Exhausted 007 star collapses on stage

James Bond star Roger Moore was tonight recovering in hospital from exhaustion and dehydration after collapsing during a Broadway show.

The 75-year-old actor fainted yesterday while performing a song and dance number in the comedy The Play What I Wrote.

He returned to the stage following a 10 minute break to complete the play before paramedics waiting outside Manhattan’s Lyceum Theatre took him to hospital with an oxygen mask over his mouth.

“He is absolutely fine. The doctor is pleased with his progress,” a spokeswoman for the show said tonight.

Moore had been diagnosed as suffering from exhaustion and dehydration, said his agent, Jerry Pam.

The Live And Let Die star had travelled extensively in recent months as part of his work as a goodwill ambassador for Unicef, and had flown to New York for his role in the play, Mr Pam added.

Moore was a secret celebrity guest star in the Broadway show and first performed on Tuesday. Yesterday was his second appearance.

“Roger was taken short of breath and fell to the floor on stage,” said his assistant, Gareth Owen.

“The curtain went down and the other actors mopped his brow and asked him ‘are you OK?’.

“He got his breath together and he was fine. He carried on.

“He was quite exhausted. He has been doing an awful lot in the last few weeks.”

Other celebrity guests in The Play What I Wrote, directed by Kenneth Branagh, include Schindler’s List star Liam Neeson, Nathan Lane and Zoe Caldwell.

Moore hosted the annual Night of the Thousand Voices – a tribute to Trevor Nunn musicals – at the Royal Albert Hall in London last Sunday.

Mr Owen said: “There was a lot of work for that. He’s just been doing a hell of a lot in the last couple of weeks.

“He is 75 so you’ve got to bear that in consideration.”