Dudley Moore

Dudley Moore, whose comedy contained a touch of melancholy, always said he was driven to success by his mother's rejection in the acting business and his own feelings of inferiority. Moore got the last laugh, pouring his personal pain into humor for the stage, TV, records, music and even made himself into an unlikely Hollywood heartthrob in films such as "Arthur," and "10." "He had a little-boy-lost quality about him, which women loved, and there was always something slightly forlorn about Dudley, even when he was being funny," said Michael Parkinson, a British talk-show host. Moore died Wednesday at a friend's home in Plainfield of pneumonia stemming from progressive supranuclear palsy, a rare and incurable brain disorder. He was 66. Before breaking into film, the 5-foot-2 1/2-inch classically trained pianist found success in comedy revues in London and on Broadway as part of a legendary British troupe that included the surrealist comic talent Peter Cook. In the 1979 movie "10," the cuddly Englishman played a musician in the midst of a mid-life crisis determined to marry a perfect woman, embodied by Bo Derek. His film career peaked in 1981 with the smash "Arthur," in which he played a rich drunk who falls for a struggling waitress played by Liza Minnelli. He was nominated for a best actor Oscar, and co-star John Gielgud, who played Arthur's butler, won the supporting actor Oscar. "I am deeply saddened by the death of my dear friend, Dudley Moore," Minnelli said in a statement. "He was a unique individual that was multitalented. He could make the world laugh and brought joy to millions." Moore's other films included "Foul Play," 1978; "Lovesick," 1983; "Unfaithfully Yours," 1984; "Best Defense," 1984; "Arthur 2: On the Rocks," 1988; and "Crazy People," 1990. Moore confessed to being driven by feelings of inferiority because of his height and working-class origins in Dagenham, East London. He also spoke of the pain of being rejected by his mother because he was born with a deformed left foot. Comedians, he said in an interview with Newsday in 1980, are often driven by such feelings. "I guess if I'd been able to hit somebody in the nose, I wouldn't have been a comic," he said. Music gave Moore his entrance to public performance, first as a chorister and organist in his church, then in 1960 as a young Oxford graduate recruited for the four-man comedy revue "Beyond the Fringe." "Fringe," which played two years in London before moving to Broadway, was perhaps one of the greatest assemblies of young comic talent in Britain in the 20th century. Moore was teamed with Cook; Alan Bennett, later a successful playwright; and Jonathan Miller. Moore and Cook formed a fast friendship and later teamed on television as Dud and Pete on "Not Only... but Also," a sketch comedy series. They also plumbed the depths of taste and decency in a series of recordings as "Derek and Clive." Cook and Moore made their screen debuts in "The Wrong Box" in 1966 and followed up the next year with another success, "Bedazzled," a film remade in 2000. Moore and Cook teamed again in 1971 for a comedy revue titled "Beyond the Fridge," which was a success in London and a smash two years later on Broadway, retitled "Good Evening." The pair won a special Tony Award for their "unique contribution to the theater of comedy." Big screen success came after Moore settled in Southern California and met director Blake Edwards in a therapy group. When George Segal walked out of Edwards' production of "10," the director turned to Moore. While his comedy brought him the most attention, he was a talented pianist, with degrees in music and composition from Oxford. In 1992, he performed with the New World Symphony in Miami and other orchestras. "I can't imagine not having music in my life, playing for myself or for other people. If I was asked, `Which would you give up?' I'd have to say acting," he said in 1988. Moore was married four times, to Suzy Kendall in 1958, Tuesday Weld in 1975, Brogan Lane in 1988 and Nicole Rothschild in 1994. He had a son, Patrick, by his second marriage and a son, Nicholas, by his fourth. Moore was diagnosed with progressive supranuclear palsy in 1999. The disease, which is similar to Parkinson's, affects as many as 20,000 people in the United States, according to the Society for Progressive Supranuclear Palsy. "As I explained to him when I first met him, this was a disease in need of a celebrity," said Dr. Lawrence Golbe, Moore's neurologist. Moore became that celebrity, raising nearly $100,000 to fight the disease. "He was a rare human being who brought warmth and joy to all who knew him," said a statement by actress Julie Andrews and her husband, film director Blake Edwards. "We are so very grateful to have had the opportunity to work with such a lovely human being."