Sir Roger Moore: Piers Morgan and Russell Crowe lead tributes to James Bond star

Tributes have flooded in for Sir Roger Moore, who has died, aged 89.

The actor – who earned himself the title of the longest-serving James Bond – passed away after a “short but brave battle with cancer”.

A host of stars paid tribute to the legendary actor on Twitter where he was described as a “hero”, “brilliant” and “an all round great guy”.

Piers Morgan was among the first to pay his respects, tweeting: “Oh no. As if today wasn't already sad enough. RIP Sir Roger Moore, 89.A wonderful actor & lovely man.”

Duran Duran shared an image of Moore as the 007 agent in A View To A Kill – the film in which they recorded the theme – while Sir Lord Sugar hailed him as “The Saint”.

Moore's children broke the devastating news on Twitter on Tuesday afternoon.

In a statement Deborah, Geoffrey and Christian Moore said: “It is with a heavy heart that we must announce our loving father, Sir Roger Moore, has passed away today in Switzerland after a short but brave battle with cancer. The love with which he was surrounded in his final days was so great it cannot be quantified in words alone.

“We know our own love and admiration will be magnified many times over, across the world, by people who knew him for his films, his television shows and his passionate work for UNICEF which he considered to be his greatest achievement.”

They said their father will be laid to rest at a private funeral in Monaco in accordance with his wishes.

Moore was the third actor to play 007, starring in seven feature films between 1973 and 1985.

His first outing as Bond was in 1973’s Live and Let Die, followed by The Man with the Golden Gun, 1974, The Spy Who Loved Me, 1977, Moonraker, 1979, For Your Eyes Only, 1981, Octopussy, 1983 and A View To Kill, 1985.

Before Bond, Moore was best known for his role as Simon Templar in television adaptation of The Saint, based on the novels by Leslie Charteris.