DUDLEY MOOREbegan his career as a musician, but became famous as a comedian and actor. Music was his greatest pleasure, and his talent won him a music scholarship to Oxford.His comedy collaboration with Peter Cook made him a household name in both Britain and America and launched his Hollywood acting career.Despite his small size (he was 5 ft 2 ½ inches) and a club foot, women loved him for his cuddly, funny personality and he starred in several romantic comedies.Dudley Stuart John Moore was born on 19 April, 1935, to a working-class family in Dagenham. Music provided a refuge fromchildhood problems and, as a gifted pianist, he won an Organ Scholarship to Magdalen College, Oxford.He left Oxford as a brilliant jazz pianist but soon joined Beyond the Fringe, a comedy revue launched at the 1960 Edinburgh Festival and a hit in both Britain and America over the next four years.When the BBC offered him his own series, Not Only… But Also in 1965, Dudley Moore invited Peter Cook – who he had worked with on Beyond the Fringe – to join him.Their hugely successful comedy partnership produced famous comedy characters such as cloth capped working-class men “Pete and Dud”. Mr Moore and Mr Cook also starred in several films together including Bedazzled in 1967.Inthe late 1970s, Dudley Moore broke off the collaboration to develop his Hollywood film career.Mr Moore starred in numerous hit films including Arthur (1981) and Mickiand Maude (1984), for which he won Golden Globes for Best Actor in a Musical/Comedy. He also acted alongside Bo Derek in 10 (1979).He announced in 1999 that he suffered from the rare incurable brain disease progressive supranuclear palsy and by June 2001, when he collected his CBE, he was frail and wheelchair-bound. He died of pneumonia on 27 March, 2002, aged 66.Although he is best known for his acting and comedy, Dudley Moore remained passionate about music and composed scores to several films including Inadmissible Evidence (1968).He shared his enthusiasm for music in other ways: he served as the founding Advisory Board President of Music For All Seasons, a charity bringing music to those unable to attend concerts for health or other reasons.“Cuddly Dudley” dated some of Hollywood’s most attractive women. He was married four times and had two children.Chat show host Michael Parkinson described him as “a superb musician, a bloody good comedian and a lovely man."
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