How the Hell Did Dudley Moore Become a Lead Actor and in Romantic Movies to Boot?

And he was once married to Tuesday Weld.

Was she blind at the time?

Chevy Chase got Goldie Hawn. Dudley was just a perve with a blow up doll in his closet.

Chevy wasn’t quite attractive himself, but at least he was tall and apparently some women like that.

This was back when everything was geared to straight males, even romantic movies--because people went to the movie theater to see movies on dates and the man paid for the tickets. Straight males don't like movie stars to be too attractive in date movies, since it sets a high standard for them with women. It's the same reason John Belushi became so popular among straight males--an ugly, rude, fat guy plays the most popular dude on campus. It made straight men of a certain era feel good.

God, straight men needed everything catered to them, how insecure were they???

The 70s was the era of Dustin Hoffman, Shelley Duvall, and Elliot Gould. You didn't have to be beautiful just have a certain quirky charm.

He was likeable, he was funny.

Now we get Ken dolls with zero personality as romantic leads.

Give me Dudley over them any day.

He was already a major star in England, due to Not Only But Also, the Monty Pythonesque show with Peter Cook.

He was the loveable underdog getting laid with the hottest chicks. Decades later, it made a comeback with fat couch potatoes like Kevin James.

The show was a huge hit throughout all the world in all the Commonwealth countries. But typically never made it to America because of its off-beat English humour and America's cultural inwardness. It's interesting to contrast it with Laugh-In which was happening at the same time in the US. Neither particulary funny now, but both innovative then.

Because his massive dong, considering his 5'2" height, was unmutilated! That's why.

He was a lovelorn loser in "Foul Play," but the movie was a smash and when George Segal quit "10" Blake Edwards took a chance and cast Moore in a comic-romantic lead role. "10" was a hit, then "Arthur" was a hit and got him an Oscar nom and lots more lead roles, if fewer hits.

I really think Mike Myers based Austin Powers on Dudley (or at least the persona from Foul Play).

English humor is all about accents. If you can't discern what part of England they're from, then you won't get the 'humour'.

When did you come up with that bullshit?

Dudley Moore and Dustin Hoffman sort of ruled the movies at that time. Same look and appeal.

Have you seen many films from the era? It was an ugly time.

Moore was non-threatening, funny and a very likable guy. That's how OP.

[quote]Segal quit "10"

I didn't know that. I like the movie a lot, but it would've been a better film with Segal in the lead.

He seemed like an asshole (always yelling and freaking out) and was ugly asf. I blame his popularity on all of the cocaine in the 70s and early 80s.

Who's MMT?

Apparently OP doesn't realize Dudley was part of the famous British comedy team, Peter Cook & Dudley Moore, as well as an accomplished pianist who led a jazz group.

Peter Cook and Dudley Moore are still considered to be one of Britain's most famous and talented comedic double acts. Their Broadway show "Good Evening" had a decent run, about a year, and was always sold out.

All DL seems to care about, a person's looks. This certainly explains why so many untalented actual trolls become 'stars' these days.

[quote] He got MMT, Bo Derek and Liza!

Liza wasn’t exactly Greta Garbo. She could be had for a nickel bag and a VHS of “Meet Me In St. Louis.”

R4- Whom do you consider attractive?

R22 My dyslexia version of MTT, despite my disdain for him I love a dead child Christmas movie and 6 Weeks was my jam.

Wasn’t Dudley married to Tuesday Weld?

OP, if you can watch Arthur and still wonder why he was a star, I can’t help you. Even though Gielgud ran away with the movie, DM was hilarious and so sweet.

[quote]My dyslexia version of MTT

Still off by one, OP.

Did I marry Tuesday Weld?...

We had lower standards back in the day.

Who is MMT?

He would never have been a lead if George Segal had not walked days before shooting was to start on 10. The film was actually cancelled, when they nabbed Moore as a last minute replacement.

He was probably not the first choice to replace Segal, but he was the one they could get. And that part established him as a Lead Actor.

Arthur was ficking brilliant. Even Liza Liza was fuuny.

He also dated amazon Susan Anton for a while in the '80s, so hot chicks dug him.

I think it's funny that you think he wasn't hot enough for Mary Tyler Moore and Liza Minelli when he was later paired with genuinely gorgeous women like Mary Steenburgen, Amy Irving, Anne Reinking and Nastassja Kinski!!

R23 please name a time in which unattractive women became stars. Looks have always mattered, maybe not with straight men but for everyone else it did.

My late father was a rather short man, but was incredibly popular with women. He was handsome and shy when he was younger, and maybe carried that confidence into his older years. He tended to draw people out and really listen to them. And he was a bit of a wounded bird, too. Women LOVE that.

You’d never know it to look at him, but he could wrap any woman around his little finger in a matter of minutes. For straight women, it’s not all about looks and money.

R5

[quote] It's the same reason John Belushi became so popular among straight males--an ugly, rude, fat guy plays the most popular dude on campus. It made straight men of a certain era feel good.

That explains a lot. Thank you.

Granted, Dudley Moore was not conventionally handsome, but he was not unattractive.

R38 Charisma! My dad had it too.

MMT = Mary Moore Tyler

Dudley was adorable and funny.

Beats me, he was an unfunny, smarmy dwarf.

He dated MTM?

As a kid/teenager, I always found him attractive.

Well he was a helluva lot funnier and 100X better looking than horseface Pete Davidson.

Dudley got an Arthur sequel so he must have been doing something right.

You know what they say…”club foot = club *****”!

He resembles Richard Dawson. Were they related? Neither were leading man material.

He has fantastic chemistry with Liza in Arthur.

10 is one of my favorite movies. The argument about the word broad is just brilliant.

Dudley was extremely talented and funny, he also died a terrible death. Who cares if he wasn't the most handsomest or tallest man, Dudley had talent.

OP and his ilk are fucking clueless.

He was quite a funny little person

As Jessica Rabbit says, "He makes me laugh".

The OG "Bedazzled" is genius.

Six weeks was the most depressing and disturbing movie

r5 and r39 are retards

Moore was a brilliant comedian, but he was also an accomplished musician who composed film scores, wrote songs, and was a skilled pianist. The man had tons of talent and intelligence -and those things make a man sexy, handsome or not.

What about his terrible death?

The 70’s and wary 80’s were VERY good to ugly men and skeletal women.

He wasn't a lead actor in romantic movies. He was a lead actor in romantic comedies. Huge difference.

I can totally see why women liked him. A lot of women like guys who make them laugh and he had a certain elvish charm. I love Arthur and, yes Liza was funny as shit in this too.

Dudley Moore's reign didn't last long.

Tom Conti reminded me of Moore. Kind of ugly, kind of cute. Conti is practically unknown here though.

“This certainly explains why so many untalented [bold] pretty boys [/bold] become 'stars' these days.”

As for R37 on no unattractive femaile movie stars, get back to us on Bette Midler, Gilda Radner and Sarah Jessica Parker.

Arthur was the worst movie I saw in the 1980s.

HI LORNA!

^^ Actually the first line above was a fix for R37’s dumb comment.

The other commenters have covered the reasons Dudley Moore was popular & successful. This was my era & I agree. John Belushi didn't play the most popular guy, he played the clown, wild man or mascot-like characters.

There a poster on DL that repeatedly makes baseless posts slamming celebrities. Maybe that's you? I'm blocking you.

OP shows a lack of knowledge; posters here don't.

Arthur was dated before it opened.

What about his horrible death?

WOODY ALLEN WAS A LEADING MAN!

They liked them like that then

IDK whether he actually married Tuesday Weld, but he did marry Suzy Kendall, who was no dog either. ("Why would Arthur marry a dog?")

He's considered a comedian, not a romantic lead. Most of them are unattractive. Dudley Moore was great in Arthur and the perfect match for the unattractive Liza Minelli.

It was that whole Short Guy era: Matthew Broderick, Michael J. Fox, Jean Claude Van Damme, Tom Cruise...

R72, he fell feet-first into a wood chipper, then someone came along and poured hydrochloric acid all over him and set him on fire

[quote]A lot of women like guys who make them laugh

Not just women, either. If a guy is funny and smart, he somehow gets better looking.

I wasn't a fan of Moore or any of his projects, except for one time I saw him and Peter Cook doing their Frog and Peach sketch, on Dick Cavett I think. That was my sort of humor. I wondered why Moore got the big career and not Cook, who actually had looks, but later I found out Cook was a big time alcoholic which may have put him out of play.

You should see "Bedazzled" with Cook and Moore, which someone mentioned upthread--hit or miss, but the hit parts are hilarious.