He is an internationally respected Pop Artist and the Father Of Gothic Modelling. And a huge admirer of Sir Roger's UNICEF dedication.

© Sir Roger Moore Official Website - 2004

The intention behind it is that if anyone wants to look the information is there, not just because this is all incredibly fascinating stuff, there are so many beautiful cultures with wondrous things to say and it's always an adventure of discovery... ...But also I feel it's important as bigotry often stems from misunderstandings?

There's nothing more dangerous than uninformed people sounding like they know what they're talking about, whilst spouting off stereotypes with little or no basis in fact. The only way to rid the world of these hateful individuals is for everyone to be as informed as possible ...so they know the lies when they hear them?

I spotted this quote on the London Dungeon booklet today that seemed apt: "However in many parts of our planet suffering continues unchecked; whether the cause is corrupt governments, evil dictators, famine or disease we must never allow complacency to blind us to the constant need for compassion for our fellow man. If we cannot learn from the mistakes of our ancestors then we run the risk of letting history repeat itself..."

It's not strictly related to my work as a gothic artist and maybe it won't change a thing in this selfish world... but I do feel that anything I can do with my name has to be worthwhile and as a rolemodel I have a responsibility to always strive to do the right thing? As an example: a common misunderstanding over UNICEF would be that this is always for people in Africa, when there's child poverty, suffering and abuse in first world nations such as the UK, the US, Japan, etc... but UNICEF do vital work in first world nations too.

Where I'm currently working with the waif-like Dutch porn star Terri Summers, when I asked her who her favourite filmstar is she said it was Angelina Jolie... specifically because of the terrific UNICEF work that Angelina does. And Terri, bless her golden heart, always does what she can to help people and animals; she's such an inspiration and really got me thinking about UNICEF. It's got to be synchronicity... as it was Dutch actress Audrey Hepburn who inspired Sir Roger, and Dutch sex symbol Terri Summers who influenced me!

... And especially the Sir Roger Moore artwork? Who, for you, is Sir Roger Moore? I was talking about Sir Roger to a friend the other day and we both agreed the great thing about him is he always comes across as the kind of guy who'd be fun to spend a pleasant afternoon hanging with down the pub - just lots of entertaining stories and superb, genuine company. Whilst drawing him I was re-watching "Live And Let Die"... He made his first Bond appearance directly after the opening titles and the impact was there immediately. It's a role he made appear so effortless, bringing warmth and knowing humour to the character whilst keeping it exciting - just such brilliant, understated acting with a delicate finesse. ...And also he's the father of Deborah Moore, the unforgettably gorgeous gothette in a cape in the lush, poetic 1980s Scottish Widows adverts.

It is such a thrill to draw Sir Roger ... and getting the opportunity to draw the incredible Audrey Hepburn too? Wow! And a challenge too as I so very rarely draw men. I got really into drawing the character lines on his face - there's something so special, fascinating and genuine about elderly faces - his whole amazing life is there in the creases and folds?

But, movie icon to one side, Sir Roger's years of devoted dedication to UNICEF are just INCREDIBLE. He is such a brilliant advocate on behalf of the many thousands of volunteers and workers at UNICEF who dedicate their lives to helping the millions of children in need around the world.

When I was researching the feature on Sir Roger's UNICEF work for my site there were powerful interviews of his that moved me to tears... where he was talking of visiting children orphaned by AIDs, the effects of iodine deficiencies, meeting the tragic victims of landmines, starvation and abuse... and the harrowing smell of burned flesh and death.

Anyone would have to have a heart of stone not to be deeply moved. As he put it: "Once you've seen a child that is unnecessarily dying... once you've smelt the flesh of children in burns units in hospitals ... once you've seen children who are blind because of lack of vitamin A ... once you've seen them absolutely scraggy with arms as big as your fingers, you cannot help but be moved, and speak with exactly the same passion that hooked me" What I find astounding is that for many people seeing that kind of suffering once would be more than enough to give them post-traumatic stress for life... but Sir Roger and his wife Kiki spend the majority of each year travelling to the worse suffering in the world.

And this is at a time in his life when others would be considering doing less and putting their feet up; but he's still out there working his socks off... even making a speech for UNICEF a day after having a pacemaker fitted! He once said of playing Bond that he's not a particularly brave man and a total hypochondriac, but I feel that his UNICEF work shows a courageous depth of character. When Audrey Hepburn singled Roger out to help UNICEF she certainly was a great judge of his personality & she knew exactly what she was doing - he's done her proud, she'd be thrilled I'm sure!

On a funnier note... I've drawn numerous comedy comic strip spy spoofs over the years & it is one of the recurring themes in my art - I've always been inspired by James Bond, the Man from U.N.C.L.E., the Avengers, the Saint, James Coburn's Flint, Wally Wood's T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents comics ....and especially the classic, incredibly chic, Pop Art 1960s "Nick Fury Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D." comic book art of Jim Steranko... James Bond is totally to blame for all of it! I used to have the Roger Moore-era Man With The Golden gun pistol with silencer and the white Lotus Esprit submarine car toy as a kid! The most recent example was when Australian porn star Jodie Moore asked me last year to draw a comic book to aid her bid to be elected Lord Mayor of Brisbane - so, of course, I immediately turned her election campaign comic into the futuristic, heavily-psychedelic, ultra-kinky, secret agent comedy adventure "Nymphos From Oz"... with her wearing a shoulder holster and very little else! ...So maybe Sir Roger Moore is the logical conclusion..?!

Do you expect more collaboration between artists and UNICEF? I certainly can't see why not! And I'd be very interested if UNICEF can think of any ideas to use my kind of art to raise money and attention for the cause? And my model Terri Summers is certainly keen to do anything helpful. A few years back I was planning with a Native American model to do pictionaries (we couldn't actually use the word pictionary) using basic cartoons (with big bright colours) to help teach Algonquian pre-school children their language, as comics are such a great learning tool... based on the idea of a Dr Seuss Cat-In-The-Hat Learn French book I had as a kid!

However... I'm an artist so I'm fine on the art side of things, but for all the best will in the world these ideas unfortunately fall apart as I'm no good at the begging, stealing and borrowing required for raising charity publishing funds and getting the actual product distributed to the right people. Maybe UNICEF could pick that idea up and run with it to combat international child illiteracy - as they have got the administration? Absolutely anytime UNICEF want to run any ideas by me...?

Interview by Marie-France Vienne, Sir Roger Moore Official Website

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Vlad Quigley Official Website