The actor Sir Roger Moore has died aged 89 it has been announced. Moore played the British secret agent James Bond in seven feature films between 1973 and 1985. He is also known for playing Simon Templar in the television series The Saint between 1962 and 1969. Reports state that Moore died following a short but brave battle with cancer.
Moore’s first wife was the Pontyberem born Dorothy Squires. Squires was born in a carnival caravan in Pontyberem to a steelworker, Archibald James Squires and his wife, Emily, she wanted a piano as a child. Her mother bought her a ukulele. While working in a tin plate factory, she began to perform professionally as a singer at the age of 16 in the working men’s club of Pontyberem.
Squires met Roger Moore (13 years her junior) at one of her lavish parties at her mansion in Wansunt Road, Old Bexley, Kent. He later became her second husband when they married in New Jersey on 6 July 1953. She said many times over the years “it started with a squabble, then he carried me off to bed.” She took him to Hollywood and introduced him to various people in the film industry, and they partied with Gary Cooper, Grace Kelly, Doris Day and Rock Hudson. As his career took off, hers started to slide. Their marriage lasted until 1961, when Moore left her and moved in with Luisa Mattioli. Moore was unable to marry legally until Squires agreed to a divorce in 1969 – the day on which Squires was convicted of drunk driving.
Moore went on to a glittering TV and film career which spanned over 30 years.
