British actor Roger Moore, who will be remembered for playing James Bond, died on Tuesday at 89, his family said in a statement.

“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,” they said in a Twitter post.

Super spy

Moore was never one to boast about his acting ability but then the facts spoke for themselves — he played James Bond in more films than any other man.

Known for his ironically raised eyebrow and deadpan quips, Moore’s take on the suave super spy was more tongue-in-cheek than that of his manly predecessor Sean Connery.

But he outgunned Connery and all the other actors to have played 007 by taking the role he fondly called “Jimmy Bond” in a record number of seven films.

Moore was also one of the last of the old-style movie stars, who counted Frank Sinatra and David Niven among his friends and lived in luxury in Switzerland and the French Riviera.

He went on to become a real-life hero as an ambassador for UNICEF, even as he downplayed his own talents.

“I’m not that cold-blooded killer type. Which is why I play it mostly for laughs,” he once said.

“Not done badly”

Born Roger George Moore, on October 14, 1927, in the London suburb of Stockwell, he was the only son of a police constable and his wife, and had a happy childhood.

“I’ve not done badly for a boy from Stockwell, where I used to gaze at the silver screen in wonderment, little realising I’d be a part of this magical world,” he wrote in his autobiography, “My Word Is My Bond.”

Moore began his acting career as an extra in the 1940s before studying at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art.

He landed an MGM Studio contract but only had supporting roles during the 1950s.

It was not until the following decade that he achieved worldwide fame, starring in the British television show “The Saint” as smooth-talking adventurer Simon Templar.

He also played alongside Tony Curtis in the 1970s crime series “The Persuaders”.

Moore said in his autobiography he had been approached about playing James Bond, novelist Ian Fleming’s fictional secret agent, as early as 1967.

But it was not until 1973 that he finally won the role – despite, at 45, being two and a half years older than Connery, the man he replaced.

Moore made his debut in “Live and Let Die”, after the producers made him lose weight, get fit and cut his hair.

He followed it with “The Man With the Golden Gun” (1974), “The Spy Who Loved Me” (1977), “Moonraker” (1979), “For Your Eyes Only” (1981) and “Octopussy” (1983) before bowing out after “A View to a Kill” in 1985, when he was 57.

Most enjoyable Bond experience

“Sadly, I had to retire from the Bond films,” Moore said at a ceremony to award him a star on Hollywood’s “Walk of Fame”, just ahead of his 80th birthday. “The girls were getting younger and I was just getting too old.”

Moore said his most enjoyable Bond experience came in “The Spy Who Loved Me”, memorable for a cast of villains that included “Jaws” played by Richard Kiel – who died in 2014 – and gadgets including a Lotus Esprit sports car which doubled as a submarine.

“I think ‘The Spy Who Loved Me’ was the best, or rather the one I enjoyed doing the most,” Moore said in an interview in 2007. “It had great locations. And I was exceedingly happy working with Lewis Gilbert, the director.”

He had less fun with the actress Grace Jones on “A View to a Kill”.

“I’ve always said that if you’ve nothing nice to say about someone, then you should say nothing. So I’ll say nothing,” he recalled.

While fans debate which actor proved to be the best incarnation of 007, Moore revealed he had never discussed the subject with the other actors.

Even when Connery emerged from retirement in 1983 to appear in the “unofficial” Bond film “Never Say Never Again” – released in the same year as Moore’s “Octopussy” – the two actors did not discuss the subject.

That was partly due to a mutual friend, Michael Caine, advising them not to be suckered into joining a media-driven “Battle of the Bonds.”

“Sean and I never discussed our experiences … not even with the leading ladies!” Moore said. “Actors don’t really sit around discussing the parts they’ve played – just in case someone says ‘That was crap!'”

But he later admitted he was a big fan of the current Bond, British actor Daniel Craig.

“Daniel Craig is the hardest, then Sean,” he said in an interview.

Self-deprecating

Moore acted in other films both during and after the Bond years but none had anything like the success of 007.

He was always self-deprecating when it came to his own skills, once joking: “I have three expressions, left eye, right eye and none moving at all.”

Moore also enjoyed the high life, with a group of celebrity friends and homes in southwestern Switzerland and Monaco.

In recent years, Moore had become known for his humanitarian work through his activities as a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador, helping raise funds for under-privileged children.

He was awarded a knighthood in 2003, in recognition of his work with the organisation.

He was also an active campaigner against the production of foie gras.

In 1993, he underwent surgery for prostate cancer; in 2003 he was fitted with a pacemaker; and in 2013 he was diagnosed with diabetes.

In 2014, he published “Last Man Standing: Tales from Tinseltown”, titled “One Lucky Bastard” in the United States.

In 2015, he was number 38 in British GQ magazine’s 50 best dressed men.

Moore was married four times and is survived by two sons and a daughter.

During his first two marriages – to ice skater Doorn Van Steyn and singer Dorothy Squires – he once admitted he had been physically abused.

His children were all with Italian actress Luisa Mattioli, whom he married in 1969 and divorced in 1996. He married Kristina Tholstrup, a Swede, in 2002.

Tributes

Tributes pour in shortly after the announcement of his death.

“With the passing of Sir Roger Moore, the world has lost one of its great champions for children – and the entire UNICEF family has lost a great friend,” said the UN agency’s executive director Anthony Lake.

Moore’s children said he considered the UNICEF work — for which he was awarded a knighthood in 2003 — his “greatest achievement”.

“The affection our father felt whenever he walked onto 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,” they added.

Duran Duran, the British band that provided the eponymous theme tune for “A View to a Kill”, Moore’s last turn as Bond, wrote in a tweet: “#RIP Roger.”

Paying tribute, Hollywood star Russell Crowe remarked on Twitter that at the age 10 he tried to dress like Moore’s breakthrough character Simon Templar.

“Roger Moore, loved him,” Crowe tweeted.

Pinewood Studios, the British filming location west of London for most of the Bond films, described Moore as a “force of nature”, adding that “his humour and spirit will be missed by all of us.”

TRT World’s Kisha Ferguson takes a look at his career.