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Dudley Moore Dies
Aired March 27, 2002 - 13:50 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Once again actor Dudley Moore died at his home in the state of New Jersey. Dudley Moore was of 66 years old suffering from a rather rare blood disorder. Sherri Sylvester now with more on the life of the Hollywood actor.
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SHERRI SYLVESTER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Dudley Moore made his film debut with that line in the (UNINTELLIGIBLE) 1966 comedy "The Wrong Box." Co-starring with long time stage partner, Peter Cook, Moore came to comedy by way of music when he was hired to play with Cook and the Cambridge Comedy Review, "Beyond The Fringe," and he turned out to be every bit as funny as the other three members.
Dudley Moore's personal comic style and song writing first came to the screen in 1967's "Bedazzled" in which he sells his soul to the devilish Peter Cook. But finds his wishes never quite worked out the way he thought.
The "Leaping Nun's Hymn" is another Dudley Moore composition.
But (UNINTELLIGIBLE) had morphed into disco as Dudley Moore became a fixture on American screens. A supporting role in "Foul Play" led to his breakthrough film, playing his unusual role as a composer; in this case coping with mid-life crisis in "10," Moore managed to be charming and comic even when his behavior wasn't admirable.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR: You better take it easy. Pain pills and alcohol don't mix.
DUDLEY MOORE, ACTOR: You could have fooled me.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
You can get away with murder, with anything, you can do anything, you can be anything, if, as long as people laugh. As long as they are not given that moment to analyze things too much, you know. And then, it can become mildly embarrassing, I suppose.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED ACTRESS: What's so funny now?
MOORE: Sometimes I just think funny things.
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SYLVESTER: Moore will be better remembered best playing the drunk millionaire Arthur Bach in "Arthur" which made the most of his ability to charm the audience out of a judgment of his character's behavior and earn him an Academy Award nomination. There was an "Arthur 2," but Moore spent most of the '80s playing roles of declining quality. Films like "Love Sick," and "Crazy People," and "Best Defense." If he wasn't playing the piano in the movies, he was playing it instead of making movies.
MOORE: I guess I have careened about the place doing, being mildly entertaining and playing the piano, all my life, I suppose. I don't know -- I don't know that people who start their life that way would find many alternatives, actually.
SYLVESTER: He was as familiar with the high and low notes of his life as he was with the notes of his keyboard. Each of his four marriages failed and Moore spent his later years battling progressive super nuclear palsy, a degenerative brain disorder.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HEMMER: Again, Sherri Sylvester reporting on the life of actor Dudley Moore. He died in his home today at age 66 in New Jersey. Short time ago I misspoke. Apparently Moore had been battling a rare and incurable brain disorder similar to Parkinson's disease. Again and we remember the life of Dudley Moore, dead at age 66.
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