Roger Moore, The Maverick Years

The Saint's Blog devoted to news and rumors about The Saint and Leslie Charteris. Simon Templar, alias The Saint, was played by Roger Moore in the 1960's TV show featuring the Volvo 1800.

Before Roger Moore became The Saint, he had a recurring role on the TV series, Maverick, starring either James Garner and Jack Kelly.

Now that Maverick is being re-run on TV in various countries, including Good Life in the US, watch for a young pre-Saint Roger Moore in 14 episodes from 1959 to 1961. Roger was a regular on the show beginning in 1960 (he had been in one episode, The Rivals before that), co-starring as Beauregard "Beau" Maverick, Bret and Bart Maverick’s cousin. His regular appearances were due to the fact that James Garner had left the show over a contract dispute.

Maverick was a clever show that used a lot of comedy to lighten up the action. There are many Saintly touches, in that the Maverick cousins are basically good people who will go outside the law to correct wrongs that need to be righted. The intelligent con games of outsmarting your rivals instead of beating them up will certainly appeal to Saint fans who want to see a young Roger Moore playing a Texas Templar.

Episode 80 on September 18, 1960, entitled Bundle from Britain, introduced Roger Moore as the "white sheep" of the family -- he had the misfortune of earning a medal in the Civil War, and Pappy had banished him to England for five years because no Maverick had ever been a hero.

Very soon, Maverick will be coming out in a special Maverick First Season DVD set. For now, you'll just have to watch Maverick on DVD

Another connection between The Saint and Maverick has nothing to do with Roger Moore at all. Noted award-winning author Burl Barer who has penned a number of Saint items, was called to do the "Behind The Scenes" book, Maverick: The Making of the Movie - The Official Guide to the Television Series, on the making of the 1994 Maverick movie starring Mel Gibson, Jodi Foster, and James Garner.

For more information, please visit Wikipedia for their entry on the Maverick TV series and complete episode guide.
Labels: 2007, Burl Barer, James Garner, Maverick, Roger Moore, Wikipedia