Tags
007, Audrey Hepburn, Humanitarian, James Bond, Knighthood, Queen Elizabeth, Sir Roger Moore, UNICEF
It has been a sad week. On May 23, Sir Roger Moore passed away. He wasn’t the original James Bond, but he was my favorite and the Bond that many of us grew up with. He was one of my film heroes.
He was also a hero in real life. Besides his illustrious acting career, Roger Moore was also a humanitarian. He helped better, and possibly save, the lives of thousands, if not millions, of children around the world due to his UNICEF efforts. He became an ambassador for UNICEF in 1991 after having been introduced to it by UNICEF ambassador Audrey Hepburn earlier in his acting career. His efforts with UNICEF earned him a knighthood from Queen Elizabeth. You can read more about his UNICEF accomplishments on the UNICEF website.
When I was a kid, Roger Moore was the “King of Cool.” His Bond taught many guys like me how a well-mannered, sophisticated gentleman should act. I was a small-town boy from southeast Louisiana. My view of the world was limited. I was filled with pride and excitement when I first learned that Roger’s first Bond film, “Live and Let Die,” was partially filmed in New Orleans, Louisiana (a mere one hour drive from my hometown). Roger Moore’s James Bond opened my eyes to the world and showed me many exotic locales like England, Italy, France, Greece, Egypt, Brazil, Thailand, China, Jamaica and the The Bahamas just to name a few. Henceforth, my desire to travel abroad and see the world was ignited.
