Just
a month ago he celebrated his 85th birthday but Sir Roger Moore, star
of seven James Bond movies between 1973 and 1985, shows no signs of
slowing down.
He's been touring the country to promote his new book, Bond On Bond, which pays homage to 50 years of 007 as Skyfall becomes the most successful instalment in the longest-running film franchise in history.
Sir Roger has nothing but praise for the new movie, and considers Daniel Craig the best of the Bonds.
"Daniel Craig brings to Bond the killer instinct. He's quite sensational in the movie," says Sir Roger, in an interview to promote his new book.
"I saw a screening of it a couple of weeks ago. It not only guarantees another 50 years of Bond but probably 100. It's quite extraordinary."
He admits the movies have become much more gritty since he played Bond with a lot more tongue-in-cheek humour than his macho predecessor Sean Connery.
"I don't really see a fellow who can walk into any bar in the world and be known as James Bond, a man who likes martinis shaken not stirred, as a real spy. Spies are anonymous people, faceless individuals who blend into the background," he says.
When he handed in his licence to kill, Sir Roger was constantly asked who should replace him.
"In fact, I did make a number of suggestions to Cubby (Broccoli, the producer) - always names of really bad actors so I looked good by comparison. In the end I was forced to abandon that idea as I couldn't find any actors worse than me."
But he believes the Bond films will endure for many years to come. "I've tried many times to analyse why they have endured. The producers use all the money on the screen.
"They don't skimp on what the audience looks at. The locations are always different, usually exotic, the ladies are always intriguing, people love the gadgets, and they've now got the right Bond for today's day and age, the way it is.
"Three generations are seeing Bonds now. I compare it to telling a bedtime story. It's the same formula - it's good and evil and good will eventually win. You can change the locations and the people but as long as the story is the same you don't disappoint."
Sir Roger was 58 when he played the suave, sophisticated British spy for the last time in A View To A Kill, and in some ways the role put paid to the rest of his acting career, he admits.
"I was typecast as a straight leading man and the hero. That's my acting, because a hero I am not."
But after Bond, he received many scripts which he simply wasn't interested in.
"I didn't try to free myself from the Bond ties, but I just didn't like some of the things that I was offered. I'd had enough whizz bangs, being blown up and looking terribly brave."
Today, he divides his time between his homes in Switzerland and Monaco, where he lives with his fourth wife, multi millionairess Kristina Tholstrup, who was his former neighbour on the Cote d'Azur.
And while there's a whole section on Bond girls in his book, he assures me with a twinkle in his eye: "The leading lady in my life is Kristina - I say that because she's standing behind me with a knife in my back. Actually, she's not. She's standing across the hall pointing a gun."
He's misses England, he says, although he returns regularly. "We like to catch up on Sunday roasts. Kristina has a daughter who lives here and I have a daughter who lives here so we see them a lot of the time.
"I love England. I miss the tea rooms, the fish and chips, but not the weather. I would love a cottage in the country but then I think, 'Oh my God, I'd have to do gardening!'"
He is widely recognised when he's out and about in Britain. "Sometimes people will call me Mr Bond and they'll call Kristina Mrs Bond. I say, 'It's Lady Bond, if you don't mind'."
While playing Bond in seven movies may have typecast him, it also acted as a springboard to his second career as goodwill ambassador for Unicef.
It was while working on Octopussy, his sixth film as James Bond, in India in 1983 that he was shocked by the poverty he saw.
His friend Audrey Hepburn had impressed him with her work for Unicef, and he was persuaded to became a Unicef goodwill ambassador in 1991.
"I had sufficient celebrity status worldwide from the amount of television I did, with The Saint and The Persuaders and Ivanhoe, so I'd been in people's living rooms for many years.
"It's that notoriety that helps Unicef with spokespeople. Today we have Mia Farrow, Ewan McGregor and David Beckham."
Moore is involved with awareness programmes and fund-raising, was knighted in 2003 for his charity work for Unicef and still travels widely for the cause.
"People say, 'In your role for Unicef' and I say, 'Please don't say role because it implies you're acting'. Bond was a role, this is real life.
"We are talking about the fact that today, 22,000 children die every day needlessly of preventable causes."
Sir Roger remains a sprightly octogenarian who is reluctant to slow down, although his knees are not what they used to be.
"I couldn't run for a bus, not that I have to catch buses. I have a free bus pass which I haven't used yet."
In any event, it's planes, not buses, that have been his mode of transport recently. He jetted to the US to promote Bond On Bond, then to Austria and then back to Britain.
And he seems genuinely baffled when asked how he relaxes. "I read a lot and in between reading, I stuff my face with food and watch a lot of old television. I love the old re-runs of The Vicar Of Dibley, Are You Being Served? and Keeping Up Appearances."
Bond On Bond by Roger Moore is published by Michael O'Mara, priced £25 and is now available in stores.
