Sir Roger Moore’s Italian actress wife dies aged 85

Sir Roger Moore’s third wife and Italian actress Luisa Mattioli has died aged 85 following a long illness.

Mattioli, who was married to the late James Bond legend Roger Moore for 24 years, died after battling an unspecified illness, the cause of her death has not been revealed. The former couple’s oldest son, Mayfair restaurateur Geoffrey Moore, said of his mother’s death: ‘Sadly, I can confirm it is the case.’

Geoffrey was speaking from Switzerland, it is believed that Mattioli had been living there until her passing. Another family member added: ‘Luisa was ill for some time, so it has been a difficult period for all the family. Despite her acrimonious split from Sir Roger, they were reconciled before his death.’

Mattioli was born in San Stino di Livenza, Veneto, Italy in 1936 and studied at the Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia, renowned as the oldest filmed school in Western Europe.

The actress had three children with the James Bond star, who she met while filming the 1962 Italian adventure comedy Romulus and the Sabines. The couple sensationally separated in 1993 and officially divorced in 2002 after Sir Roger left Mattioli for her best friend – Swedish-born Danish socialite Kristina ‘Kiki’ Tholstrup.

She wrote in her memoirs Nothing Lasts Forever, about how she felt betrayed by Tholstrup and discarded by Moore – who died in 2017 aged 89 after fighting cancer in his lungs and liver. Upon news of her death, thousands of fans of the former Italian actress rushed to social media to pay their respects.

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