Ron Moody

Infobox actor


name = Ron Moody
birthname = Ronald Moodnick
birthdate = birth date and age|1924|1|8|df=y
location = London, England
spouse = Therese Blackbourn (1985-)
goldenglobeawards = Best Actor - Motion Picture Musical or Comedy
1969 "Oliver!"

Ronald Moodnick, known as Ron Moody (born 8 January 1924) is a British actor.

Life and work

Born in Tottenham, North London, [cite web
last =
first =
authorlink =
coauthors =
title = My London
work = The Londoner
publisher = Mayor of London
date = August 2005
url = http://www.london.gov.uk/londoner/05aug/p18b.jsp?nav=on
accessdate = 2007-06-18
quote = Are you a London boy originally? Yes. I was born in Tottenham. Then we moved to Hornsey, which was not that far away, but was a few steps up the social ladder.] he has worked in a variety of genres, but is perhaps best known for his starring role as the villainous yet loveable Fagin in Lionel Bart's stage and film musical "Oliver!", based on "Oliver Twist" by Charles Dickens. He created the role in the original West End production, and reprised it in 1982 on Broadway and in the 1968 film version, for which he was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor and won the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor - Motion Picture Musical or Comedy.

He has appeared in several children's television series, including "The Animals of Farthing Wood", "Noah's Island", "Telebugs", "Into the Labyrinth", and the "Discworld" series.

Moody played French entertainer and mime artist The Great Orlando in the 1963 Cliff Richard film "Summer Holiday".

He again appeared with Oliver! co-star Jack Wild in the movie Flight Of The Doves

In 1969, he was offered, but declined, the lead role in "Doctor Who", following the departure of Patrick Troughton from the part. He played Edwin Caldecott, an old nemesis of Jim Branning in "EastEnders". He played Ippolit Vorobyaninov alongside Frank Langella (as Ostap Bender) in Mel Brooks' version of "The Twelve Chairs" (1970). In 2005, he acted in the Big Finish Productions "Doctor Who" audio play "Other Lives", playing the Duke of Wellington.

Moody married pilates teacher Therese Blackbourn in 1985. They are the parents of six children, the youngest born when Moody was in his early seventies.

In 2005 the British ITV1 nostalgia series After They Were Famous hosted a documentary of the surviving cast of the motion picture Oliver!. Several of the films musical numbers were reenacted. Most notable and poignant perhaps was Moody, then 81 but still spry, and Jack Wild (the Artful Dodger from Oliver! and seriously ill with oral cancer at the time of the shooting) recreating their dance from the closing credits of the movie.

He is also the cousin of the "Coronation Street" director Laurence Moody.

References

* "Variety Club - Jewish Chronicle colour supplement "350 years"", The Jewish Chronicle, 2006-12-15, pp. 28-29.

External links

*imdb name|id=0600531|name=Ron Moody
*Screenonline name|id=471537|name=Ron Moody