Dudley Moore Guide, Meaning , Facts, Information and Description
Dudley Moore (April 19, 1935 - March 27, 2002), was a British actor and comedian who became a star after making the film 10 with Bo Derek. He came from a working-class background and was notably short, at 5 foot 2 1/2 inches. He was born with a deformed left foot (club foot) which required extensive hospital treatment and made him the butt of jokes by other children. Seeking refuge from his problems, he became a choirboy at the age of six and took up piano and violin. He rapidly developed into a talented pianist and organist and was playing the organ at church weddings by age 14.
While studying music at Oxford University (Magdalen College, where he was an organ scholar), Moore became friends with Peter Cook, Jonathan Miller and Alan Bennett. In the early 1960s, they appeared in Beyond the Fringe, a comedy revue which many see as a forerunner to Monty Python's Flying Circus. Arguably, Beyond the Fringe launched the 1960s Satire Boom. After enormous success in Britain, it transferred to the USA, where it was also a hit.
Moore teamed up with Cook several times in his career; their comedy partnership was most notable in the television series Not Only... But Also. Cook and Moore often appeared in sketches as two working-class men (Pete and Dud) in macs and cloth caps, commenting on politics and the arts. Moore was famous for "corpsing" - the programmes often went out live, and Cook would deliberately make him laugh in order to get an even bigger reaction from the studio audience. Regrettably, many of the videotapes of these seminal TV shows were later erased by the BBC, although some of the soundtracks (which were issued on record) have survived.
During his university years Moore became passionately interested in jazz and soon became an accomplished jazz pianist and composer. In the Sixties he formed the acclaimed Dudley Moore Trio, who they performed regularly on British TV, made numerous recordings, and had a long-running residency at Peter Cook's Establishment Club.
They co-starred in the original film Bedazzled (1967) with Eleanor Bron, and also had a tour called Behind the Fridge. However, their three albums of the late 1970s as Derek and Clive, were widely condemned for their use of bad language. Shortly following the last of these, Ad Nauseum, Moore made a break with Cook, whose alcoholism was affecting his work, to concentrate on his film career. Ironically, when Moore began to manifest the symptoms of the disease that eventually killed him, it was at first suspected that he too had a drinking problem.
In the 1970s, Moore moved to Hollywood, where he appeared in Foul Play (1978) with Goldie Hawn and Chevy Chase. The following year saw his breakout role in Blake Edwards's 10, which he followed up with the movie Arthur (1981), an even bigger hit. His subsequent films, including an Arthur sequel and an animated adaptation of King Kong, were inconsistent in terms of both critical and commercial reception.
In addition to acting, Moore continued to work as a composer and pianist, composing scores for numerous films and giving piano concerts, which were highlighted by his popular parodies of classical favourites.
He was married four times and has children from his marriage to Tuesday Weld and Nicole Rothschild. All of his marriages ended in divorce.
In June, 2001, Moore was created a Commander of the British Empire (CBE).
In September, 1999, Moore announced he suffered from Progressive Supranuclear Palsy, for which there is no treatment. He eventually succumbed to pneumonia which was a side effect of PSP.
UK chart singles - Goodbye-ee (1965) Peter Cook and Dudley Moore
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