"She was the first to notice that there were several of me. She'd watch The Saint and a girl would say, 'Simon, you've got to help me'. And Debbie would say, 'What a silly girl. Doesn't she know you're Daddy ?'. Later she explained to Geoffrey, 'We're lucky we've got two Daddies. Daddy/Simon Templar and Daddy/Daddy'".

She must have been influenced by growing up in this atmosphere. For one thing it's a glamoour industry, so they're bound to be attracted. And I think all kids are fascinated by what their parents do. My father was in the police, and I used to relish the days I could visit him in his office in Bow Street. This location is my office".

We are sitting outdoors in the middle of an airfield that is being used for some Octopussy location shots. Getting this interview is a battle: horses neigh in the background and helicopters roar overhead. In fact the only thing that co-operates is the star himself: he refuses to act like one. To begin with he does not keep me waiting but is where he sais he's be, at the right time. And while it's true that's he sits in the star's chair market ROGER MOORE, he insists on my sitting in the producer's chair marked CUBBY BROCCOLI.

At one point we are interrupted by a small boy with dazzling eyes. This is nine-year-old Christian, and like all the Moore children he bears a startling resemblance to his beautiful Italian mother, Luisa. But his cherubic face masks a determination that never lets up. Now he's determibed to ride a "prop" motor-trike. Permission granted, he departs happily.

"Did you notice his eyes?" asks Roger. "Demon eyes. When I was making Live And Let Die in Jamaica, there was a famous clairvoyant/witch-doctor on the island. I was aked if I'd let myself be filmed having a reading, so I went along. He told me I was going to have a son who would be a world leader. At that time we just had one son and didn't even know that Luisa was pregnant. So I said to Geoffrey (who was six), 'Do you want to be Prime Minister?' and he said 'Yes'. It was the shortest acceptance speech on record."

"Then a few days later we knew this one was on the way. So he may have been influenced by the witch-doctor, because he's got the eyes; they pierce you. He never lets up on anything, he's the most persistent individual I've ever met in my life". As if to demonstrate, Christian reappears with an assistant who is willing to teach him to ride the trike, but only if his father agrees. Roger does and Christian bustles away.

"He'd have kept on coming back until I say yes, says Roger with a touch of fatherly pride. "He gets this from me, because you need this kind of concentration to make pictures. You jump from one thing to another and it can be three or four months between shots. You have to be able to remember what the character's thoughts and attitudes were".

Both Geoffrey and Christian are following in their sister's footsteps by turning the set into their own adventure playground. "They're both fascinated by all the mechanical stuff on the Bond sets. Geoffrey's interested in the cameras, but also says he'd like to act".

For his children's sake, Roger's happy to spend some time in the obscurity of the audience. "I suppose I'm prejudiced but when I've seen Debbie act she is awfully good. She's played the lead in her school plays, so two or three times a year i've had an enjoyable evening watching her perform". He rejects any idea that his attendance might take the limelight off the leading lady: "No I don't feel I have to slip in at the back. Why would anyone look at me ? I don't wear a red frock or try to get attention". While the children take after their mother in looks, their personalities and upbringing derive from both the Italian and English sides of the family.

"Christian has a temper which is slightly Latin, and Geoffrey can have. If they'd been brought up in Italy they'd be even more Italian. The Italian male is brought up very differently from the northern European; I notice at home that boys don't even appear in the kitchen. Now me, I can be quite domesticated, although Luisa tries to stop me.

"Every year I cook the Christmas dinner. I'm traditional. I like everything the way I remember it. So I shop for the groceries in Gstaad. I boil the potatoes before roasting them, I have the sprouts half and inch across. I even make my own stuffing. When Luisa first came to England she cooked me a Sunday lunch of spaghetti. I flung it at the ceiling (I'm picking up a few Italian habits myself). If I want a traditional English meal I cook it myself".

His hairdresser appears, lacquer in hand, and combs and sprays until every hair on the Bond head is perfect. It's an astonishingly youthful for a man of 55, yet it nearly wasn't youthful enough. Before production of Octopussy started, rumours flew that Cubby Broccoli was seeking a new Bond. But since you can't replace the irreplaceable the fim is finally being made, with Roger Moore playing Bond at a reputed one and a half million pounds. He won't confirm the exact amount ("I never discuss money") but he doesn't deny it's considerable. Nor does he deny he's worth it.

"I say anybody is worth what people are willing to pay them. If you take it in terms of importance, a family doctor is far more important to the community than some stupid actor running around with a moustache stuck to his forehead. (He had one there at the time). But if they're going to pay some other idiot that amount of money, then why shouldn't they pay you ? It's a luxury business. There's also a big risk factor in being an actor. You may earn a lot of money one week, then never see any again for the rest of your life".

Not that he's overpaid by today's mega-star standards. he's a long way from the five million pounds that Marlon Brando reputedly received for two scenes in Superman - a comparison that doesn't make him in the least envious.

"if the producer didn't know that the subject would be saleable,a nd still had to get the money together to start the film, then guarantee foreign sales, and they needed Brando's name for this, then he's worth it. People aren't going to give you the money unless you're marketable".

The moustache on his forehead takes a little explaining. It is by seeking light relief that he escapes much of the tediums involved in film-making.

"How can you take yourself seriously when they come in at the crack of dawn before your eyes are open, and paint you and comb your hair ? And you know that if the public don't like the film they'll say, 'Wasn't the actor awful? If they do like it they'll say, 'How about that great Hungarian director ? Isn't his stuff fantastic ?'

"I get heavily criticised for clowning, especially as it's costing money: you waste a few minutes and it's a few thousand dollars down the drain".

He demonstrated a few minutes later in a typical Bond scene - the ravishing beauty looked into his eyes and purred, "Take care of yourself James"? he surveyed her through narrowed eyes. "Don't worry darling", he murmured. "Bond's the name and spying's the game". "CUT" the director clutched his hair and muttrered imprecations. The line should have been "Stay by the car", but after saying it 20 times Roger Moore had got bored. He surveyed the result with the guilty relish of a small boy whose apple-pie bed has just sent the adults into frenzies. But there was also the assurance of a star who knows he can get away with a few practical jokes because he's too valuable not to be forgiven.

"I never miss the chance of a good joke. In The Persuaders I had one episode in which I played several parts, all in heavy disguise. One was an old admiral, with bushy eyebrows and padded cheeks. Completely unrecognisable. So I went and stood next to one of the young production assistants and started xhatting him up. 'You're a very good-looking boy .... got a nice little bottom ... just just what I like'. He went flying to the producer and hissed 'Who is that old poof ?' ".

Not surprisingly, Roger would like someone to offer him a comedy nxt - that is, if one can be found with enough funny disguises to suit him. Failing that he'kk spend his time skiing in Gstaad until something turns up. And if nothing turns up ... ?

"I'll just sit on my mountain".

Nor does he let himself be disconcerted by the near certainty that in the next Bond film he will be replaced by a younger actor. "But I've been telling them for years", he says, "they ought to cast John McEnroe".

 

Read our previous stories of the month