Roger Moore

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He’s been a saint, a spy and a Spitting Image puppet but today he’s happiest when he’s helping the world’s poorest children. Which? Money Quarterly’s Nick Cheek talks to Sir Roger Moore.

You’d probably raise an eyebrow at the idea that a man as suave as Sir Roger Moore, made his first money ‘helping the milkman do his rounds on Saturdays for 6d or a shilling.’ From those humble beginnings in Stockwell, south London, Moore was to become one of Britain’s biggest TV and movie stars, with a string of hits in the sixties and seventies such as Ivanhoe, The Saint, and The Persuaders. But it was his record-breaking stint (seven films) as Britain’s favourite superspy James Bond (where he replaced another former milkman and future knight Sir Sean Connery, in the role), which catapulted him to international superstardom. As 007, he travelled to the most glamorous locations, kept the world safe from the likes of Blofeld, Jaws and Grace Jones and managed to achieve the impossible by becoming the only man ever to look good in a safari suit. Danger was met with unruffled charm, criminal masterminds were disarmed with smooth one-liners and femmes fatales were disrobed with a smile and on one famous occasion a watch (in his 1973 Bond debut Live and Let Die).

Today, the 82-year-old former 007 works as a UNICEF (United Nations Children’s Fund) Goodwill Ambassador and his missions are of a far more harrowing nature. Gone are the beaches, casinos and excesses of Bond, replaced by shanty towns, poverty and famine. Over the last two decades, Moore has dedicated himself to raising awareness and funds for those children devastated by war, hunger and disease. He was recruited to the UNICEF cause in 1991 by legendary actor Audrey Hepburn. He told Which? Money Quarterly: ‘Audrey and I were near-neighbours in Switzerland. She asked if I would co-host the Danny Kaye International Children’s Awards in Amsterdam … of course I would. Audrey was one of UNICEF’s most passionate ambassadors. She introduced me to UNICEF and their work. Her passion was infectious and before I knew it she had, happily, recruited me to become a UNICEF Ambassador.’ So successful has he been in his Goodwill Ambassador role, that, in 2003, he was awarded a Knighthood in the Queen’s Birthday Honours. We were lucky enough to catch up the star of the upcoming Cats and Dogs 2: The revenge of Kitty Galore (seems he still can’t break the binds of Bond), as he jetted off on a UNICEF fundraising mission to Lithuania and discovered what he does with money, how much he does for charity and why, in his words, he’s ‘a mean bastard’ and a ‘terrible, unashamed ponce’.

MOORE MONEY

Which? Money Quarterly: Did you get pocket money as a child? If so, how much?

Roger Moore: My parents gave me 3d a week which gradually increased to 6d. Occasionally I also helped out family friends who ran a bakery – they didn’t pay me, but allowed me to take home as many buns as I could carry.

W?MQ: Who taught you about money?

RM: My mother and father taught me the value of money. One thing I remember vividly was how my father enjoyed a bar of chocolate on a Sunday afternoon. It was his weekly treat to himself. I was sent off with a 10 shilling note to get his chocolate and a packet of sweets for myself. In the shop, I reached in to my pocket for the note to pay with, and realised it had gone. I searched the gutters and bushes along the route home – moving slower than Shakespeare’s description of the schoolboy ‘crawling like snail to school’. I arrived home, to be greeted by my father. “Where is my chocolate, then?” I confessed that I had lost the 10 shilling note. Seeing how upset I was, my father produced the
note and said: “No, you dropped it on the floor before you left the house. Now let that be a lesson to you to look after your money.”

W?MQ: Are you a spender or a saver?

RM: A bit of both. I’m not an impulsive spender. If I go shopping, then I usually know what I want before I go out. Mind, once I find it and like it, I tend to just pay without shopping around. I only buy what I need and probably spend most of my money on entertaining and dinners.

W?MQ: Are you good with money?

RM: I don’t think I am – otherwise I’d be richer.

W?MQ: When did you buy your first house?

RM: I’d always rented, but once I was well into my Saint years (1962-1969) and had started a family, I decided I should buy. We bought a bungalow in Totteridge, North London. It was £7,500. That was in 1964. A few years later we sold it for £12,000 and I thought I was being a terrible profiteer.