Sir Roger Moore, James Bond actor, dies aged 89

JAMES Bond legend Sir Roger Moore has died aged 89 after losing a short battle with cancer.

Posting on his official Twitter account his family said: “With the heaviest of hearts, we must share the awful news that our father, Sir Roger Moore, passed away today. We are all devastated.”

The star was last pictured on November 27 last year entertaining an audience at the Royal Festival Hall

In a statement from his family, they added: “It is with a heavy heart that we must announce our loving father, Sir Roger Moore, has passed away today in Switzerland after a short but brave battle with cancer.

“The love which he was surrounded in his final days was so great it cannot be quantified in words alone.

“We know our own love and admiration will be magnified many times over, across the world, by people who knew him for his films, his television shows, and his passionate work for UNICEF which he considered to be his greatest achievement.

He was pictured in Dublin in October 2016 on his way to the Late Late Show

Sir Roger Moore pictured here with his wife Kristina in 2014

Twentieth Century Fox Press Office

He would go on to star in seven Bond films including Live And Let Die (pictured)

His final outing as 007 was in A View To A Kill in 1985 with actress Grace Jones

“The affection our father felt whenever he walked on to a stage or in front of a camera buoyed him hugely and kept him busy working into his 90th year, through to his last appearance in November 2016 on stage at London’s Royal Festival Hall.
“The capacity crowd cheered him on and off stage, shaking the very foundations of the building just a short distance from where he was born.
“Thank you Pops for being you, and for being so very special to so many people.

As screen royalty Sir Roger would rub shoulders with real royalty on many occasions, last summer he met Prince Charles at a garden party celebrating 40 years of the Prince’s

 

A lover till the end: Sir Roger and his wife Kristina spent many years holidaying on the French Riviera

“Our thoughts must now turn to supporting Kristina at this difficult time, and in accordance with our father’s wishes there will be a private funeral in Monaco.”
The statement was signed off by his three children Deborah, Geoffrey and Christian Moore.
Tributes to Sir Roger have been led by The James Bond International Fan Club, which has said “nobody did Bond better”.