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Desert Island Discs Revisited

Factual: Life Stories

Selected castaway gems from the BBC Desert Island Discs archive.

Desert Island Discs Revisited: Lost Gems: Dudley Moore CBE

Dudley Moore CBE

Lost Gems

Desert Island Discs

BBC Radio 4 Extra - Desert Island Discs Revisited, Lost Gems, Dudley Moore CBE

Comedian, actor and pianist Dudley Moore shares his castaway choices with Roy Plomley.

4 Extra Debut. From Blood, Sweat & Tears to Beethoven. Comedian, composer, pianist and actor Dudley Moore is castaway by Roy Plomley. From 1969.

From Blood, Sweat & Tears to Ludwig van Beethoven. 

Comedian, composer, pianist and actor Dudley Moore shares his castaway choices with Roy Plomley. 

Born in Dagenham, Essex, Dudley recalls how his gift for music won him an organ scholarship to Oxford's Magdalen College. He left in 1958 as an accomplished jazz pianist, performing with Johnny Dankworth and touring the US for a year with the Vic Lewis band.

On his return, he met the late Peter Cook and was asked to join the Edinburgh Festival comedy revue, Beyond The Fringe in 1960. Also starring Alan Bennett and Jonathan Miller, the extended show went on to run for four years in London’s West End and on Broadway in New York.

Dudley explains how his partnership with Peter led to the creation of their classic characters Dud and Pete for BBC TV.  Writing film scores also kept him busy.

Dudley Moore went on to pursue a successful career in Hollywood, starring in a number of hit screen comedies. Most memorably he played alongside Bo Derek in the movie 10 in 1979. His role as a hard-drinking millionaire in 1981’s Arthur won him an Oscar nomination.

By the late 1990s,  Moore endured a number of illnesses – developing the rare condition Progressive Supranuclear Palsy. He revealed how the affliction sadly robbed him of his greatest pleasure - his ability to play music.

Married and divorced four times, Dudley Moore was awarded a CBE in 2001.

Born in 1935, he died aged 66 in 2002.  

DISC ONE: Bach’s Mass in B Minor - Maria Stader and Hertha Topper with the Munich Bach Orchestra   
DISC TWO: Blood, Sweat & Tears - Spinning Wheel
DISC THREE: Mahler’s Nun seh' ich wohl, warum so dunkle Flammen (from Kindertotenlieder) - Kathleen Ferrier with the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra (Conductor: Bruno Walter)
DISC FOUR: Little Miss Britten - Dudley Moore
DISC FIVE: Diminuendo and Crescendo in Blue - Duke Ellington and His Orchestra
DISC SIX: Webern’s Bagatelles for String Quartet - Pro Arte Quartet
DISC SEVEN: Lilian Lust (from Bedazzled) - Dudley Moore
DISC EIGHT: Beethoven’s Symphony No. 3 in E flat major, Op. 55 “Eroica” Philharmonia Orchestra (Conductor: Otto Klemperer)   

BOOK CHOICE - Study of psychology
LUXURY CHOICE - Piano
CASTAWAY'S FAVOURITE - Beethoven’s Symphony No. 3 in E flat major, Op. 55 “Eroica” Philharmonia Orchestra (Conductor: Otto Klemperer)

Producer: Ronald Cook

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in November 1969.

Desert Island Discs Revisited: Lost Gems

Your digital radio entertainment station showcasing the best in comedy and drama

Your digital radio entertainment station showcasing the best in comedy and drama. With recent favourites from BBC Radio 4.

A collection of rediscovered castaways to mark BBC @ 100

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