 Roger Moore
Actor who played Simon Templar, alias The Saint, on Television
Roger Moore played The Saint in the 1960s TV series.
As the first person to portray Leslie Charteris' Simon Templar on the small screen, Roger Moore solidified people's ideals of The Saint into an iconic depiction of the role.
In many people's eye's, the vision of Roger Moore driving a white Volvo P1800 across their television screens will always be the perfect adaptation of The Saint books into another medium.
Roger was perfect for the role, and brought a great deal of life and gentleman humor to the character.
 The Saint (black and white)
Starring Roger Moore
In late 1961, Leslie Charteris finally sold the television rights to The Saint to producer Robert S. Baker, who teamed up
with Lew Grade of ITC to film 71 black and white episodes. These episodes were based on the books and short stories written by
Leslie Charteris, with additional material added by the screenwriters listed below including Harry Junkin. The show was well-received
by British audiences, but ITC could not find a network in the US to carry the show. ITC syndicated The Saint in the US, and it became
a huge hit, making it one of the most successful first-run syndicated shows in history.
 The Saint (color)
Starring Roger Moore
With most of the original Charteris stories translated to the small screen, and the contract running down, ATV-ITC penned
a new contract to continue the series, in color, and with newly created stories that Charteris had the right to request any changes
he wanted. The producers had to submit the stories to Charteris, but unfortunately they were not legally obligated to take
any of his advice -- advice that they were paying him a steep consulting fee for.
Along with the new contract came a deal with NBC in America to show The Saint in network primetime. The color series lasted 41 episodes,
with many of the best being penned by John Kruse.
All of the color episodes in this series are available in DVD sets from A&E Home Entertainment.
 1968 The Fiction-Makers
ITC Television, Approx. 105 minutes, 9503 feet.
Rewritten as a novel by
Fleming Lee as The Saint and the Fiction-Makers (40-BX, 1968). Directed
by Roy Baker. Produced by Robert S. Baker. Screenplay by John Kruse and
Harry W. Junkin.
Starring Roger Moore as Simon Templar, Sylvia Syms as Amos
Klein, Justine Lord as Galaxy Rose, and Kenneth J. Warren as Warlock.
 1969 Vendetta for The Saint
ITC Television, Approx. 90 minutes, 8145 feet.
Based on the Leslie Charteris
novel Vendetta for The Saint (37-B41, 1964). Directed by Jim O'Connolly.
Produced by Robert S. Baker. Screenplay by Harry W. Junkin.
Starring Roger
Moore as Simon Templar, Ian Hendry as Allessandro Destamio, Rosemary Dexter
as Gina Destamio, and Aimi Macdonald as Lilly.
Roger Moore Shop on Amazon.com
The History of The Saint on TV
The Saint was finally adapted for television in 1962, with Roger Moore portraying
the Saint in 71 black and white, and 47 color episodes. The show came to
an end in 1969, but later resurfaced in 1979, aptly named The Return
of The Saint. Ian Ogilvy was the new Saint for 24 color episodes, but didn't last long.
A pilot for a new Saint show was made in 1987 by D.L. Taffner, starring Andrew Clarke as The Saint.
There were no other episodes other than the one pilot episode.
Then, in 1989 the Saint was once again welcomed back to television in six 2-hour movies
featuring Simon Dutton as Simon Templar, alias the Saint.
The Saint returned again to the small screen in 2013, with Adam Rayner in the starring role.
Other Actors Who've Played The Saint
Portrals of Simon Templar on Film in Movie Motion Pictures:
Louis Hayward,
George Sanders,
Hugh Sinclair,
Jean Marais, and
Val Kilmer
The Saint Radio shows on Old-Time Radio:
Vincent Price,
Barry Sullivan,
Brian Aherne,
Edgar Barrier,
Felix Marten,
Lawrence Dobkin,
Paul Rhys,
Terence De Marney,
Tom Conway, and
Tom Meehan
Actors who played The Saint on Television TV Programs:
Roger Moore,
Ian Ogilvy,
Andrew Clarke,
Simon Dutton, and
Adam Rayner
Starring as The Saint in Photoplay:
Leslie Charteris
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