore, reunited on The Alan Titchmarsh Show in 2008, during Tony’s promotion of his book, American Prince. There’s nothing new here—Jonathan Ross did a more in-depth interview—but the look on Tony’s face when he is surprised with the announcement that Sir Roger was there is priceless.

Sir Roger Moore is interviewed by Wossy—and despite my misgivings about Jonathan Ross, this is a very good interview. Far, far better than what Sir Roger was subjected to about his book, My Word Is My Bond (incidentally, it is excellent), when he visited New Zealand. It was apparent that Ross’s staff actually read the book. In New Zealand, the only evidence was that TV One and TV3 staff had flicked through the pictures and both Close-up and Campbell Live asked Sir Roger about a scene with Jane Seymour in Live and Let Die—which they garnered from a single caption. It was embarrassing.
   Jonathan Ross usually annoys me by going on too much but here he strikes the right balance and allows Sir Roger to tell his very entertaining yarns. Part 1 discusses Sir Roger’s childhood and his MGM days with Lana Turner, and Part 2 takes the story from The Persuaders on.

I don’t recall reading about this in Sir Roger Moore’s autobiography, though I did read a news report on it in 1983:

James Bond’s choice is not an Aston Martin or a Lotus Esprit, but a Toyota Corona.
   The idea was that SPECTRE agents would be bored to death when they were locked inside the interior. And as Japanese cars are generally well made, it would ensure that Mr Bigglesworth, the cat, could not claw his way out through gaps in the panels.

What fictional character do you relate to most and why?

Let’s see: what Chinese fictional character had to operate in the west, deal to the establishment, drive a rare two-door car, impersonate others, and have his adventures chronicled?
   Simon Templar.
   Pity he was always played by Caucasians on the screen, but I always thought he was Chinese, since his creator was. A new pilot is being made now, which, inter alia, Sir Roger Moore and his son Geoffrey are producing.

   TV trivia buffs might notice John Steed’s Rover SD1 from The New Avengers in the last car chase, reused here. It was also George Cowley’s Rover SD1 in the first season of The Professionals. Stingey British Leyland!

There’s now a second video from the documentary The Saint Steps in … to Colour on YouTube, detailing how scriptwriter Terry Nation would rehash his scripts for different series. This would be fine years apart, but one week he got caught out on US television when The Saint was rerun with a new episode of The Baron.
   Goodness, de Vere before he met Audrey!
   Ian Ogilvy provides the narration.