Moore came to New York in 1953 after a sketchy, and minor, acting
career in London. Here he made the rounds of one shot appearances
on TV shows and then went to Hollywood for undistinguished supporting
roles in "The Last Time I Saw Paris", "Interrupted
Melody", "The King's Thief", and "Diane".
Then followed the three TV series, the memory of which prompts
him to note: "In 'Ivanhoe' I was a boy scout in armor. In
'The Alaskans' I was a boy scout in a parka. And in 'Maverick'
I was a sort of a Rover Boy". Now as Simon Templar he may
be called a boy scout's James Bond - a decent, upstanding do-gooder
whose antics could never offend the most critical wiewer.
"Even I can't really believe in him or take him seriously",
Moore says. "I'm an actor who basically project me.
This is what I'm selling whether I'm clanking around in armor,
creaking in leather with a pistol at my hip or saving damsels
in distress in 'The Saint'. The grin at the beginning of 'The
Saint' when the halo appears is to tell the viewers that they
are not to take what they see seriously. After all, I know and
they know I'm going to win".
All this, Moore believes, is as it should be and he sees no reason
for change. "Why be critical ?" he asks? "People
all over the world love it as it is. They even write me from behind
the Iron Curtain. Nobody's complaining". It is more than
not wanting to tamper with a good thing that makes Moore reluctant
to change anything in the series. "The Saint", he indicates,
is like a comfortable old shoe to the majority of the viewers.
People like what they are used to", he says. "They like
to recognize something and they like to see their favorites bahave
the way they did to become famous. No one wants you to change.
That was the formula of the old star system. Cagney could hit
a woman in the face and get away with it. In fact, women liked
this. It's funny, women like to see another woman slapped".
Ideally Moore wold like to direct films and now that he has a
piece of the British company producing "The Saint",
he has plansto concentrate on this between TV seasons. "Since
1954", he recalls, "my fascination for the cinema has
outweighted my interest in the theater. I love the method of making
pictures. And with directing I'd be able to be more creative.
The son of a policeman, Moore was born 39 years ago in the southwest
London. At 15, he remembers, "I left school to go to art
school, starting first with architecture, then painting and wound
up working with a cartoon animator. I ended up not being very
good at it and getting fired anyway". His enthusiasm for
drawing was rapidly being displaced by an interest in acting,
and Moore went to work as a film extra and enrolled in the Royal
Academy of Dramatic Arts. Before his career really began, he went
into the army, serving with the Combined Services Entertainment
Unit and the Bristish Forces radio network. "After the army",
he says, "I had a terrible struggle with repertory. I was
nevr right for anything. I needed more experience". Within
a few years, some feeling of success was in reach and Moore had
to choose between contract offers from MGM and the Old Vic. He
chose MGM and now says: "I was greedy like any actor who
hasn't enjoyed any film stardom".
Married and divorced twice - first to an ice skating star an
then to singer Dorothy Squires - Moore lives in London and enjoys
the carefree life of a bachelor. "I enjoy all the things
that come with success and money", he says rather pointedly,
referring to good food, good entertainment, good clothes and sports
cars. "I still paint occasionally, and rather badly at that,
and play a bad guitar", he adds.
Gambling was always his one great weakness and favorite pastime,
but lately his schedule has no room for it. "I guess I've
sort of retired", he says with a smile. "I just can't
chase it any longer".
Read our previous stories of the month
