Dudley Moore

The ClubHouse: Archives: Dudley Moore

Whowhere

Wednesday, March 27, 2002 - 01:16 pm Click here to edit this post
RIP Dudley

Dudley Moore, the multitalented British actor, comedian and musician noted for his performances in the 1960's stage revue "Beyond the Fringe" and the films "10" and "Arthur," died this morning at his home in Plainfield, N.J. He was 66.

Mr. Moore died of pneumonia as a complication of supranuclear palsy, a progressive disease that attacks various neurological functions, a spokeswoman for the actor said. In 1997 he underwent open-heart surgery and the neurological disease, which has symptoms similar to Parkinson's disease and Alzheimer's disease, was also diagnosed. A California resident since 1975, he was living with friends in New Jersey and undergoing treatment for his illness when he died.

A diminutive man, Mr. Moore was renowned for his affinity for tall women, usually blond — he was married and divorced four times — and a versatility that carried him from the stage in the 1960's to Hollywood movies in the 70's and 80's and finally to the concert stage as a pianist in the early 90's. But the big career predicted for him after his movie successes evaporated in a string of bad roles, misconceived projects and stormy personal relations that in recent years often landed him front and center in the British tabloids.

Mr. Moore's climb to prominence began with "Beyond the Fringe," a comic revue he created with three other young performers: Peter Cook, with whom Mr. Moore had a 15-year professional relationship; Alan Bennett, a fellow Oxford graduate of Mr. Moore's, and Jonathan Miller.

A savagely hilarious lampoon of deadly serious public issues, the show had its origins at the Edinburgh Festival in 1960, moving on to London and then to Broadway, where it played from 1962 to 1964 and had a brief revival in 1965.

When it opened in New York, the country was in the throes of the Cuban missile crisis, and audiences were nervous. Cook and company showed no mercy. "Get out of the danger area," Mr. Cook warned. "That's where the bomb drops."

Mr. Moore planted himself in the audience at the John Golden Theater and fired questions at his three co-players onstage. "Please, panel," he asked, "following the holocaust, when will public services be resumed?" Mr. Cook responded that all was provided for but added that at first it may be only "a skeleton service."

While his colleagues concentrated on political commentary, Mr. Moore took to the keyboard for a wild rendition of "Colonel Bogey's March," which rattled on thunderous chord after thunderous chord while he desperately tried to come up with an ending.

After the show closed, Mr. Moore collaborated on various projects with Mr. Cook, who died in 1995. The pair performed as a two-man group and in the late 1960's made albums, a moderately successful BBC series called "Not Only . . . but Also" about two working-class fellows, and several films.

But there was friction. "I always enjoy Peter on my own, but if I'm with somebody else, we always get into an argument," Mr. Moore told an interviewer. Mr. Cook, he added, would become irritated at Mr. Moore's nitpicking. Mr. Moore said he had trouble with what he called Mr. Cook's lack of directness with people.

Throughout his career, Mr. Moore's fortes were clowning and a physical humor reminiscent of Charlie Chaplin. Years after he had become a star in "10" and "Arthur," he felt that his brand of comedy annoyed his more erudite "Beyond the Fringe" colleagues.

"Peter says, `I can't understand Dudley's success,' " he said in an interview, "and Jonathan says, `I think he can do better.' I think they feel I'm a lightweight, doing lightweight material, having a lightweight life." Mr. Miller once described Mr. Moore as a "grubby cherub."

A combination of circumstances seemed to always put Mr. Moore on the defensive. Born on April 19, 1935, in Dagenham, England, he was the son of a railroad electrician and a secretary. Suffering from a club foot and small stature, he had a difficult boyhood always marked by abuse from his peers.

"I think most comedians start off defending themselves with comedy," he once said. "They feel inferior in some way. I certainly did feel inferior. Because of class. Because of strength. Because of height. If I'd been able to hit someone in the nose, I wouldn't have been a comic."

Music was always a consolation. As a youngster he studied the violin and played the organ at church weddings. After attending Oxford on a music scholarship, graduating in 1957, he developed into an accomplished jazz pianist in the style of Erroll Garner and toured in England and the United States.

In 1966 Mr. Moore made his first movie, "The Wrong Box," about a family's riotous, no-holds-barred scramble for an inheritance. Mr. Cook was also in the film, which starred John Mills, Ralph Richardson, Peter Sellers and Michael Caine.
Over the next decade Mr. Moore made several more films, all of them unremarkable. In 1973 he returned to Broadway with Mr. Cook in a revue called "Good Evening," which was a hit and won a special Tony Award.

In 1978 he starred with Goldie Hawn and Chevy Chase in the film "Foul Play," about a woman accused of murder in San Francisco. Mr. Moore drew attention as a swinger obsessed with sex.
A good-looking man of 5 foot 2, he attracted women, most of whom towered over him, with a combination of vulnerability and Pan-like sexuality. "Whether women wanted to mother him or smother him, I don't know," Mr. Cook once said.

A year after "Foul Play," the director Blake Edwards made him a major movie star in "10." On a ceaseless, feverish search for perfect-looking women, a composer named George (Mr. Moore) finds one in the person of a tall blonde named Jenny (Bo Derek). Like Mr. Moore himself, George feels inadequate, especially in Southern California, a land of magnificent physical specimens, all of them forever jogging.

George is at his best when in physical or psychological peril. "The movie belongs very much to Mr. Moore, who manages to be funny without ever having to appear stupid," Vincent Canby wrote in The New York Times.

Max

Wednesday, March 27, 2002 - 01:36 pm Click here to edit this post

Tksoard

Wednesday, March 27, 2002 - 02:23 pm Click here to edit this post
Good Bye and Sweet Dreams to one of the funniest actors I've ever seen. I know he feels so much better now.

Moondance

Wednesday, March 27, 2002 - 03:59 pm Click here to edit this post
Milton Berle died today too:(

A very sad day indeed

He was 93

Littlebreeze

Wednesday, March 27, 2002 - 04:17 pm Click here to edit this post
It was such a tragedy to see Dudley Moore deteriorate so drastically over the last years until he was a mere shell of the man he was. Through his films and recordings, he will be remembered as he was, with all of his wit and talent intact. I just posted yesterday on the Getting To Know You Part II thread and I chose Arthur as one of my very favorite movies, right at the top. This world has lost the physical being of a great comedic talent and an extraordinary pianist. How sad this is for those left behind but it's a glorious day for those he's entertaining now on the other side. No doubt Milton Berle is doing the same. There's alot more laughter in Heaven today.

Angelnikki

Wednesday, March 27, 2002 - 04:32 pm Click here to edit this post
OH my gosh, I can't believe that! God rest his soul. He was a fantastic actor and person.

Max

Wednesday, March 27, 2002 - 05:00 pm Click here to edit this post

Two comedic greats in one day.

Ketchuplover

Thursday, March 28, 2002 - 08:25 pm Click here to edit this post
Alas,Dudley is no more. :(