30 years ago today, Roger Moore announced that he was retiring from the role of James Bond.
To date, he is the actor who”s been the British Secret Service agent for the longest, having signed on in 1973 and stepped down from the part in 1985 and having made seven official, Eon Productions-made Bond films.
Moore later suited up for a nod 007 in the short film “Sport at Heart” made for London”s 2012 Olympics bid. In the film he appears alongside Samantha Bond, who played Moneypenny in the Pierce Brosnan-era movies.
Other notable December 3 happenings in pop culture history:
• 1947: “A Streetcar Named Desire” opened on Broadway.
• 1966: The Monkees performed their first concert, in Honolulu, Hawaii.
• 1968: “Elvis,” Elvis Presley”s so-called comeback special, aired on NBC. The special is regarded as the forerunner of the “unplugged” concept, later popularized by MTV.
• 1973: Ringo Starr released “You're Sixteen,” his second consecutive number 1 single as a solo artist, was released in the U.S.
• 1987: The 200th episode of primetime soap “Knots Landing” aired.
• 1996: Dave Matthews Band single “Crash Into Me” was released.
Birthdays: “Mean Girls” actress Amanda Seyfried (turns 30 today), “Veep” actress Anna Chlumsky (35), “The Mummy” actor Brendan Fraser (47), “Splash” actress Daryl Hannah (55), “The Big Lebowski” actress Julianne Moore (55), rocker Ozzy Osbourne (67)