#RIP Roger Moore: Beloved James Bond of my childhood is gone

Roger Moore

Roger Moore will always hold a special place in my heart.

The actor who was most famous for playing James Bond from the late 1970s until the mid-1980s died today at age 89. He was the Bond that got me hooked on the series as a kid and the series itself helped turn me into the addictive movie watcher I am today, so I owe him a lot. I had no idea that Moore's sillier, campier Bond was always held in less esteem than Sean Connery's (even by Moore himself).

When I was a kid, his 007 movies were the fun ones, the ones I would watch over and over again.

While my brother and father were more hooked on Connery's more serious, Cold War-centric entries, I was drawn to Moore's playful smirk, ability to drop a devastating one-liner with ease and his more lascivious nature when it came to the ladies.

Critics have not been kind to Moore's seven Bond outings over the years, with a couple of exceptions. But there has been a bit of a re-evaluation and a warming up to his interpretation among fans more recently. I think that is in part because for the all the ruthlessness and intensity of the Daniel Craig 007 films, they are largely missing the wit and good-natured charm of the Moore movies.

Moore was the actor who chose not to take Bond too seriously, to own the absurdity of this series about a virtually indestructible British secret agent and to revel in the role. He always seemed to be having a good time playing James Bond and his joy was infectious for viewers.

It took him a couple movies to fully blossom into the part, but by the time 1977's The Spy Who Loved Me rolled around he had totally made it his own. And he would star in two more of my favorites -- For Your Eyes Only (a gritty, scaled down Bond movie, which my wife and I consider one of the most underrated entries) and Octopussy, which is terrific despite its silly double entendre of a name.

Sure, there were missteps. The Man with the Golden Gun may be one of my least favorite Bond films, and although there are elements of A View to a Kill that are a lot of fun, Moore was pushing 60 when he made it and his age showed.

Still, no one was more self-deprecating about his deficiencies as an actor than Moore himself, who not only parodied his persona in movies like The Cannonball Run but openly talked about being "the fourth best James Bond."

Ironically, real Bond aficionados think Moore's posh and proper Bond was actually closer to Ian Fleming's original conception. And I would also argue that he is solidly the third best Bond after Daniel Craig and Sean Connery.

But it really doesn't matter where you rank him. The point is that he was a delight as an actor and as man and he will be sorely missed.