Dudley Moore

Dudley Stuart John Moore CBE (19 April 193527 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. 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.

His career as a comedy film actor was marked by hit films, particularly '' Bedazzled'' (1967), set in Swinging Sixties London (in which he co-starred with Cook) and Hollywood productions '' Foul Play'' (1978), '' 10'' (1979) and ''Arthur'' (1981). For ''Arthur'', Moore was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor and won a Golden Globe Award. He received a second Golden Globe for his performance in ''Micki & Maude'' (1984). Moore was awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1987, and was made a CBE by Queen Elizabeth II at Buckingham Palace on 16 November 2001 in what was his last public appearance.

Early life

Moore was born at the original Charing Cross Hospital in central London, the son of Ada Francis (née Hughes), a secretary, and John Moore, a railway electrician from Glasgow.
He had an older sister, Barbara. Moore was brought up in the Becontree estate in Dagenham, Essex. He was short at and had club 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. At age 11 he earned a scholarship to the Guildhall School of Music, where he took up harpsichord, organ, violin, musical theory and composition. 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 attended Dagenham 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). Cork was also a composer. Moore kept in touch until the mid-1990s and his letters to Cork were published in 2006.Cork, Peter (ed.). ''Letter From Dudley'' (2006)

Moore won an organ scholarship to Magdalen College, Oxford, where he was tutored by the composer Bernard Rose. While studying music and composition there, he also performed with Alan Bennett in ''The Oxford Revue''. During his university years, Moore developed a love of jazz music and became an accomplished jazz pianist and composer. He began working with musicians such as John Dankworth and Cleo Laine. In 1960 he left Dankworth's band to work on ''Beyond the Fringe''.

Career

''Beyond the Fringe''

John Bassett, a graduate of Wadham College, Oxford recommended Moore, his jazz bandmate and a rising cabaret talent, to producer Robert Ponsonby, who was putting together a comedy revue entitled '' Beyond the Fringe''. Bassett also chose Jonathan Miller. Moore then recommended Alan Bennett, who in turn suggested Peter Cook.

''Beyond the Fringe'' was at the forefront of the 1960s UK satire boom, although the show's original runs in Edinburgh and the provinces in 1960 had had a lukewarm response. When the revue transferred to the Fortune Theatre in London, in a revised production by Donald Albery and William Donaldson, it became a sensation, thanks in some part to a favourable review by Kenneth Tynan. There were also a number of musical items in the show, using Dudley Moore's music, most famously an arrangement of the Colonel Bogey March in the style of Beethoven, which Moore appears unable to bring to an end.

In 1962 the show transferred to the John Golden Theatre in New York, with its original cast. President John F. Kennedy attended a performance on 10 February 1963. The show continued in New York until 1964.

Partnership with Peter Cook

When Moore returned to the UK he was offered his own series on the BBC
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