Dudley Moore

Dudley Stuart John Moore was born on 19 April 1935 at the original Charing Cross Hospital in central London and died on 27 March 2002. The son of Ada Francis Moore, a secretary, and John Moore, a railway electrician from Glasgow, he grew up on the Becontree estate in Dagenham, Essex. Moore was born with club feet that required extensive hospital treatment throughout his childhood; his right foot responded to corrective treatment by age six, but his left foot remained permanently twisted and his left leg below the knee was withered. He stood 5 ft 2 in tall and remained self-conscious about his physical condition throughout his life. He had one older sister, Barbara.

Moore began his musical education early, becoming a chorister at age six and earning a scholarship to the Guildhall School of Music at age eleven, where he studied harpsichord, organ, violin, musical theory, and composition. By fourteen he was playing organ at local church weddings. He attended Dagenham County High School, where he received dedicated musical tuition from composer Peter Cork, who helped him secure an organ scholarship to Magdalen College, Oxford, in 1955. At Oxford he was tutored by composer Bernard Rose, developed a deep interest in jazz, and performed with Alan Bennett in The Oxford Revue. He graduated in 1958 and joined John Dankworth's big band on piano, subsequently leading his own trio with Pete McGurk on bass and Chris Karan on drums. McGurk was later replaced by Jeff Clyne.

Moore's path to international prominence began when John Bassett, a graduate of Wadham College, Oxford, recommended him to producer Robert Ponsonby, who was assembling the satirical comedy revue Beyond the Fringe. Bassett also selected Jonathan Miller; Moore then recommended Alan Bennett, who in turn suggested Peter Cook. The revue's original runs in Edinburgh and the provinces in 1960 drew a lukewarm response, but when it transferred to the Fortune Theatre in London in a revised production by Donald Albery and William Donaldson, it became a sensation, aided in part by a favorable review from Kenneth Tynan. The show featured several musical items using Moore's compositions, most notably an arrangement of the Colonel Bogey March in the style of Beethoven. In 1962 the production transferred to the John Golden Theatre in New York with its original cast, where President John F. Kennedy attended a performance on 10 February 1963. The Broadway run continued until 1964. Moore received a Tony Award Special Award in 1963 in connection with his work on the production, and later appeared in Beyond the Fringe '65 on Broadway.

Following Beyond the Fringe, Moore returned to the United Kingdom and was offered his own BBC television series, Not Only... But Also, which ran in 1965, 1966, and 1970. The series was commissioned as a vehicle for Moore, but when he invited Peter Cook as a guest, their comedic partnership proved so effective that Cook became a permanent fixture. The two are particularly remembered for their sketches as Pete and Dud, two working-class men in macs and cloth caps offering commentary on politics and the arts. They also created a recurring format in which Moore played an interviewer opposite one of Cook's upper-class eccentric characters. Their scripting method involved taping ad-libbed routines, having them transcribed and edited, and working from cue cards due to insufficient rehearsal time. Moore was known for breaking into laughter on camera, and Cook would deliberately provoke this reaction during live broadcasts. The BBC wiped much of the series, though some soundtracks were issued on LP record. In 1968 the pair briefly moved to ATV for four one-hour programs titled Goodbye Again, which were less critically well-received than the BBC work. Cook and Moore jointly received the 1966 British Academy Television Award for Best Entertainment Performance.

On film, Moore and Cook appeared together in the 1966 British comedy The Wrong Box before co-writing and co-starring in Bedazzled (1967) with Eleanor Bron, directed by Stanley Donen. They also appeared in the ensemble film Monte Carlo or Bust and Richard Lester's The Bed Sitting Room, based on the play by Spike Milligan and John Antrobus. Moore pursued solo projects as well, appearing in the 1968 film 30 is a Dangerous Age, Cynthia and starring in an Anglicised stage adaptation of Woody Allen's Play It Again, Sam at the Globe Theatre in London's West End in 1969. The Derek and Clive series of comedy albums represented another collaborative output between Moore and Cook.

In 1971 Cook and Moore drew on material from Not Only... But Also and Goodbye Again, supplemented by new work, to create the stage revue Behind the Fridge. The 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 under the retitled name Good Evening. Moore starred in Good Evening on Broadway, and the production won both Tony and Grammy Awards. Moore received a Tony Award Special Award in 1974 for his work on the show. His Broadway career spanned from 1962 to 1973, and he served as both a performer and book writer during that period. When the Broadway run of Good Evening concluded, Moore remained in the United States to pursue a film career in Hollywood. Cook and Moore reunited to co-host Saturday Night Live on 24 January 1976, performing classic stage routines including One Leg Too Few and Frog and Peach alongside new ensemble material. Moore and Cook ceased working together regularly after 1978.

Moore's Hollywood film career produced a series of commercially successful comedies. He appeared in Foul Play in 1978, followed by 10 in 1979 and Arthur in 1981. His performance in Arthur earned him a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Actor and a Golden Globe Award. He received a second Golden Globe for his performance in Micki & Maude in 1984. Moore was awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1987. On 16 November 2001, Queen Elizabeth II appointed him a CBE at Buckingham Palace, an occasion that proved to be his last public appearance. Moore died on 27 March 2002.