Roger Moore Official Site

Roger Moore's Speech.

Richard Freeman, Chief Barker

"I would like to thank all the wonderful speakers who entertained and obviously spoke from the heart today and I would like to present Roger today with the Variety Club Silver Heart.

I would like to read the inscription. Presented by The Variety Club of Great Britain to Roger Moore CBE in recognition of his outstanding to show business London, 24th July 2001 (larger applause)

And would now like everybody to standing and to propose a toast to our guest of honour Roger Moore.

And to Christina we would like to present you with a token of our appreciation (applause)

Ladies and gentlemen our guest of honour Roger Moore" (very loud applause)

Roger Moore

"Chief Barker, ex-Barkers, Ladies and gentlemen and fellow actors and Doug Hayward (laughter) he is not here! He's got another fitting, he's gone! He does not know what PR he has got today!!! (Much laughter) I know I have to thank all the wonderful speakers and its very difficult because they have all been so embarrassingly kind to me, starting with Michael Winner who described so graphically trying to manoeuvre his frame onto a moving boat (Roger mimics Michael winner shouting orders to stop the boat, to much laughter) we've had some wonderful days and you're a wonderful friend Michael.

Stephanie Powers I did used to take the Mickey out of you (referring to her speech earlier) I remember the first occasion when we first met at a cocktail party in Lounds Street London, you were making a programme for the BBC. A lady the producer said I want to pick your brains, her name was Betty Box and Betty She said we have just bought a book called Percy, which was a book about the first penis transplant( laughter) and I thought she was offering the part (laughter) but she said who would you cast in it ? I said Peter O'Toole (laughter).

Shirley and I remember when you first came on the set on Ivanhoe, and I was a boy knight back in 1956, you were beautiful then as you are now, and I know we also enjoyed doing The Saint together, but you had to go and do Bond with that other fellow Sean Connery ( Roger does an impersonation to much laughter) it has been a delight to know you all my life, thank you.( applause) Now to Forbes ( Bryan Forbes) and it is not his real name by the way his real name is Clark, Nobby Clark ( laughter) now can you imagine being embraced by CSM Nobby ( laughter) and it was not just the embrace that brought him up before the brass, it was where you put your tongue( big laughter). We've had some wonderful times through the years, acting together and playing together, and I hope we have many more years of doing that together.

And moving on to Maurice Micklewhite, that's not his real name by the way, Michael did not quite get that story correct how we first met, he is getting old ( laughter) I had seen two plays by Johnny Speight on television they were bloody marvellous, one was "The Compartment" , and the other was " Playing" with Sheila Burrow, and I thought he was just sensational and so when I saw him coming along the road with Terence Stamp, by the way I often approached young men in Piccadilly ( much laughter) sometimes you get refused and sometimes you don't ( enormous laughter) that's how I made my first million, it's also how I got into pictures ( continual laughter) and I said to Michael I really do think you're going to be a big star and he said Fuck Me (enormous laughter) Christina said I cannot say that but I did ( even more continuous laughter) and we have been friends ever since.( laughter and applause) and as he rightly says we trust one another, but I noticed he never leaves me alone with Shakira ( Michael's wife) ( laughter) Well thank you all for your wonderful words, (at this point Roger feels something on his hip under his jacket, it's the battery pack for his microphone) I thought I'd had a colostomy or something ( great laughter) I'd been influenced by Frankie Howard.

When I was thinking about making the speech I thought what will I say and what will I do, Hugo who's organised this event so beautifully said to me " just reply to the speeches" the thing is you don't know what anybody's going to say, Michael Aspel reminded me and got me out of the ghastly mess by saying, don't forget it is a tribute lunch", but mutual friends thought it was a roast, and proceeded to let into me , with things like getting fired from Aspects of Love, and those things are heard, you can stand there crying, ( laughter) actually at a roast you can reply, you can really get nasty back, but when people are nice, all you can do is be nice back, and sometimes being nice is not as funny ( laughter) This morning I got up and looked out of the window from the top of this hotel, and I could see the four towers at Battersea power station, and I remembered my father's father actually worked building those things, and so I came from a humble working-class background, and I thank my God how lucky and I am, and I look around the room and think how lucky we are.

When we see the images of children that get our help and continue to get our help, and will continue to need to our help, I know we are lucky people, because we have been blessed. I was blessed many years ago by Audrey Hepburn, ( laughter referring to the film The Nuns story) Audrey called me 11 or 12 years ago, and asked me if I would do something for her and UNICEF, and of course I said yes, if Audrey Hepburn asks you to do something you say yes ! I was absolutely fascinated by her passion, her elegance, and of course her charm,. It was her passion, and intensity when talking about children, at a press conference when they tried to bring up the subject of her films, she would only talk about UNICEF, so the only way I could find out more about where her passion came from, was to actually join UNICEF as a representative and to go out into the field.

So I know how I started, but I never knew how Audrey started and I don't know where her passion came from, so if you will allow me to share some beautiful words that I heard at her funeral. Her son Sean said five weeks to Christmas she gathered the three people she loved the most around her two sons and her companion, and she said and I want to tell you my favourite poem it goes something like this. Stan levenson was a teacher and when his first granddaughter was born he wrote her a letter and he said "For lovely lips speak only words of kindness, for beautiful eyes seek out the good in people, for a slim figure share your food with the hungry for poise walk with the knowledge you will never walk alone" We leave you a tradition with a future with the loving tender care of human beings that will never become obsolete, people like things have to be renewed, restored, revived, reclaimed, redeemed, but never throw any one out and if you ever need a helping hand you will find you have one at the end of your arms, and as you grow older you will find you will have two hands, alone for helping yourself, and one for helping others. And I think that is where Audrey got her passion; it was from living those words.

And I also have some other words I would like to quote. This was from a great friend Gregory Peck, who said to me one-day, and you know the way Gregory Peck speaks, you don't really think of him as being long on humour, Frank Sinatra used to say about Gregory he is like Mount Rushmore every time he laughs dust comes out ( laughter) anyway Greg said ( Roger put a very sincere voice) When things go wrong, and they usually will, when you're daily role seems all up hill, when your funds are low and your debts are high, when you would like to laugh but you can only cry, when you really feel you will have to quit, don't come to me I don't give a shit. (Enormous laughter)

To all my friends here today on this very special day for me, it's going to be an even more special day for me in half an hour, and not when I go to the bathroom ( laughter) when I go with my children Geoffrey and Lulu their little daughter who is two and a half, by the way there is a horse running in the 2.30 called distant cousins, I think we should back it ( laughter) thank you Chief Barker and fellow Barker's ladies and gentlemen God bless you all and thank you for coming" ( thunderous applause)

Back