Dudley Stuart John Moore CBE (19 April 1935–27 March 2002) was an English actor, comedian, musician, and composer. Moore first came to prominence in the UK as a leading figure in the British satire boom of the 1960s. He was one of the four writer-performers in the comedy revue Beyond the Fringe from 1960 that created a boom in satiric comedy, and with a member of that team, Peter Cook, collaborated on the BBC television series Not Only... But Also. As a popular double act, Moore’s buffoonery contrasted with Cook’s deadpan monologues. [1] They jointly received the 1966 British Academy Television Award for Best Entertainment Performance. They worked together on other projects until the mid-1970s, by which time Moore had settled in Los Angeles to concentrate on his film acting. Other recovered footage includes Moore and Cook performing in Australia, which hasn’t been seen on British screens since the 1970s. In a letter in 1988, he wrote: "Regarding my relationship with my three erstwhile partners - I rather miss their colourful and rich contributions to my life, but realise they work in areas in which I cannot participate. One of the sadnesses of leaving a show is the loss of friends. I think all of their careers have developed very richly, I would say that the only difference is that I have become perhaps less attracted to the dialogue that goes on between people in the classical sense of the word and am more interested in music things. It's hard for me even to contemplate assisting in some narrative, comedic or dramatic . . . since I feel I've had enough drama, or comedy, in my life. I suppose I have a feeling of futility. . ." Moore was almost 32 when he took on his first solo starring role in 30 Is A Dangerous Age, Cynthia, which, without support from Cook's lofty presence or invention, gave him a chance to demonstrate his ability as a musical pasticheur, and to indulge in romantic wish-fulfilment with his co-star, Suzy Kendall, whom he married in 1968.

His later years were dogged by ill health. Moore underwent open heart surgery and suffered a number of strokes before being diagonsed with progressive supranuclear palsy. After graduating from Magdalen College in 1958, Moore toured Britain and the United States with the Vic Lewis jazz band. He then joined the John Dankworth band; formed the Dudley Moore Trio; did a cabaret act with Joe Melia; and wrote the music for two plays at the Royal Court, John Arden's Serjeant Musgrave's Dance and NF Simpson's One Way Pendulum. Soon the call came from the 1960 Edinburgh Festival to appear with three other Oxbridge graduates, Jonathan Miller, Alan Bennett and Peter Cook in Beyond The Fringe, the official festival revue at the Royal Lyceum Theatre. some of the early symptoms being so similar to intoxication that he had been reported as being drunk, [27] [28] [29] [30] [31] and that the illness had been diagnosed earlier in the year. [26] The disease eventually required him to use a wheelchair. Walters, Barbara (27 March 2002). " '20/20': Dudley Moore Battles Brain Disease". ABC News . Retrieved 30 September 2023. 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.

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 humorist Martin Lewis in organising a two-day salute to Cook in Los Angeles that Moore co-hosted with Lewis. Career [ edit ] Beyond the Fringe [ edit ] Moore (left) in Beyond the Fringe, c. 1963. Creating a boom in satirical comedy, thousands of shows were played on both sides of the Atlantic. [10] Q: The Autobiography of Quincy Jones – Quincy Jones, Jeffrey S. Thomas, Steven Strassman (engineers), and Elisa Shokoff (producer) (2001) Moore died on the morning of 27 March 2002 [12] as a result of pneumonia, secondary to immobility caused by his PSP, in Plainfield, 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." [32] [33] Moore was interred at Hillside Cemetery in Scotch Plains, New Jersey. Fruchter later wrote a memoir of their relationship titled Dudley Moore ( Ebury Press, 2004). Despite his popularity as a performer, he had inhibitions about his height (5ft 2in) and about relationships with women; he didn't lose his virginity until he was 22. His propensity to speak about his sexual experiences prompted Jonathan Miller to describe him as "libidinous, childlike, goatlike - the embodiment of some peculiar mythical satyr".

During their long collaboration, they also produced a number of privately recorded dialogues, with obsenely surreal conversations peppered with foul language. Obviously such material could not stay private for long, and Derek and Clive bootlegs were widely circulated, until the pair relented and released the recordings commercially. Norton, Alex (17 November 2014). There's Been A Life!. ISBN 9781845029685 . Retrieved 24 April 2016. Born in Kingston, Jamaica, on 22 May 1924 (although Dudley later pretended to be younger, claiming to be 29 in early 1959 whilst Allmusic said he was born in the 1930s) he started performing when very young with a "native song and dance act" for tourists. In 1947 he went to Britain where he spent a year in the play Sauce Tartare at the Cambridge Theatre in the West End, before singing in clubs for 6 months. He then played in Folies Bergeres at the Hippodrome, London and toured Australia in Cole Porter's Kiss Me, Kate, before joining Sid Milward's Comedy orchestra, The Nit Wits, supporting Max Bygraves. a b c "Bozo Timeline-1960s". WGN-TV. Archived from the original on 9 July 2001 . Retrieved 16 February 2011. Rosemary Harris / Marin Mazzie / Terrence McNally / Sonny Tilders and Creature Technology Company / Jason Michael Webb / Harold Wheeler (2019)On film, Moore and Cook appeared in the 1966 British comedy film The Wrong Box, before co-writing and co-starring in Bedazzled (1967) with Eleanor Bron. [12] Set in Swinging London of the 1960s, Bedazzled was directed by Stanley Donen. The pair closed the decade with appearances in the ensemble caper film Monte Carlo or Bust and Richard Lester's The Bed Sitting Room, based on the play by Spike Milligan and John Antrobus. In 1968 and 1969 Moore embarked on two solo comedy ventures, firstly in the film 30 is a Dangerous Age, Cynthia and secondly, on stage, for an Anglicised adaptation of Woody Allen's Play It Again, Sam at the Globe Theatre in London's West End. Strictly for the Birds" b/w "Duddly Dell", 1961 ( Parlophone R 4772) – The Dudley Moore Trio (Derek Hogg, drums; Hugo Boyd, double bass)