David Bowie befriended Roger Moore in the late Seventies – but ended up hiding from the Bond star after his daily visits became too annoying, according to the author of a new book about the singer.
Dylan Jones, author of David Bowie: A Life, first heard about the stars’ unlikely friendship from Oscar-nominated scriptwriter and novelist Hanif Kureishi.
“One of the weirdest people to be in Bowie’s orbit was Roger Moore,” said Jones on Tuesday, speaking to Telegraph rock critic Neil McCormick at a launch event for the book. “Kureishi told me this story, that when David Bowie moved to Switzerland at the end of the Seventies to escape tax and drug dealers, he didn’t know anybody there. He was in this huge house on the outskirts of Geneva – he knew nobody.
“One day, about half past five in the afternoon, there’s a knock on the door, and there he was: ‘Hello, David.’ Roger Moore comes in, and they had a cup of tea. He stays for drinks, and then dinner, and tells lots of stories about the James Bond films. They had a fantastic time – a brilliant night.
“But then, the next day, at 5.30… Knock, knock, it’s Roger Moore. He invites himself in again, and sits down: ‘Yeah, I’ll have a gin and tonic, David.’ He tells the same stories – but they’re slightly less entertaining the second time around.
“After two weeks [of Moore turning up] at 5.25pm – literally every day – David Bowie could be found underneath the kitchen table pretending not to be in.”
