English actor Roger Moore (Picture:: Getty Images)

Sir Roger Moore has died at the age of 89 after a short battle with cancer.

‘With the heaviest of hearts, we must share the awful news that our father, Sir Roger Moore, passed away today. We are all devastated,’ his family tweeted on his official account.

In a statement, they added: ‘It was with a heavy heart that we announce our loving father Sir Roger Moore has passed away in Switzerland after a short but brave battle with a cancer. The love with which he was surrounded in his final days was so great it cannot be quantified in words alone.

Sir Roger Moore – an acting legend who was prouder of his philanthropy

‘We know our own love and admiration will be magnified many times overs, across the world, by people who knew him from his films, his television shows and his passionate work for UNICEF which he considered his greatest achievement.




‘The affection our father felt whenever he walked on to a stage or in front of a camera buoyed him hugely and kept him busy working into his 90th year, through to his last appearance in November 2016 on stage at London’s Royal Festival Hall.

‘The capacity crowd cheered him on and off stage, shaking the very foundations of the building just a shirt distance form where he was born.

‘Thank you Pops for being you, and for being so very special to so many people. Our thoughts must know turn to supporting Kristina at this difficult time, and in an accordance with our father’s wishes there will be a private funeral in Monaco.’

With the heaviest of hearts, we must share the awful news that our father, Sir Roger Moore, passed away today. We are all devastated. pic.twitter.com/6dhiA6dnVg — Sir Roger Moore (@sirrogermoore) May 23, 2017

Moore was born on 14 October 1927 and is best known for being the third actor to play the British secret agent James Bond in seven feature films between 1973 and 1985.

His firs tBond film was Live And Let Live in 1973, and he went on to play Bond in six other movies – The Man with the Golden Gun (1974); The Spy Who Loved Me (1977); Moonraker (1979); For Your Eyes Only (1981); Octopussy (1983); and A View to a Kill (1985) – and remains the longest-serving Bond actor, having spent 12 years in the role.

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Moore was good friends with Audrey Hepburn, and it was she who inspired Moore to become a Unicef Goodwill Ambassador in 1991 after he saw her impressive work with the charity.

He was the voice of Father Christmas in the 2004 UNICEF cartoon The Fly Who Loved Me and he also became involved with PETA, working with them on a video protesting against the production and wholesale of foie gras.

English actor Roger Moore stars as 007 in the James Bond film ‘For Your Eyes Only’, March 1981. (Picture: Getty Images)

In his time as an ambassador he travelled the world to see Unicef’s work in action, advocating specifically for children’s rights in countries including Brazil, Mexico and Ethiopia to highlight the impact of donations made.

Knighted for his services in 2003, he said at the time that it meant ‘far more to me than if I had got it for acting… I was proud because I received it on behalf of UNICEF as a whole and for all it has achieved over the years’.

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