Dudley Moore

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British-American actor, musician and composer who is most widely known as the comedy star of "10" and "Arthur." He is a professional musician and composer as well who has taught at Oxford and, in 1982, played piano at Carnegie Hall. He is small in stature at 5'2" height. Born with a club foot, he had seven operations as child. At age five, he began piano, later recalling that "I saw this beast in the living room and clambered on." He later studied violin, harpsichord and organ. After graduation, his dream was to play jazz, until in 1959, he became part of a talented team of four who wrote and performed in a music and comedy revue, "Beyond the Fringe." They played for four years in London and three years on Broadway, firmly establishing his deft touch with comedy as well as poignant manipulation of drama. Since settling in Los Angeles in 1975, he has earned his greatest fame with comedy films, but that has not put a stop to his musical involvement. In 1981, he joined with the Los Angeles Philharmonic for a Gershwin tribute. Six years later, at Carnegie Hall and at the Hollywood Bowl, he performed some of his film scores along with Beethoven. In 1987 and 1989 he led a jazz trio in a Santa Monica club. Part owner of a club in Venice, he sometimes sits in for a set. Known for something of a temper, Moore has been married four times. He had one son, Patrick, with his second wife, Tuesday Weld. His third marriage was to 5' 8" Brogan Lane; they divorced on July 26, 1990 after two-and-a-half years of marriage. He began therapy in 1964. On 3/21/1994 he was arrested by police for domestic violence with his girlfriend and future wife, Nicole Rothschild. Nicole said that Dudley had hit her, a charge which he denied, and the whole incident was deemed a misunderstanding. About a month later, on 4/16/1994, the couple married in Venice, CA. They had their first child together, Nicholas, on 6/28/1995 in Los Angeles. About a year later, on 6/11/1996, Moore filed for divorce from Rothschild. She responded in June 1997 with a ten-million dollar law suit claiming that he had "relentlessly assaulted, battered, threatened and terrorized her." The next month, July 1997, the couple kissed and made up. On 4/16/1993 he began a sitcom entitled "Dudley" that had a quick cancellation. In October 1999, Moore entered a rehab center in West Orange, NJ suffering from progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP), an incurable brain disorder similar to Parkinson's disease. The disease began about five years ago but was not diagnosed until May 1999. He was in a wheelchair when he made a trip to England to accept a Commander of the British Empire medal from Prince Charles on 11/16/2001. Moore died on 3/27/2002 in Plainfield, NJ. The direct cause of death was pneumonia, stemming from complications of his disease. Link to Wikipedia biography