Ron Moody is a British Jewish actor who got into the field of cinematography at only 29 years old. He is also a singer, screenwriter, voice actor and writer. The most stellar role of Ron Moody is a vivid embodiment of the image of Feigin - a comical and kind old man who teaches street children the craft of theft, in the children's musical film "Oliver!" based on the book by Charles Dickens.
Ron Moody is not only a Hollywood actor, but also a screenwriter as well as a composer. He has written over a dozen musicals, many of which have never been performed. Ron Moody also dabbled in writing, publishing several novels. Any of his works included an anarchist shade and not typical heroes.
Biography of Ron Moody
Ronald Moudnick was born in Tottenham, north London. He is the son of Jewish immigrants from Eastern Europe and the Russian Empire. The father of the future artist is Bernard, the head of the studio, and his mother is Keith Ogus. From an early age, Ronald wanted to be an actor, but he was a rather insecure child. Later, the parents decided to change their son's name to English, changing the given at birth to Ron Moody.
At a young age, Moody was already moonlighting in an accounting office, and at 18 he joined the Royal Air Force as a radar mechanic, and later went to the London School of Economics to study sociology, psychology and philosophy. It was there that Ron Moody developed an interest in the art of writing, sketching and the scene in general.
As Ron Moody recalled: "I loved studying, and if I hadn't become an actor, I would have become a professor of sociology." Prior to his stellar moment, he had already worked at the department for five years.
In 1950, the future artist graduated from an educational institution with a bachelor's degree, in 1952 he made his debut on stage, and then began to take part in club comedy productions.
After many years in the creative field, Ron Moody's real breakthrough came in the 1960s when he got the chance to play Feigin in Oliver! in the musical version of Charles Dickens' The Adventures of Oliver Twist.
Moody brilliantly played his hero, the "cheerful Jew", which earned him popularity and recognition from critics and audiences of all ages.
Ron Moody's creative career
Filming time for the film "Oliver!" became one of the happiest moments in the life of an actor. For his talented transformation on the screen, Ron Moody was nominated for an Oscar and Golden Globe nomination.
However, working with him on the set caused inconvenience to many actors, especially the director: Ron Moody constantly deviated from the script and loved to improvise.
Despite his success in the United States, the actor returned to his native London: "I didn't want to leave, but I was a real patriot."
In the 1960s, Ron Moody starred in a number of English films, including the role of Prime Minister in the comedy "Mouse on the Moon", where he appeared on the screen along with English actress Margaret Rutherford.
In 1969, he was offered the role of Doctor in BBC's Doctor Who, where Moody was to replace Patrick Truton. However, the actor rejected this possibility, which he later regretted. Then the role went to John Pertwee.
Later, Ron Moody became not only a widely recognized film actor, but also a voice actor for children's television programs and films.
In 1984, he starred in the Broadway production of Oliver !, where he reimagined Feigin's character, earning him a Tony Award nomination.
On the screen, Ron Moody has portrayed Edwin Caldecott, Jim Branning in the TV series East End, Captain Hook in Peter Pan, and Sherlock in the musical Sherlock Holmes.
In 1985, Ron Moody played in plays at the Royal Theater, as well as in the oldest operating British theater, Drury Lane. The actor even had to play in front of Queen Elizabeth II of Great Britain and the Duke of Edinburgh.
The last decades in the career of an actor were not memorable, Ron Moody received similar proposals.
Moody was an outstanding English character actor, of which Feigin was the most memorable of all the roles he played.
List of works featuring Ron Moody
- the crime and detective comedy "The Most Terrible Murder" (1964), where the famous detective Miss Marple was superbly played again by Margaret Rutherford. Ron Moody stars as the male lead Dr. Driffold Cosgood;
- American adaptation of the book by I. Ilf and E. Petrov "12 chairs" (1970), where Ron Moody embodied the image of Ippolit Matveyevich Vorobyaninov. In this version, the role of a wandering charlatan Ostap Bender went to Frank Langella. It is noteworthy that the shooting of the film took place in Yugoslavia;
- series of horrors "Ill-conceived stories";
- Comedy political thriller "Wrong is Right" with Sean Connery (1982);
- the crime series "Purely English Murder";
- detective series Murder, She Wrote;
- voice acting for the cartoon "The Big Fight of Asterix" (1989);
- melodrama "The Ghost in Monte Carlo" (1990);
- family comedy "The First Knight at the Palace of King Arthur" (1995), where Ron Moody played the famous legendary wizard Merlin.
The last film in his career was the short film "The Lizard Boy" (2010), in which he embodied the image of Dr. Scales.
Ron Moody's personal life
For most of his life, Moody experienced a complex that, because of his appearance, he would not find success with women. The actor got married late - at the age of 61. In 1985, he met yoga instructor Teresa Blackbourne, whom he later married. The couple had six children in the marriage. The last child was born when Ron Moody was 73 years old.
The actor passed away in London on June 11, 2015 at the age of 91.
