Sir Roger George Moore (October 14, 1927 – May 23, 2017) was an English actor. He was the third actor to portray Ian Fleming’s fictional secret agent James Bond in the Eon Productions/MGM Studios film series. Moore’s seven appearances as Bond are the most of any actor in the Eon-produced entries.
In the early 1950s, before his major acting breaks, Moore worked as a male model in the UK. His good looks landed him print advertisements for various products, most famously for knitwear, which earned him the nickname “The Big Knit.”
His earliest known television appearance was in the one-off program “Drawing Room Detective” on the BBC in 1950. He also had minor roles in other British films in the very early part of the decade, such as One Wild Oat (1951).
Moore moved to the United States in 1953 to pursue his acting career. In March 1954, he signed a seven-year contract with MGM. However, the experience was disappointing for him, and the films were not commercially or critically successful. Moore famously quipped about his time there: “At MGM, RGM was NBG” (Roger George Moore was No Bloody Good). He was released from the contract after just two years.
Toward the latter half of the decade, Moore found more substantial success in the burgeoning medium of television, which provided him with his first major leading roles. After leaving MGM, Moore began to freelance, appearing in various US TV anthology series like Ford Star Jubilee (1956) and Lux Video Theatre (1957).
He returned to England to star as Sir Wilfred of Ivanhoe in the syndicated television series Ivanhoe (1958–1959). This role, where he was suitably dashing in medieval armor, was his first major success and gave him international recognition. Following Ivanhoe, Moore signed with Warner Bros. and took a starring role in the US adventure series The Alaskans (1959–1960), playing a fast-talking swindler named Silky Harris. These television roles in the late 1950s paved the way for his iconic 1960s TV success as Simon Templar in The Saint, which ultimately led to his role as James Bond.
Even in the 1950s, Moore was known for his elegant charm, wit, and refined style — traits that became his trademark. He was often described as effortlessly polite, with a sense of humor that kept him popular both on and off screen. Here’s a selection of 30 amazing photos of a young and handsome Roger Moore in the 1950s:
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