Roger Moore went through three marriages and divorces before finally meeting “the one,” so his search for love was not easy. The actor’s search for his fourth wife is detailed within.
Roger Moore was regarded as one of the most successful actors before he passed away. He was a Hollywood legend who starred in numerous movies and television shows, such as “Maverick,” “Ivanhoe,” “The Saint,” and “The Persuaders.”
Despite appearing in the aforementioned films, his career took off after playing “James Bond” in the over 50 years series.
He was a well-liked actor all around. Moore was well known for his beautiful looks, which many female fans appreciated, in addition to his illustrious career.
Sadly, he had little success with women as he was married and divorced three times before he met “the one.” Here are specifics regarding the actor’s spouses, unions, and parentage.
Moore had a miserable childhood despite being a skilled actor. The celebrity, who was born on October 14, 1927, was constantly ill. He had a fever when he was five, and the doctor told his parents that he was in such horrible shape:
“I’ll return in the morning to certify the death.”
Along with getting sick, Moore had to cope with his father, a police officer, calling him names. The actor dropped out of school when he was 15 to work as a trainee animator at a movie publicity company. Moore eventually lost his job, and he made the decision to pursue acting.
At the age of 17, he enrolled at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts, when he first encountered Doorn Van Steyn, an ice skater. Van Steyn was six years older than Moore at the time, but it didn’t matter to them.
After they began dating, they got married at Wandsworth Town Hall in 1946. Unfortunately, the marriage was anything but happy. By 1950, Moore’s career had stalled and he had started posing as a knitwear model.
Van Steyn, who saw Moore as a failure, was compelled to ice skate across the globe to pay their debts.
“You will never be famous. Your jaw is too large, your mouth is too little, and your face is too weak “Moore was informed by Van Steyn.
The actor would later admit that all they did was quarrel loudly. Moore remarked, “Rowing was all we ever did.” Van Steyn’s treatment of the actor got worse over time, and their marriage gradually broke down as a result.
“You will never be famous. Your jaw is too large, your mouth is too little, and your face is too weak “Moore was informed by Van Steyn.
The ice skater reportedly tossed Moore’s clothes in the bathtub and poured a pot of tea over his head. But when she bit his palm outside a West End theater, that was the straw that broke the camel’s back. The couple divorced after seven years of marriage.
At a wild party in Dorothy Squires’ Bexley mansion in Kent, Moore first met Dorothy Squires, the singer who would become his second wife. Squires, the biggest female solo artist at the time, showed interest in the performer. By the end of the evening, after some flirting with her, he had put her to bed.
Squires decided to put her career on wait in order to make Moore a success since she was very attracted to him. So the two traveled to New York, where Moore obtained TV appearances and Broadway roles. He wed the vocalist in New Jersey in 1953.
Following their nuptials, the actor was cast in numerous roles and signed a seven-year Hollywood deal with MGM. He quickly rose to fame, drawing a swarm of starlets to him. Squires got envious at that time, and conflicts started to start.
Sadly, the 12-year age gap between the two actors did not help matters; Moore’s co-stars made fun of him for it. Don’t forget to invite Roger Moore and his mother, they would say.
Moore’s career progressed despite the problems in their marriage. At age 31, he received his first leading role in “Ivanhoe,” which was followed by subsequent parts.
Moore’s marriage continued to fail, but his career continued to soar. She was cast as Romulus in “Romulus and the Sabines” in 1961. While Squires was on tour in Australia, the actor took a flight to Rome to shoot. He first met Luisa Mattioli, his co-star, on the set.
Language was not an issue even though Moore did not speak Italian and Mattioli did not speak English. The actress became pregnant with the couple’s child not long after the lair began dating. After the shooting, they moved to London, but Moore kept Squires in the dark about his split from her.
Squires was informed of the unfortunate news by the actor’s doctor, but she refused to believe it until she discovered letters from Italy written to Moore. One of them stated:
“You claim that Dorothy doesn’t think our love is real. the letter to her.”
Despite receiving the letters, Squires chose to sue Moore for loss of conjugal rights rather than file for divorce. Regardless of all, the actor’s career kept thriving.
Moore and “his wife, who is considerably more lovely than he is,” the compere at a 1968 BAFTA banquet joked in good nature.
After Squires filed a lawsuit against More and ITV, Moore and she finally got a divorce after 15 years of marriage. The actor never got over the shame of betraying the woman who helped him become famous, despite their tense relationship. Moore disclosed:
“Regrets are a part of life. Do you have 15 hours? I don’t have many regrets that I would share, but I regret that nonetheless.”
In the end, the actor overcame his remorse by covering Squires’s medical expenses when she was terminally ill with cancer thirty years later. Later on, he acknowledged that Squires was a gay icon even though he was wholly straight.
Several years after their breakup, in 1973, Moore was cast as James Bond. He started a fitness regimen because he was afraid the public wouldn’t accept him as Sean Connery’s replacement. In the end, “Live and Let Die” was the most popular Bond film.
Unfortunately, Moore’s marriage to Mattioli ended in 1993 after 31 years, just as his career was at its height. The actor left her at Geneva Airport and later admitted to her that he was seeing Kristina Tholstrup, her best friend.
Squires and Mattioli’s reactions were essentially the same. Moore, she claimed, was “To me, he has died. He was truly irate. He is now an unknown. He is not real.”
Moore called Squires for the first time in 20 years after their divorce. She inquired about Tholstrup by asking the actor “Have you finally found the right one, Roger? Are you the one for this?” Moore replied, “This is the one,” when asked.
Moore and Kristina Tholstrup were wed for fifteen years until he passed away. The actor described how they first met and said: “She was a neighbor when I first met her, and despite my great attraction to her, I figured it wouldn’t last. But when I had a prostate issue, I reasoned that this was the course my life must go.”
Moore was still wed to Tholstrup’s close friend Mattioli at the time. The couple nevertheless continued to date and exchanged vows in a discreet ceremony in Copenhagen. Regarding the union, he stated:
“No family members or anybody else were informed of our impending nuptials. Either you make a big deal out of it or you just go about it quietly. There were three choristers at the small church where we visited.”
“After the ceremony, you perform a small wedding waltz in Denmark, so we did that. The priest then served us two martinis, and I ate a lot of oysters at the hotel.
The day was fantastic “Added he. Moore said that Tholstrup and his marriage to him had not disappointed his children. He clarified:
“They were all aware of the intense love Kristina and I shared. They expressed gratitude to her for making me happy.”
Moore also revealed that he took his wife to California so they could meet up with close friends like Gregory Peck and Frank Sinatra. About the situation, the actor said:
When Greg first saw her, it was a really poignant moment; he wrapped his arms around her and said, “Thank you for making my friend so happy.”
Sadly, Moore and Tholstrup did not have any children of their own, but the former was a loving father to Deborah, Christian, and Geoffrey, the three children he had with Mattioli.
He was always open about his experiences as a father and with his children. The Hollywood legend admitted: “I had an encounter with my first child, Deborah.”
“When she was three weeks old, I was driving and came to a stop at a stop sign. I was sitting there grinning broadly when a car drew up next to me. God, they must think I’m a little bit crazy, I thought.”
Moore had five grandchildren in addition to being a father. He talked openly about being a grandfather and a father. He said this:
“Although I wasn’t a very nice husband, I’m a decent parent and grandfather. This family is expanding. In addition, Kristina has a son, a daughter, and two grandkids. I’m not now aggravated. When you mature, you start to feel truly content with the person you’re dating.”
Overall, it’s easy to say that Moore had a happy life. He died in May 2017 at the age of 89. Other famous people and members of his family paid tribute to the renowned actor. He will never be forgotten.