Book #32: “My Word Is My Bond” by Roger Moore

My Word Is My Bond

Roger Moore

 Released: November 1st, 2009

My 2nd book for 2024 was Roger Moore’s autobiography.  I am a diehard James Bond fan, and when I found this at one of my favorite local bookstores, I was ecstatic to find this at long last.  I had been looking for it a number of years, and was resisting the ease of simply getting it online.

Moore’s first 4 outings as Bond from 1973 - 1979 are among my favorites.  They are very comic book-like compared to the more spyish films of the 1960’s and the more serious and grounded films that followed them.  While I wouldn’t call this period the greatest for Bond films, there is a certain charm about them that rings true and hold its own against other films in the series.  The Man With The Golden Gun is my go-to Bond to throw on.  It’s considered a weaker entry in the series, but for some reason, I cannot resist Christopher Lee’s Scaramanga’s, Moore’s still-new Bond portrayal, Maud Adams, and other elements.  The score to the film is another great element.

But anyways, back to the book.  Moore gives a detailed background of his beginnings, his rise up in the film industry, and his work focusing on bettering the world through UNICEF.  He did not live a perfect life, and made human mistakes that he is not proud of.  The book reads fairly well, and highlights a very optimistic narration.  

Here is what I learned:

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• Roger Moore began writing his Memoir in 1992.
• Later that year, he was a Geneva airport when his wife went to the car to wait for their ride home.  She thought the driver had put the small bags in the car, but turns out, it was stolen with his writing in the bags.
• He did not start writing his memoir again until 2007.
• Moore was born October, 14, 1927 in London, England.
• He was an only child.
• Moore suffered mainly illnesses as a child, such as the mumps. He also had his tonsils removed.
• Moore does not like strawberry flavored ice cream.
• When Moore was age 5, he started his schooling at Hackford Road Elementary.
• When Moore was a child, bullies would attempt to urinate between his legs.  
• Moore’s naturalgrandmothers passed away when each parent was 16.
• Suicide back in the day precluded the right to a church burial
• Moore’s father was a policeman.
• Growing up, Roger wanted to be a policeman like his father.
• His parents never went to bed angry at one another.
• Moore developed double bronchial pneumonia when he was younger and his father was forced to sell his motorbike to pay the medical bill.  This was 15 years before the National Health Service came into being.
• Moore and his friends would take a large potato from their houses, and cook the. Over a heated brazier.  Throughout his life, he enjoyed a good baked potato.
• For his 8th birthday, Roger received a pet dog named Pip.  He only lived five weeks before being run over by a taxi.
• He was a Cub Scout growing up.
• Moore was circumcised at age 8.
• Moore has a pet peeve of eggs being improperly cooked.
• He and his friend Reg were nearly molested as children, by a lake.  They got away, so the perverted man stole their food and ran off.
• In the old days, packs of Cogarettes carried trading cards of sports stars, motor cars, and celebrities.
• He celebrated winning a scholarship with a celebratory baked beans on toast and lemonade.
• Young Roger was sent away to a boarding school during the early years of World War II.
• Once on a farm, Moore was hanging out with some other boys, and he took a rock and killed a bird with it.  He was against animal violence ever since that event.
• One time he was playing around with air rifles and his friend took a pot shot to the back of his knee.  After the pain became unbearable, his parents took him to the Hospital where they discovered the lead air gun slug had penetrated his knee requiring surgery to remove.
• He once worked at an office called PPP where he first met David Niven.
• Sir Roger enjoyed his years at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA)
• He served in the Royal Army Service Corps
• Moore married his first wife Doorn on Dec, 9th, 1946 on his first leave home from Germany.
• At one point, he was manage by Gordon Harboard.
• Moore is known to wear dark sunglasses even on the darkest of days to show his profession.
• Moore diet during his young age consisted of baked beans on toast.  During a performance one night at the Intimate Theatre in North London, he was walking across stage, and when he hunched down by the fire place, broke wind.
• The famous Windmill Theatre was known in the 40’s and 50’s as the home of near-nude entertainment.
• Moore’s first marriage was going downhill, and they decided to divorce.  The easiest way to do this was to establish that one spouse had committed adultery.  So Moore had to spend the night with a kind lady at a hotel in Russell Square.  They only needed the maid to come in during the morning, see them both sharing the bed, and that would be enough “evidence” to grant the divorce.
• Moore became good friends with Dorothy Squires, and even became her lover at one point.
• Frankie Howerd wore a wig.
• Moore attempted stand up comedy one rainy night in Pontypridd.
• JFK Airport was callled Idlewild Airport in the 1950’s.
• When Moore came to America, he landed work with MCA.
• Moore began to work on “Robert Montgomery Presents…”
• During the filming of A View to A Kill in 1985, Moore and costar Christopher Walken talked about how they got their start in America.  They both realized they had appeared together in “The Wind Cannot Read”.
• More married Squires in New York, shortly after his divorce was finalized in May 1953.
• Roger was invited to a cocktail launch party of Mae West’s final film.  Ironically it starred future 007 Timothy Dalton in the male lead role.
• In 1953, Moore once took a cab from NBC at Rockefeller Plaza to an interview at MCA offices on Madison.  The cab fare was $0.75.  He gave the driver $1, and instructed him to keep the change.  He later realized in horror that he had mistakenly given him a $100 bill ($1,176.29 in 2024 U.S. Dollars).  Compounding this, he did not even get the job. 
• Joan Dowling’s suicide at a young age, left Moore feeling very shaken.
• Mr. Hollywood was the gatekeeper at MGM’s Culver City Studios.
• Despite not enjoying them, and struggling with the genre, he became a fan of musicals later in life.
• Moore’s film debut was “The Last Time I Saw Paris”.
• Moore was neighbors with William Shatner in the 1950’s.
• Red Buttons once shot a film in Africa with John Wayne.  He fell in love with Bush Babies who are nocturnal animals similar to squirrels.
• One evening, he was using the bathroom, and when he flushed, the Bush Baby came in and dove into the toilet, and was flushed away forever.
• Moore quips “In New York, if people flush baby alligators down the toilet and sewers are crawling with fully grown alligators, in Los Angeles there are colonies of bush babies.”
• Lana Wood taught him how to kiss for film.  “Passion without pressure” than a normal deeply impassioned kiss would produce.
• After moving between Hollywood, New York, and London, he landed a more solid gig with the TV series “Ivanhoe”.
• Johnny Dago, better known as gangster Johnny Stampanato, once turned up on the set of “Another Time, Another Place”, and threatened Sean Connery with a gun.  Connery swiftly wrestled the gun away and decked him in the face.
• Don Rickles was known as “Master of the Insult”
• Max Adrian came in to a shoot of The Third Man one day looking glum.  He had sadness over his mother passing and not having more time with her.  Roger made it a point to call home whenever he could during his travels.
• Once while working with dialogue director Joe Graham, Roger was joking around with the more serious Graham.  He asked him how he put up with his awful jokes.  A profound exchange happened.

Graham: Do you believe in God?  

Moore: Yes, but my my vision of God isn't a man with a big white beard sitting in the clouds. I think God is intelligence. I think of God as the "brain" that created all of this.  

Graham: Yes, you’re on the right track.  Joelle continued something to the effect of “If [Roger] believed our universe was created by some intelligence, then there has to be a reason behind that intelligence - and the reason is that we are all required to acquire further knowledge. He added that if you then believe that what you have been given is only on loan, the biggest sin you can commit is not to use what you have been given.”

• He had to teach Clint Walker how to laugh
• Although not proud of it, Moore ended his marriage to Squires to be with Luisa Mattioli
• Moore had been a member of the ACTT since 1943.
• He tried his hand at directing some episodes of The Saint and a couple movies
• Moore and Patrick Macnee both used the weight loss drug dospan tenuate
• Moore was encouraged by Harry Junkin, to start speeches with introducing himself, and stating he is humbled.
• He was known for pulling pranks as a director.  He would put boot polish on the camera eyepiece.  He also gave a coworker laxative chocolate before a visit with in-laws.  
• Moore finished playing Simon Templar in 1968 after 118 episodes
• Val Kilmer was chosen for The Saint movie while Moore supported the production.  They felt it was poorly received, with Kilmer admitting he didn’t read the novels until after filming and the stories were better than he portrayed the character as.
• The Saint gave Moore financial security
• Moore was finally granted a divorce in 1969
• Lew Grade sold the series The Persuaders with Moore as the lead, without his knowledge.
• “You can’t sell a programme with me in, it’s immoral.”
• Moore agreed to one series as he knew the Bond producers had already begun reaching out to him
• Moore was convinced to stop smoking when Tony Curtis showed him a picture of a diseased lung from smoking cigarettes 
• Tony agreed to do the Persuaders, but upon arrival in London, was arrested for cannabis possession.
• Moore hired his children Deborah and Geoffrey to help him on the Persuaders
• Moore became a movie mogul overnight when George Barrie of the company Fabergé asked him to take over a President of Brut Films
• Cary Grant loved fart stories
• Moore was only involved with Brut for a year.  He then pursued the chance to play James Bond.
• EON Productions was formed in 1962
• Despite popular rumors, Moore was never considered for the role of Bond in 1962’s “Dr No”.
• Sean Connery grew frustrated with his game as Bond, when a Japanese reporter followed him into a toilet and began snapping pictures.
• Connery became the highest paid actor in the world when he was signed for “Diamonds Are Forever”
• Roger was offered a 3-film contract to become James Bond when Sean Connery left the role in 1971.
• Moore had to be conscious of saying “Bond, James Bond” without a Scottish accent
• Moore was asked to lose weight, get in shape, and cut his hair for the role.
• “Live and Let Die” began filming in New York in October 1972
• Cubby Broccoli had to intervene and set free a black stunt driver, who was filling up one of the cars with gasoline when police questioned him, ran the plates, and then arrested him.
• Harry Saltzman was not a fan of the song “Live and Let Die” when he first heard it.  It later went on to become one of the most famous compositions of all time.
• According to Moore, Saltzman liked Moore to know he was the boss
• Broccoli was content just making Bond films.  Saltzman was not, and produced other films concurrently
• Cubby Broccoli once said that if Harry Saltzman had been at The Last Supper, he would have sent it back.
• Harry Saltzman spent more time on the studio floor for Live and Let Die, where Cubby Broccoli spent more time on the studio floor for The Man With The Golden Gun.
• Moore injured himself during the jet boat chase in “Live and Let Die”
• To turn a jet boat, you need to increase the speed.  Then turning the wheel redirects the power to either side.
• During a test run, Moore’s boat ran out of fuel, and his engine cut out, meaning not steering.  His boat crashed into a boat house, ejecting Moore into a wall.  This cracked his front teeth, and twisted his knee.
• Moore suffered from Kidney Stones and was taken to the hospital in Louisiana.  He was given a painkiller called Methylene which turned his urine bright blue.
• One night he opened what he believed was the bathroom door and relieved himself.  He came to find that the door was actually his wardrobe room, and all his clothes were now various shades of blue.
• London double-decker busses are designed to not turn over.  They rarely do.
• As he learned to drive, he considered part time bus driving if times got hard.
• Gloria Hendry was the first black Bond girl.
• There was a lot of negative press about it, but Saltzman out a stop to it, and was supportive of Hendry through it.
• Dr Kananga was named after Ross Kananga, the man who owned the crocodile farm used in the movie.
• Ross’ father was eaten alive by the crocodiles.
• The magnetic watch Bond used to unzip Miss Caruso’s dress did not actually work.  The effect was pulled off via a wire attached to the zipper giving the illusion.
• Jane Seymour wore football (soccer) socks during the love scene with Moore.  This was because it was shot during the winter in England as opposed to the Caribbean during summer.
• Moore compared his first James Bond premiere to having a baby.
• Live and Let Die took in $126 Million at the box office on a $7 Million budget
• Moore agreed to star as Rod Slater in the Michael Klinger-produced film “Gold”.
• He was informed by the ACTT that all members were denied permission to shoot in South Africa due to the apartheid situation.
• If Moore proceeded, all his films would be blacklisted by Hollywood.  
• The actor’s union Equity considered this a blackmail threat and fought for the film.
• Legendary Bond director and editor Peter Hunt
• While shooting in the mines, Moore’s nipples became sensitive and began changing color.  It was arsenic poisoning
• The film was taken over by some shrewd people and Roger never received royalties.  His assistant and business manager were able to legally acquire the negative and he owned the film.
• The Man With The Golden Gun (TMWTGG) was fast tracked into preproduction
• Moore affectionately nicknamed Maud Adams and Britt Ekland “Mud and Birt”
• TMWTGG was the last film Harry Saltzman and Cubby Broccoli produced together.
• Moore would rewrite Desmond Llewelyn’s lines which would frustrate him.  When he came on set to deliver, Moore would crack up when the wrong lines were spoken.
• Hervé Villechaize was a ladies man, who had been with 45 different women just during their stay in Hong Kong
• Villechaize always stayed on the first floor of hotels because he could never reach the buttons in the elevator.
• Moore never discussed business with Cubby Broccoli.  Throughout his years as Bond, they always had a Backgammon game running and kept a book they would settle at the end of filming.  They were always good friends.
• While shooting on the klongs in Bangkok, Moore fell into the water twice 
• The cast and crew were informed that if they fell in, they were to keep the water from passing their lips.
• Moore fell in twice.  First one was on purpose, and the second was after going around a bend near an undertaker.  He opened his eyes underwater, and discovered what was done with impoverished people’s bodies who had passed away.
• The 360° car jump was completed in one take.
• Christopher Lee’s wake-up routine was to sing through his favorite operatic songs 
• Christopher Lee had to apply full on body makeup to achieve Scaramanga’s tan appearance
• Shooting in Pang Na was difficult.  The cast and crew faced a one hour boat ilride before getting made up and changed in a dressing room boat
• Britt Ekland tripped as they were filming the explosion of the villain’s lair.  Moore had to pick her up and get her out fast as the explosions were real.
• In 1974, Khao Phing Kan island was a deserted island.  Now it is a huge tourist destination.
• After TMWTGG finished filming, demand for Moore’s acting skyrocketed.
• Frank Sinatra would do random gestures to people whose work he admired when they needed help
• "You gotta love livin', kid. Because dyin's a pain in the ass.” - Frank Sinatra to Roger Moore
• Cubby Broccoli and Harry Saltzman’s partnership ended in 1975
• Saltzman had put up his shares of Danjaq as security with the banks for money
• Per their 1962 agreement, Danjaq stock was never to be used as security for other ventures.
• Saltzman was forced to sell his 40% share of Danjaq.
• Cubby took legal action against Harry, and it was decided that United Artists would receive the shares.
• Guy Hamilton was originally slated to direct The Spy Who Loved Me, but following the legal battle, he departed to film another project, and the Bond series was shelved for 3 years.
• According to legend, when Lee Marvin had a drink too many, his eyes turned red.
• According to Moore, The Spy Who Loved Me (TSWLM) was big, even by Bond standards.
• Blofeld and SPECTRE were originally intended to return to the series in TSWLM
• Kevin McClory filed a lawsuit claiming he owned Blofeld and the SPECTRE characters and that Christopher Wood had plagiarized his story.
• Moore incorrectly stated that the original novel was written through the eyes of Anya Amasova.  The heroine’s name was Vivienne Michel.
• Ian Fleming had a provision in place that the only thing that could be used for TSWLM film was the title.
• Rick Sylvester was paid $30,000 to ski off Mount Asgard in Canada
• Moore states that at the Premiere, there was a deathly hush across the crowd when Bond skis off the edge of the cliff
• As the Union Jack parachute opened to the James Bond Theme, the crowd gave a standing ovation.
• Any doubts about Cubby Broccoli doing the Bond movies alone were “…swiftly and permanently eradicated at that point.”
• TSWLM was the first time Bond featured in the Opening Titles
• Maurice Binder was a perfectionist who would complete his opening title the day before it was due.
• Every Bond film has a “wanker tape”, which is a complication of the production’s best gaffes.
• In the final scene with Bond and Stromberg, the crew member responsible for the villain’s gun was too quick in the trigger and set Moore’s backside on fire.  He needed the dressing changed twice a day for 2 weeks.
• The food went bad one day in Egypt, so Cubby Broccoli cooked the entire cast and crew a pasta & meatball dinner
• The cast and crew referred to him as “Cubby”. There was no “Mr. Broccoli” on set.
• The “Egyptian Builders” comment was dubbed back in Hollywood due to an Egyptian official on set, monitoring the film.
• Milton Reid who played Sandor, had to fall 2-stories off the 6-story British Museum on to 4-stories of boxes used to break his fall.  
• TSWLM is Roger Moore’s favorite Bond film of the ones he made.
• During the shoot of TSWLM, Moore purchases a Rolls-Royce
• Moore eventually grew to a success rate that caused him to not be able to live in London
• The labour party’s tax policy taxed income above a specified amount at 87%.  Earned income on investments and shares were taxed even higher.
• Moore and family decided to relocate to Switzerland
• Cubby postponed “For Your Eyes Only” and opted for “Moonraker” following the success of “Star Wars”
• An agent working with Euan Lloyd had a bit of a mix up when he penciled OJ Simpson into a role for someone described as “black-Irish”.  Something Lloyd had to tactfully explain what the term referred to.
• Actor Richard Harris had alcohol problems
• Harris once played a prank on Moore where he put a rubber snake at the foot of his bed, and a rubber tarantula in his bed under the sheets.  Moore got his revenge by placing live snakes in Harris’ boots.  He boasts during this story “Don’t f*ck around with Moore.”
• David Niven introduced Moore to the Swiss land and culture
• Moore became a lifelong member of the Eagle Club in Gstaad, Switzerland.
• He later replaced Niven on the committee when he died.
• Starting with Moonraker, the Bond films were made on a film-by-film contract basis.
• Moore and family moved to Paris to shoot Moonraker as tax laws made filling in England impossible.
• Moonraker was the most successful Bond film for 16 years.
• Moore developed a technique with the villains of imaging they had halitosis (bad breath).
• Lois Chiles had such a fixation with her hair that she had her hairdresser flown in on the Concorde
• While shooting in Venice, bells began ringing.  Director Lewis Gilbert asked for someone to stop the bells, before Moore pointed out that the Pope had just died.
• Moore was invited to dine with monks in Venice.  They ate well, and it was a great experience.
• Moore shot cigarette commercials in Venice despite not smoking them.
• One of Moore’s favorite dishes was black squid.
• The Bond films always had a policy that no director ever got a slice of the box office profits.
• Roger Noore guest starred on a great deal of variety shows including his favorite, The Muppet Show
• While shooting a film at Goa, he had a 16-years-old serve as his butler.  He was told the child had run away at age 8.  When he asked why, the kid explained how a group of boys were taken from their homes to go camping with an “uncle”.  They would be given a drugged dinner, before being drug off and having amputations so they could beg for their families.  He later said this was one of the reasons he joined UNICEF
• Bernard Lee was originally cast as “M” in For Your Eyes Only.  He was dying from stomach cancer when he first arrived.  He attempted to shoot a scene but couldn’t get through it.  He resigned the role, and died a short while later.
• Cubby would not recast the role in the film, as a tribute to Lee’s contributions to the series
• Roger Moore learned to ski for the film and later enjoyed it recreationally
• At Topol’s request, Cubby invited Harry Saltzman to the premiere of For Your Eyes Only
• In 1982, Moore presented the Irving G. Thalberg award to Cubby Broccoli
• 1983 featured 2 Bond movies
• Moore and Connery dined together several times as they shot their movies and laughed about the press seeing them as competitors
• Cubby Broccoli received a share of profits from “Never Say Never Again”
• Moore thought for sure that 1983’s “Octopussy” would be his final performance as James Bond
• David Niven was a close friend of Moore’s and he drove 5.5 hours to be with him in his final moments.
• He considered Niven’s Hjordis Genberg to be a bitch, and holds no regret in saying so over her treatment of his friend.
• Hjordis showed up drunk to Niven’s final moments.
• When Niven built his house in the southern part of France, he wanted a 15 ft pool in the background to swim in.  He forgot that the French measure in meters, and they built a 15 meter deep swimming pool.  He had the deepest pool in Europe.
• Moore was asked back to be 007 one more time for 1985’s A View To A Kill
• He did not get along well with co-star Grace Jones
• He enjoyed the filming locations
• The 007 Stage has burned down twice, once in 1985 during pre-production for A View To A Kill, and once after 2006’s Casino Royale
• During the first fire, a gas canister exploded on Ridley Scott’s “Legend”, melting the steel structure.
• Jones brought a large black dildo under the sheets during their love scene
• Moore met and became friends with then-San Francisco mayor Diane Feinstein.
• After the premiere, Cubby and Roger met to discuss the future, and mutually agreed that the series needed a younger actor.
• Moore disputes reports that Broccoli has to force him out of the role, and feels dismay that this is the way it was told in Broccoli’s autobiography.
• Moore’s mother passed away shortly after A View To A Kill
• When Moore found success, he put some money aside as he went along to help his mother’s pension.
• When his mother’s will was read, she never spent a dime, and left it all to be split among Roger’s children.
• Roger and his wife Kristina were at his father’s side when he passed
• Moore never watched any of Timothy Dalton’s 007 films
• Cubby was too ill to produce Goldeneye, so he turned the film over to his daughter Barbara Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson.
• Cubby died shortly after Goldeneye’s release.
• Moore attempted to amend the situation between Connery and Broccoli.  It failed miserably.
• Sean had been quoted as saying if Broccoli’s brain was on fire, he wouldn’t piss on it to put it out.  When questioned by Broccoli, Connery said he would gladly piss in his ear any day.
• In 1986, the Friars Club of New York announced Roger Moore as their “Man of the Year”.
• Being brought in as an “executive producer” is a ploy producers use to get an actor to work on a film for a scaled down fee in an exchange for a piece of said film.
• The commander of the Maine State Police Force made Moore an honorary captain.
• Audrey Hepburn got Moore into UNICEF
• He was paid a salary of $1 per year as a UNICEF Special Representative 
• Roger’s first UNICEF mission was to Guatemala 
• ORT salts help rehydrate the body and prevent death from dehydration caused by diarrhea in third world countries.
• Roger was diagnosed with cancer in 1993
• Due to increased fighting after recovering, Moore walked out on his wife Luisa in the clothes he was wearing.
• In Kristina, Moore found his soulmate who was with him until his death nearly 20 years later.
• Moore did not care for producer Moshe Diamant.
• Moore disliked him so much over their work on “The Quest” that he politely ignored him the rest of his life.
• Received a pacemaker after collapsing at a performance in New York
• Receiver CBE and Knighthood from Great Britain
• Instead of a bill for his pacemaker, Moore received a $10,000 check for donation to UNICEF
• Moore compares drinking Georgian wine to drinking red rust
• Moore enjoyed the writings of Rudyard Kipling
• Moore’s favorite kitchen utensil was the Wok
• Moore found Belgian cuisine first rate
• Moore always looked fresh while traveling by hanging his suits in the bathroom and turning on the tap in the bathroom.  The steam would get rid of any wrinkles.
• Moore received his star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2007 as a nod to his Bond years
• Moore spends a chapter talking about different countries he visited for UNICEF, and his impressions of them.
• When Moore visited Egypt for UNICEF, he discovered that Egypt still performed circumcision on little girls.
• Finland was a more socialist-leaning country, and Moore was grilled by students during his UNICEF visit there
• “A commitment is what turns a promise into reality.” - Abraham Lincoln
• Ireland was the first country to ban smoking in restaurants.
• The Japanese National Committee was the first of the UNICEF family to raise $100,000,000 for the cause
• After a UNICEF visit to Oaxaca in the southern part of Mexico ended with 2 glassfuls of the local tequila, Moore reckoned that he could have made a fortune with it curing all digestive disorders or stripping paint off furniture.
• Mexico has some villages with 100% dwarfism

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Overall, a very good read.  I’m certainly glad I found this book, and highly recommend it.

On to Book #33: Breakfast At Tiffany’s by Truman Capote