Dudley Moore

Dudley Moore, the gifted comedian who had at least three distinct career phases that brought him great acclaim and success, actually started out as a musical prodigy as a child. He was born in Dagenham, Essex, England, in 1935, to working class parents, Ada Francis (Hughes), an English secretary, and John Havlin Moore, a Scottish railway electrician (originally from Glasgow). Dudley won a music scholarship to Magdalen College, Oxford, to study the organ. At university, he also studied composition and became a classically trained pianist, though his forte on the piano for public performance was jazz.

In the 1950s he was a regular member of The Johnny Dankworth Seven where he established himself as an accomplished jazz pianist.

, Medieval History, 1957) had already recommended him to John Bassett, who was putting together a satirical comedy revue called "Beyond the Fringe".

After graduating from Magdalen College in 1958, Moore was offered a position as organist at King's College, Cambridge, but turned it down in order to go to London and pursue a music and acting career. Fellow Oxonian Alan Bennett (Exter Colelge, B. A.

Cook, who had studied modern languages at Cambridge, had been part of the famous Cambridge theatrical, the Footlights revue in 1959, had subsequently gone to London to star in a West End revue for Kenneth Williams, "Pieces of Eight". This old-fashioned review was such a success there was a sequel, "One Over the Eight". He was advised by his agent not to star in the Fringe with the three others as he was a professional, whereas they were amateurs. Ironically, the great success of "Beyond the Fringe", which was a new kind of satirical comedy, would doom the very old-fashioned reviews that Cook had just tasted success in. "Beyond the Fringe" not only won great acclaim in the UK, but it was a hit in the U. S. .

"Beyond the Fringe" was to be Moore's first brush with fame, along with co-stars Bennett, future theatrical director Jonathan Miller (now Sir Jonathan, who studied Medicine at Cambridge and was a physician), and Peter Cook, who was destined to become Moore's comic partner during the 1960s and '70s. It was Miller who had recommended Cook for "Beyond the Fringe", in much the same way that Bennett had bird-dogged Moore.

The four won a special Tony Award in 1963 for their Broadway production of "Beyond the Fringe" and there was a television program made of the revue in 1964. Moore and Cook were offered the TV show Not Only. . .

But Also (1965) by the BBC in 1965. Peter Cook was on as a guest.

Their pairing was so successful, it enjoyed a second season in 1966 and a third in 1970. They were particularly funny as the working-class characters "Pete" and "Dud".

The duo then broke into the movies, including The Wrong Box (1966) and Bedazzled (1967).

He turned down the role of Jamie McGregor in Here We Go Round the Mulberry Bush (1968) that went to Barry Evans.

In the mid- to late 1970s, they issued three comic albums in the guise of the characters "Derek" and "Clive" (Moore and Cook, respectively), two lavatory attendants that many viewed as reincarnations of their earlier TV characters "Pete" and "Dud". The albums, ad-libbed in a recording studio while the two drank vast quantities of alcohol, were noted at the time for their obscenity. Their typical routine was a stream-of-consciousness fugue by Cook, interspersed with interjections by Moore.

He was considered for Willy Wonka in Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory (1971).

He was considered for Frank Spencer in Some Mothers Do 'Ave 'Em (1973).

In 1974, the duo won their second Tony Award for their show "Good Night", which was the stage version of their TV series "Not Only. . . But Also".

After marrying American actress Tuesday Weld in 1975, Moore moved to the U. S.

He died on the same day as Milton Berle and Billy Wilder. He and Wilder both died of pneumonia while he and Berle both made guest appearances in The Muppet Show (1976).

He was originally cast as Man with Rock in Jabberwocky (1977).

and began a second career as a solo screen comedian, stealing the show from Chevy Chase and Goldie Hawn as the horny conductor in the movie comedy, Foul Play (1978).

When George Segal dropped out of the movie 10 (1979), director Blake Edwards cast Moore in the lead role as the composer undergoing a mid-life crisis.

With their obscenity-laden, free-formed riffs, Derke and Clive presaged the more free-wheeling shock comedy of the 1980s and '90s.

In the early 1980s, Moore was a top box office attraction.

It was a huge hit, but was surpassed by his Oscar-nominated turn as the dipsomaniac billionaire in Arthur (1981).

He was considered for Michael Dorsey in Tootsie (1982).

In 1983, the National Alliance of Theater Owners named him the Top Box Office Star-Male of the Year.

His career began petering out after he turned down the lead in Splash (1984), a role that helped establish Tom Hanks as a top movie comedian and position him for his transition into movie drama and super-stardom.

As Hanks star waxed, Moore's star waned, and by 1985 he was reduced to playing an elf in Santa Claus The Movie (1985), one of the all time turkeys.

He was once touted to star in Biggles: Adventures in Time (1986).

He was originally going to star in Mannequin (1987). The protagonist was originally an older, lonely storekeeper.

Even a second turn as "Arthur" in Arthur 2: On the Rocks (1988) couldn't revive his box office, the dependent clause of the title all too well describing his career.

He was considered for the role of Harry Lyme in Home Alone (1990).

His TV series Dudley (1993) [TV-Series] was a bust, and the 1990s proved a wasteland for the once-honored and prosperous comedian.

Arrested and charged with suspicion of domestic violence on a cohabitant. [March 1994]

Moore was deeply affected by the January 1995 death of Peter Cook by a gastrointestinal hemorrhage at the age of 57.

Moore organized a two-day memorial to Cook in Los Angeles that was held in November 1995.

Was the first choice to play "Henry Fine" in The Mirror Has Two Faces (1996), only to be replaced by George Segal (who was, ironically, replaced by Moore in the role of "George Webber" in 10 (1979)). In an interview following his announcement that he had supranuclear palsy, he revealed that he was dismissed from the role because he had trouble remembering his lines.

Underwent quadruple heart bypass surgery, and thereafter suffered four minor strokes in swift succession. [September 1997]

Less than four years later, in September 1999, Moore announced that he was afflicted with progressive supra-nuclear palsy, a disease for which there is no treatment.

Dudley Moore was invested as a Commander of the Order of The British Empire (one step below knighthood) in June 2001. Moore personally attended the ceremony at Buckingham Palace to accept his CBE from Prince Charles, despite being unable to speak and being wheelchair-bound.

Release of the book, "Dudley Moore: An Intimate Portrait", by Rena Fruchter. [2005]