Celebrated entertainer Dudley Moore died on Wednesday night at his New Jersey home. The 66-year-old comedian, actor and musician had been suffering from the rare brain condition, progressive supranuclear palsy, which led to pneumonia.
Moore’s spokeswoman Michelle Bega said he passed away, “surrounded by friends, his nurse and medical aides”.
Dudley John Stuart Moore was born April 19, 1935, in Dagenham, near London. From an early age he harboured a desire to be a musician, taking up the piano at the age of six. By the time he was 12 he was enrolled at the prestigious Guildhall School of Music, and in his late-teens won a scholarship to Magdalen College, Oxford, to study music and composition.
While at Oxford, Dudley began to branch out beyond classical music into more theatrical ventures. He penned incidental music for the Oxford Drama Society, which led to his first stage appearance in 1955.
After graduating with two bachelor degrees in 1958, he spent the next few years working as a jobbing musician, playing in various jazz ensembles, touring the world with the Vic Lewis Orchestra and John Dankworth and working as the resident composer at London’s Royal Court Theatre.
But in 1960 Dudley returned to the stage, making his professional debut at the Edinburgh Festival with old Oxford chums Alan Bennett and Jonathan Miller, plus Peter Cook, in the revue Beyond The Fringe. The show, a precursor to Monty Python, was an immediate hit and took on a life of its own. After meeting with success in the West End, it transferred to Broadway where it was honoured with a special Tony Award.
When the show ended, Dudley and Peter Cook went on to form a long-standing double act that encompassed stage, radio, television and cinema. Between 1965 and 1970, they appeared together in an occasional BBC series, Not Only… But Also…, through which they refined their hilarious – and often risqué – act. The two also collaborated on a number of big-screen features, co-writing and co-starring in the original version of Bedazzled in 1967, and making the 1978 Sherlock Holmes spoof, The Hound Of The Baskervilles.
Following Peter’s retirement in 1978, Dudley continued to forge ahead with his career. He settled in Los Angeles and set about conquering Hollywood. Within a year, the role of a middle-aged songwriter undergoing a mid-life crisis in 10 boosted him to international stardom.
In 1981 he hit a career high playing wealthy drunk Arthur in the eponymously titled film which netted him a best actor Academy Award nomination. It turned out to be something of a poisoned chalice, however, as the actor became a victim of his own success. Arthur came to be seen as his signature turn and he spent several of the following years playing variations on the same role.
As his Hollywood star faded, Dudley kept his musical career alive, appearing as a guest performer with a number of world class orchestras, which made the diagnosis of progressive supranuclear palsy all the more tragic. Although he retained a sense of humour about his illness, Dudley was clearly devastated by the fact that he was no longer able to play music. “It’s a great emptiness in my life,” he admitted poignantly.
Dudley, who was made a Commander of the British Empire in November 2001, is succeeded by his two sons - Patrick from his second marriage to Tuesday Weld, and Nicholas from his fourth marriage to Nicole Rothschild.
Photo: © Alphapress.com
Photo: © Alphapress.com
