Moore started singing in professional choirs when he was six years old. 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 was so talented that Oxford University took him for their music program.
By the time he was 28, he was composing and writing his own plays. Right off the bat, one of his collaborative projects made its way from London to New York City. It was so good that President John F. Kennedy attended one of the shows.
At the time, most Americans hadn't heard of Dudley Moore, but overseas, he and the very popular Peter Cook who was also a writer, director, composer, etc., were famous. They could do it all. They could score movies (adding music), produce movies and television shows, write songs, put together concerts, etc. When it comes to famous duos both here and abroad, Dudley and Peter were a couple of the best.
Moore moved to Hollywood when he was 48 years old. He immediately got a role in the film "Foul Play" (1978) with Goldie Hawn and Chevy Chase. The following year saw his breakout role in Blake Edwards's "10," with Bo Derek. I can still picture her running down the beach. 😁 This movie became one of the biggest box-office hits of 1979 and gave him an unprecedented status as a romantic leading man.
In 1981, Moore starred in his iconic role in the comedy "Arthur" and it ended up being an even bigger hit than the movie "10." The movie co-starred Liza Minnelli and Sir John Gielgud and it was both commercially and critically successful. Moore received an Oscar nomination for Best Actor (he won the Golden Globe), while Gielgud won the Best Supporting Actor Oscar for his role as Arthur's stern but compassionate manservant. Moore lost to Henry Fonda for the starring role in "On the Golden Pond."
Dudley was always on the move. His energy level was contagious to those who worked with him. An example of this is that he owned a restaurant for 17 years in Venice, California that was highly successful. He ran it while doing so many other things in Hollywood. He began to struggle health wise and decided to close the restaurant. Dudley died two years later.
Like a lot of mega-successful people, Dudley didn't do as well in his personal life. He was married four times. His marriages generally lasted around five years. He had two children of which because of his schedule, barely knew him. That was his greatest regret in life.
At the age of 62 his health went very far south. He had four strokes and major heart surgery, and he had a degenerative brain disease. He was very limited for five years up until his death in 2002 from pneumonia. He had family and friends in the room when he passed and the last thing he said was: "I can hear the music all around me." Wow!
Dudley was in 33 movies and participated on 19 television shows. I've got to admit that I didn't have a clue how much Dudley Moore had accomplished. I knew him from "10," and "Arthur," but I knew nothing else about him. He was extraordinary.