Dudley Moore | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Moore at the 1991Emmy Awards | |
| Born | Dudley Stuart John Moore (1935-04-19)19 April 1935 Charing Cross, London, England |
| Died | 27 March 2002(2002-03-27) (aged 66) Plainfield, New Jersey, U.S. |
| Resting place | Hillside Cemetery,Scotch Plains, New Jersey, U.S. |
| Alma mater | Magdalen College, Oxford |
| Occupations |
|
| Years active | 1958–1999[1] |
| Spouse | |
| Children | 2 |
Dudley Stuart John Moore (19 April 1935 – 27 March 2002) was an English actor, comedian, musician and composer. He first came to prominence in the UK as a leading figure in the Britishsatire boom of the 1960s. He was one of the four writer-performers in the groundbreakingsatirical comedy revueBeyond the Fringe from 1960 to 1964. With another member of that team,Peter Cook, Moore collaborated on the BBC television seriesNot Only... But Also from 1965 to 1970. In their popular double act, Moore's buffoonery contrasted with Cook's deadpan monologues.[2] They jointly received the 1966British Academy Television Award for Best Entertainment Performance and worked together on other projects, such as the hit filmBedazzled (1967) and theDerek and Clive series of comedy albums. Moore and Cook ceased working together regularly after 1978, by which time Moore had settled in Los Angeles, California to concentrate on his film career.
FollowingBedazzled, Moore's work as a comedy film actor was marked by further hit films, particularlyFoul Play (1978),10 (1979) andArthur (1981). ForArthur, Moore was nominated for theAcademy Award for Best Actor and won aGolden Globe Award. He received a second Golden Globe for his performance inMicki & Maude (1984). Moore was awarded a star on theHollywood Walk of Fame in 1987 and was made a CBE by QueenElizabeth II atBuckingham Palace on 16 November 2001 in what was his last public appearance.[3][4]
Moore was born at the originalCharing Cross Hospital incentral London, the son of Ada Francis (née Hughes), a secretary, and John Moore, a railway electrician fromGlasgow.[5]He had an older sister, Barbara.[6] Moore was brought up on theBecontree estate inDagenham, Essex. He was short at 5 ft 2 in (1.57 m) and hadclub feet that required extensive hospital treatment. This made him the butt of jokes from other children. His right foot responded well to corrective treatment by the time he was six, but his left foot was permanently twisted and his left leg below the knee was withered. He remained self-conscious about this throughout his life.
Moore became a chorister at the age of six. When he was 11 years old, he earned a scholarship to theGuildhall School of Music, where he took up harpsichord, organ, violin, musical theory and composition.[7] He rapidly developed into a highly talented pianist and organist and was playing the organ at local church weddings by the age of 14. He attendedDagenham County High School, where he received dedicated musical tuition from Peter Cork (1926–2012), who helped him towards his Oxford music scholarship. (Norma Winstone was another student of Cork's at Dagenham).[8] Cork was also a composer. Moore kept in touch until the mid-1990s and his letters to Cork were published in 2006.[9]
In 1955 Moore won anorgan scholarship toMagdalen College, Oxford, where he was tutored by the composerBernard Rose and from where he graduated in 1958.[10][7][11] While studying music and composition there, he also performed withAlan Bennett inThe Oxford Revue. During his university years, Moore developed a love ofjazz music and became an accomplished jazz pianist and composer. He began working with musicians such asJohn Dankworth andCleo Laine. In 1960, Moore left Dankworth's band to work onBeyond the Fringe.
On leaving Oxford University in 1958 he joined Sir John Dankworth's big band on piano. Subsequently he made a number of recordings leading his own trio including Pete McGurk (later replaced by Jeff Clyne) on bass and Chris Karan on drums.[citation needed]
John Bassett, a graduate ofWadham College, Oxford recommended Moore, his jazz bandmate and a rising cabaret talent, to producer Robert Ponsonby, who was putting together a comedy revue entitledBeyond the Fringe. Bassett also choseJonathan Miller. Moore then recommendedAlan Bennett, who in turn suggestedPeter Cook.
Beyond the Fringe was at the forefront of the 1960s UKsatire boom, although the show's original runs in Edinburgh and the provinces in 1960 had had a lukewarm response. When the revue transferred to theFortune Theatre in London, in a revised production byDonald Albery andWilliam Donaldson, it became a sensation, thanks in some part to a favourable review byKenneth Tynan.[13] There were also a number of musical items in the show, using Dudley Moore's music, most famously an arrangement of theColonel Bogey March in the style of Beethoven, which Moore appears unable to bring to an end.
In 1962 the show transferred to theJohn Golden Theatre in New York, with its original cast. PresidentJohn F. Kennedy attended a performance on 10 February 1963. The show continued in New York until 1964.
Sir John Dankworth's trumpeter, Ron Simmonds, remembered the duo playing in the intervals of the band's saturday night residency at theMarquee Club in 1961.[14]
When Moore returned to the UK he was offered his own series on theBBC,Not Only... But Also (1965, 1966, 1970). It was commissioned specifically as a vehicle for Moore, but when he invitedPeter Cook on as a guest, theircomedy partnership was so notable that it became a permanent fixture of the series. Cook and Moore are most remembered for their sketches as two working-class men,Pete and Dud, in macs and cloth caps, commenting on politics and the arts, but they also fashioned a series of one-off characters, usually with Moore in the role of interviewer to one of Cook's upper-class eccentrics.
The pair developed an unorthodox method for scripting the material, using a tape recorder to tape an ad-libbed routine that they would then have transcribed and edited. This would not leave enough time to fully rehearse the script, so they often had a set of cue cards. Moore was famous for "corpsing" so, as the programmes often went out live, Cook would deliberately make him laugh to get an even bigger reaction from the studio audience. The BBCwiped much of the series, though some of the soundtracks (which were issued on LP record) have survived. In 1968 Cook and Moore briefly switched toATV for four one-hour programmes entitledGoodbye Again; however, they were not as critically well-received as the BBC shows.
On film, Moore and Cook appeared in the 1966 British comedy filmThe Wrong Box, before co-writing and co-starring inBedazzled (1967) withEleanor Bron.[15] Set inSwinging London of the 1960s,Bedazzled was directed byStanley Donen. The pair closed the decade with appearances in the ensemble caper filmMonte Carlo or Bust andRichard Lester'sThe Bed Sitting Room, based on the play bySpike Milligan andJohn Antrobus. In 1968 and 1969 Moore embarked on two solo comedy ventures, firstly in the film30 is a Dangerous Age, Cynthia and secondly, on stage, for an Anglicised adaptation ofWoody Allen'sPlay It Again, Sam at theGlobe Theatre in London'sWest End.
In the 1970s, the relationship between Moore and Cook became increasingly strained as the latter's alcoholism began affecting his work. In 1971, however, Cook and Moore took sketches fromNot Only....But Also andGoodbye Again, together with new material, to create the stage revueBehind the Fridge. This show toured Australia and New Zealand in 1971 and ran in London's west end between 1972 and 1973 before transferring to New York City in 1973, re-titledGood Evening.[16] Cook frequently appeared inebriated, on and off stage. Nonetheless, the show proved very popular and it wonTony andGrammy Awards.
When the Broadway run ofGood Evening ended, Moore stayed on in the U.S. to pursue his film acting ambitions in Hollywood, but the pair reunited to hostSaturday Night Live on 24 January 1976 during SNL's first season. They performed a number of their classic stage routines, including "One Leg Too Few" and "Frog and Peach", among others, in addition to participating in some skits with the show's ensemble.
It was during the Broadway run ofGood Evening that Cook persuaded Moore to take the humour of Pete and Dud further onlong-playing records asDerek and Clive.Chris Blackwell circulatedbootleg copies to friends in the music business and the popularity of the recording convinced Cook to release it commercially asDerek and Clive (Live) (1976). Two further "Derek and Clive" albums,Derek and Clive Come Again (1977) andDerek and Clive Ad Nauseam (1978), were later released. The latter was also filmed for a documentary,Derek and Clive Get the Horn. In the film it is clear tensions between the two men were at a breaking point, with Moore at one point walking out of the recording room singing, 'Breaking up is so easy to do.' In 2009, it came to light that, at the time, there were attempts to have them prosecuted under obscenity laws for their "Derek and Clive" comedy recordings.[17]
The last significant appearance for the partnership was in 1978'sThe Hound of the Baskervilles, where Moore playedDr. Watson to Cook'sSherlock Holmes, as well as three other roles: in drag; as a one-legged man; and at the start and end of the film as a flamboyant and mischievous pianist. He also wrote the film's score. Co-starTerry-Thomas described it as "the most outrageous film I ever appeared in ... there was no magic ... it was bad!".[18] The film was not a success, either critically or financially.
Moore and Cook eventually reunited for the annual American benefit for the homeless,Comic Relief, in 1987, and again in 1989 for a British audience at theAmnesty International benefitThe Secret Policeman's Biggest Ball.
Moore was deeply affected by the death of Cook in 1995, and for weeks would regularly telephone Cook's home in London, just to hear his friend's voice on the telephone answering machine. Moore attended Cook's memorial service in London and, at the time, many people who knew him noted that Moore was behaving strangely and attributed it to grief or drinking. In November 1995, Moore teamed up with friend and humoristMartin Lewis in organising a two-day salute to Cook in Los Angeles that Moore co-hosted with Lewis.[citation needed]
In December 2004 theChannel 4 television station in the United Kingdom broadcastNot Only But Always, a TV film dramatising the relationship between Moore and Cook, although most of the attention of the production was directed towards Cook. Around the same time, the relationship between the two was also the subject of a stage play calledPete and Dud: Come Again by Chris Bartlett andNick Awde. For this production Moore is the main subject. Set in a chat-show studio in the 1980s, it concerns Moore's comic and personal relationship with Cook and the directions their careers took after the split of the partnership.
During the 1960s Moore formed the Dudley Moore Trio, with drummerChris Karan and bassist Pete McGurk. Following McGurk's suicide in June 1968, Peter Morgan joined the group as his replacement.[19]
Moore's admitted principal musical influences wereOscar Peterson andErroll Garner. In an interview he recalled the day he finally mastered Garner's unique left-hand strum and was so excited that he walked around for several days with his left hand constantly playing that cadence. His early recordings included "My Blue Heaven", "Lysie Does It", "Poova Nova", "Take Your Time", "Indiana", "Sooz Blooz", "Baubles, Bangles & Beads", "Sad One for George" and "Autumn Leaves". The trio performed regularly on British television, made numerous recordings and had a long-running residency at Peter Cook's London nightclub, theEstablishment. Among other albums, they recordedThe Dudley Moore Trio,Dudley Moore plays The Theme from Beyond the Fringe and All That Jazz,The World of Dudley Moore,The Other Side Of Dudley Moore andGenuine Dud.
Moore was a close friend of record producerChris Gunning and played piano (uncredited) on the 1969 single "Broken Hearted Pirates" which Gunning produced forSimon Dupree and the Big Sound.[20] In 1976 he played piano onLarry Norman's albumIn Another Land, in particular on the songThe Sun Began to Rain. In 1981 he recordedSmilin' Through with Cleo Laine.
He composed the soundtracks for the filmsBedazzled (1967),30 is a Dangerous Age, Cynthia (1968),Inadmissible Evidence (1968),Staircase (1969),The Hound of the Baskervilles (1978) andSix Weeks (1982), among others.
In the late 1970s Moore moved to Hollywood, where he had a supporting role in the hit filmFoul Play (1978) withGoldie Hawn andChevy Chase. The following year saw his break-out role inBlake Edwards's10, which became one of thebiggest box-office hits of 1979 and gave him an unprecedented status as a romantic leading man. Moore followed up with the comedy filmWholly Moses!, which was not a major success.
In 1981 Moore appeared in the title role of the comedyArthur, an even bigger hit than10. Co-starringLiza Minnelli and SirJohn Gielgud, it was both commercially and critically successful, Moore receiving anOscar nomination for Best Actor, while Gielgud won the Best Supporting Actor Oscar for his role as Arthur's stern but compassionate manservant. Moore lost toHenry Fonda (forOn Golden Pond). He did, however, win a Golden Globe award for Best Actor in a Musical/Comedy. In the same year, on British television, Moore was the featured guest subject onAn Audience With....
His subsequent films,Six Weeks (1982),Lovesick (1983),Romantic Comedy (1983) andUnfaithfully Yours (1984) were only moderate successes. He won another Golden Globe for Best Actor in a Musical/Comedy in 1984, starring in theBlake Edwards directedMicki & Maude, co-starringAmy Irving.
Later films, includingBest Defense (1984),Santa Claus: The Movie (1985),Like Father Like Son (1987),Arthur 2: On the Rocks (1988), a sequel to the original,Crazy People (1990),Blame It on the Bellboy (1992) and ananimated adaptation ofKing Kong, were inconsistent in terms of both critical and commercial reception. Moore eventually disowned theArthur sequel, but, in later years, Cook would tease him by claiming he preferredArthur 2: On the Rocks toArthur.
In 1986 he once again hostedSaturday Night Live, albeit without Peter Cook this time.
Moore was the subject of the BritishThis Is Your Life, for a second time, in March 1987 when he was surprised byEamonn Andrews at his Venice Beach restaurant;[21] he had previously been honoured by the programme in December 1972.
In addition to acting, Moore continued to work as a composer and pianist, writing scores for a number of films and giving piano concerts, among the highlights of which were his popular parodies of classical favourites. He appeared as Ko-Ko in Jonathan Miller's production ofThe Mikado in Los Angeles in March 1988. He appeared onKenny G's music video "Against Doctor's Orders" from the albumSilhouette.[22]
In 1991 he released the albumSongs Without Words and in 1992Live From an Aircraft Hangar, recorded at London'sRoyal Albert Hall.
He collaborated with the conductorSir Georg Solti in 1991 to create a Channel 4 television series,Orchestra!, which was designed to introduce audiences to the symphony orchestra. He later worked with the American conductorMichael Tilson Thomas on a similar television series,Concerto! (1993), likewise designed to introduce audiences to classical music concertos.
Moore appeared in two series forCBS,Dudley (1993) andDaddy's Girls (1994); however, both were cancelled before the end of their run.
Moore had been interviewed for theNew York Times in 1987 by the music critic Rena Fruchter, herself an accomplished pianist, and the two became close friends. By 1995 Moore's film career was on the wane and he was having trouble remembering his lines, a problem he had never previously encountered. It was for this reason he was sacked fromBarbra Streisand's filmThe Mirror Has Two Faces.[23] However, his difficulties were, in fact, due to the onset of the medical condition that eventually led to his death. Opting to concentrate on the piano, he enlisted Fruchter as an artistic partner. They performed as a duo in the US and Australia. However, his disease soon started to make itself apparent there as well, as his fingers would not always do what he wanted them to do. Further symptoms such as slurred speech and loss of balance were misinterpreted by the public and the media as a sign of drunkenness. Moore himself was at a loss to explain this. He moved into Fruchter's family home inNew Jersey and stayed there for five years; however, this placed a great strain both on her marriage and her friendship with Moore, and she later set him up in the house next door.
Tony Bill and Dudley Moore founded a restaurant in 1983 (closed in November 2000),72 Market Street Oyster Bar and Grill, inVenice, California.[24][25]
Moore was married and divorced four times: to actressesSuzy Kendall (15 June 1968 – 15 September 1972);Tuesday Weld (20 September 1975 – 18 July 1980), with whom he had a son, Patrick, on 26 February 1976; Brogan Lane (21 February 1988 – 1991);[26] and Nicole Rothschild (16 April 1994 – 1998), with whom he had a son, Nicholas, on 28 June 1995.[27][28][29][30]
In 1994, Moore was arrested and charged with domestic assault after allegedly assaulting his then-girlfriend and soon-to-be wife, Nicole Rothschild.[31]
He maintained good relationships with Kendall, Weld, and Lane. He expressly forbade Rothschild from attending his funeral because at the time his illness became apparent, he was going through a difficult divorce with her, while still sharing a Los Angeles house with her and her previous husband.[28]
In April 1997, after spending five days in a New York hospital, Moore was informed that he had calcium deposits in thebasal ganglia of his brain and irreversible frontal lobe damage. He underwent quadruplecoronary artery bypass surgery in London and also suffered four strokes.[32]
On 30 September 1999, Moore announced that he was suffering from the terminal degenerative brain disorderprogressive supranuclear palsy (PSP), aParkinson-plus syndrome.[32]As some of its early symptoms are very similar to intoxication, he had been reported as being drunk.[33][34][35][36][37] However, the illness had been diagnosed earlier that year.[32] In November 1999, Moore made his first public appearance since disclosing his illness, reading poetry, alongsideJulie Andrews, at a benefit concert inPhiladelphia for the charityMusic for All Seasons. At first Moore struggled, but soon he settled in and began to joke and ad-lib. He then received a standing ovation, for what was to be his last performance.[1] His disease would quickly progress, eventually requiring him to use a wheelchair.
Moore died on the morning of 27 March 2002[15] as a result ofpneumonia, secondary to immobility caused by his PSP, inPlainfield, New Jersey, at the age of 66. Rena Fruchter was holding his hand when he died; she reported his final words were "I can hear the music all around me."[38][39] Moore was buried atHillside Cemetery inScotch Plains, New Jersey. Fruchter later wrote a memoir of their relationship titledDudley Moore (Ebury Press, 2004).
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1961 | The Third Alibi | Piano Accompanist | Uncredited |
| 1965 | Flatland | A. Square | Voice role |
| 1966 | The Wrong Box | John Finsbury | |
| 1967 | Bedazzled | Stanley Moon | |
| 1968 | 30 is a Dangerous Age, Cynthia | Rupert Street | |
| 1969 | Monte Carlo or Bust! | Lt. Barrington | (akaThose Daring Young Men in Their Jaunty Jalopies) |
| The Bed Sitting Room | Police Sergeant | ||
| 1972 | Alice's Adventures in Wonderland | Dormouse | |
| 1975 | Saturday Night at the Baths | Himself – in theatre audience | uncredited role |
| 1978 | Foul Play | Stanley Tibbets | |
| The Hound of the Baskervilles | Doctor Watson / Mrs. Ada Holmes / Mr. Spiggot / Piano Player | ||
| 1979 | 10 | George Webber | |
| Derek and Clive Get the Horn | Derek | ||
| 1980 | Wholly Moses! | Harvey Orchid / Herschel | |
| 1981 | Arthur | Arthur Bach | |
| 1982 | Six Weeks | Patrick Dalton | |
| 1983 | Lovesick | Saul Benjamin | |
| Romantic Comedy | Jason Carmichael | ||
| 1984 | Unfaithfully Yours | Claude Eastman | |
| Best Defense | Wylie Cooper | ||
| Micki & Maude | Rob Salinger | ||
| 1985 | Santa Claus: The Movie | Patch | |
| 1987 | Like Father Like Son | Dr. Jack Hammond / Chris Hammond | |
| 1988 | Arthur 2: On the Rocks | Arthur Bach | |
| 1989 | The Adventures of Milo and Otis | Narrator | |
| 1990 | Crazy People | Emory Leeson | |
| 1992 | Blame It on the Bellboy | Melvyn Orton | |
| 1993 | The Pickle | Planet Cleveland Man | (uncredited) |
| 1995 | The Disappearance of Kevin Johnson | Dudley Moore | |
| 1998 | The Mighty Kong | Carl Denham /King Kong (voice) | (final film role) |
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1964 | Chronicle | Piano Accompanist | Episode: "A Trip to the Moon" |
| 1964 | Love Story | Kuba | Episode: "The Girl Opposite" |
| 1965–1970 | Not Only... But Also | Various characters | 22 episodes |
| 1966 | Five More | Maserati Driver | Episode: "Exit 19" |
| 1968 | Film Reviews | Rupert Street | Episode: "Backs British Films" |
| 1968 | Goodbye Again | various characters | 4 episodes |
| 1969 | World in Ferment | Guest Store Detective | Episode: "1.1" |
| 1971 | Not Only But Also. Peter Cook and Dudley Moore in Australia | Various characters | Mini series |
| An Apple a Day | Dr. Clive Elwood | TV movie | |
| Behind the Fridge | Various characters | TV movie | |
| 1975 | When Things Were Rotten | Sheik Achmed | Episode: "Those Wedding Bell Blues" |
| 1976 | NBC's Saturday Night | Co-host | 1 episode |
| Pleasure at Her Majesty's | Narrator | TV movie documentary | |
| 1992 | Noel's House Party | Special Guest | Episode: "1.15" |
| 1993 | Dudley | Dudley Bristol | 6 episodes |
| 1993–1996 | Really Wild Animals | Spin | 13 episodes |
| 1994 | Parallel Lives | Imaginary Friend / President Andrews | TV movie |
| Daddy's Girls | Dudley Walker | 3 episodes | |
| 1995 | Oscar's Orchestra | Oscar (voice) | 38 episodes |
| 1996 | A Weekend in the Country | Simon Farrell | TV movie |
| Organisations | Year | Category | Nominated work | Result | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Academy Awards | 1981 | Best Actor | Arthur | Nominated | [40] |
| BAFTA Award | 1966 | Best Light Entertainment Performance | Not Only... But Also (withPeter Cook) | Won | [41] |
| Golden Globe Awards | 1978 | Best Supporting Actor – Motion Picture | Foul Play | Nominated | [42] |
| 1979 | Best Actor in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy | 10 | Nominated | [42] | |
| 1981 | Best Actor in a Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy | Arthur | Won | [42] | |
| 1982 | Best Original Score | Six Weeks | Nominated | [42] | |
| 1984 | Best Actor in a Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy | Micki & Maude | Won | [42] | |
| Grammy Awards | 1963 | Best Original Cast Show Album | Beyond the Fringe | Nominated | [43] |
| Best Comedy Album | Nominated | ||||
| 1975 | Best Spoken Word Album | Good Evening | Nominated | [44] | |
| 1986 | Best Recording for Children | Prokofiev:Peter and the Wolf | Nominated | [45] | |
| Hollywood Walk of Fame | 1987 | Motion Picture Star | Himself | Honored | [46] |
| QueenElizabeth II | 2001 | Commander of the Order of The British Empire (CBE) | Himself[a] | Honored | [4] |
The star says early symptoms of the illness led many to believe he was drunk. 'People started saying I was drunk on stage. It was dreadful,' he says.
People started saying I was drunk on stage... it was dreadful.
Sadly, Moore said that many friends and fans mistook him for his Arthur character when his illness first caused his speech to slur.
WALTERS: What do you most want people to know? / MOORE: I want them to know that I'm not intoxicated. / WALTERS: You're not drunk. / MOORE: No. And I just want them to know that I am going through this disease as well as I can.
The actor Dudley Moore, of the movie 'Arthur,' had the disease. Many people presumed he was drunk when they'd see him staggering, but he was actually losing his balance, often, because of the condition.
