Dudley Moore

To millions everywhere, Dudley Moore is a diminutive sex symbol, the charming clown of Arthur, an inspired jazz pianist or a member of the legendary Beyond the Fringe satirists. He is all these things but he is also a deeply troubled man whose life has been haunted - and damaged - by his neuroses. Written with Moore's full co-operation, Barbra Paskin's biography is the first book to examine every side of this complex man and his candour has enabled her to write a rivetingly detailed and revealing book. Born with a twisted foot and a slightly withered leg that no amount of corrective surgery could mend, Moore never felt he had his mother's love, yet to this day he seeks her approval, three broken marriages down the line. Moore's career at Cambridge and his spectacular rise to early fame with Alan Bennett, Jonathan Miller and Peter Cook are re-examined, as is his later partnership with Cook and their volatile friendship. His depressive, occasionally violent, side affected all four of his marriages and tempered his film work. 10 made him a Hollywood star and Arthur gilded that success. Then came other films which were somehow unworthy of his talents.