Former UNICEF Ireland Executive Director Melanie Verwoerd has revealed that the late Roger Moore collected for the children's charity while travelling on Aer Lingus flights by walking up and down the aisle and asking his fellow passengers to donate.
Verwoerd joined the tributes to the screen legend on the Ray D'Arcy Show on RTÉ Radio 1 on Tuesday, describing him as "such an amazing man" and giving listeners an insight into his decades of work as a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador.
Moore's dedication to the role included taking charge of UNICEF Ireland's Change for Good in-flight collections of unwanted foreign coins and notes when he was on Aer Lingus aircraft.
RIP Goodwill Ambassador @sirrogermoore. Our heart goes out to his family and friends. His work for children will continue to inspire. pic.twitter.com/B9jngUEN6b
— UNICEF (@UNICEF) May 23, 2017
"When he was on an Aer Lingus plane he would take over the microphone and do the announcement himself," Verwoerd recounted.
"Not only that, he would take the bag which the envelopes had to go in and walk up and down the plane and ask people to [donate] and say, 'Are you going to say no to me?! No, no! Put your money in there!'"
Verwoerd told D'Arcy that the Bond icon had a "particular fondness" for Ireland and never turned down an opportunity to help UNICEF here.
"He came over a couple of times when I was head of UNICEF to Dublin to do things," she said. "He never said no. In fact, every time we asked he said, 'Absolutely. When?'
"He was so well-known, so famous and yet he had an incredible deprecating sense of humour about himself."
Verwoerd described Moore as someone who never had "a sense of airs and graces".
"He was incredibly charming," she said. "Even when he was already very elderly he was so charming. He would leave voice messages on my phone and he would say things like, in his very James Bond voice, 'Melanie, this is Roger. Roger Moore. You do remember me, don't you?'"
Recalling Moore's promo for UNICEF Ireland with Dustin the Turkey, Verwoerd said the screen great was "absolutely up for it".
Some top nights out with with this guy. Roger Moore 007-2017 RIP. pic.twitter.com/KGcEMY8fVI
— Dustin The Turkey (@DustinOfficial) May 23, 2017
"He thought it was hilarious," she continued. "He needed just to understand what was going on but then once he got into it - always the professional actor - he and Dustin had a great time. And they did a fantastic video for us, for UNICEF, which did really well."
At his superb Evening with Roger Moore at Dublin's Bord Gáis Energy Theatre last November, the actor concluded the show with a moving appeal for the audience to help UNICEF, telling fans that there were collection boxes in the foyer.
Another UNICEF Ireland campaign saw Moore going behind the till in a Dublin petrol station while customers popped in.
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"There were some really funny incidents, people saying, 'Is that Roger Moore over there?'" said Verwoerd.
"We would say it is. 'Well, would you tell him Siobhán was asking for him when he's done? I'm free tonight and I'll take him out on the town'. And he would think that was just the most lovely thing ever."
Verwoerd said that Moore had a great relationship with her late partner, RTÉ broadcaster Gerry Ryan, having appeared on his RTÉ 2FM show on a number of occasions and on Ryan Confidential on RTÉ One.
"He and Gerry bounced off each other very well," she said. "There was a lot of humour and so on in it."
Verwoerd added that Moore and his wife Kristina Tholstrup were "incredibly kind" to her after Gerry Ryan died in April 2010.
"They also came over to Ireland at some point and we spent some time together," she said. "It was very important for them to be very supportive and they were very, very sad about the loss of Gerry."
Moore's relationship with Ireland stretched back to the start of his acting career. In the Ryan Confidential episode which aired in 2009, he said that he was first "spotted" by Irish director Brian Desmond Hurst who paid his fees at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA) and cast him in his first movie.
He also spoke of his grá for Ireland in his bestselling memoir My Word Is My Bond, and saluted the introduction of the smoking ban.
"I love Ireland: great food, the Guinness, and what's more it was the first country to ban smoking in restaurants, good for them," he wrote.
