Roger Moore Dies

© by Gerald So | 6:30 a.m.

Sir Roger Moore died yesterday at 89 after a brief battle with cancer. I grew up watching him as Simon Templar and James Bond.

The stature Connery attained playing Bond, Moore had before he came to Bond. True his Bond strayed from Fleming's harder-edged, fallible character, but that proved Bond could be played differently, something he proved continually over a tenure that remarkably matched Connery's for cultural impact, giving Bond much of the charm and humor that sustain the franchise.

His advanced age also marks years of kindness and commitment to bettering the world. That's a role model.