Ron Moody

Ron Moody (born Ronald Moodnick; 8 January 1924 – 11 June 2015) was an English actor. He was best known for his portrayal of Fagin in Lionel Bart's 1960 stage musical Oliver!, originating the role in the initial London production and reprising it in the 1968 film adaptation and in West End and Broadway revivals in the 1980s. Moody earned a Golden Globe Award and an Academy Award nomination for the film, as well as a Tony Award nomination for the stage production. Other notable projects include The Mouse on the Moon, Mel Brooks's The Twelve Chairs (1970) and Flight of the Doves (1971), in which Moody shared the screen with Oliver! co-star Jack Wild.

Early life and education Moody was born on 8 January 1924 in Tottenham, Middlesex, the son of Kate (née Ogus; 1898–1980) and Bernard/Barnett Moodnick (1896–1964), a studio executive. His father was a Russian Jew and his mother was a Lithuanian Jew; said Moody, "I'm 100% Jewish—totally kosher!" He was a cousin of director Laurence Moody and actress Clare Lawrence. His surname was legally changed to the more anglicised Moody in 1930. Moody worked in a variety of genres, but he is perhaps best known for his starring role as 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 in 1960 and reprised it in the 1984 Broadway revival, receiving a Tony Award nomination for Best Actor in a Musical. For his performance in the 1968 film Oliver!, he received the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor (Musical/Comedy), the Best Actor award at the 6th Moscow International Film Festival and an Academy Award nomination in the same category. Reflecting on the role, Moody states: "Fate destined me to play Fagin. It was the part of a lifetime. That summer of 1967 [during filming] was one of the happiest times of my life". and again at the 1985 Royal Variety Performance in Theatre Royal, Drury Lane before Queen Elizabeth II and the Duke of Edinburgh.

Moody appeared in several children's television series, including the voice of Badger and Toad in the TV Adaptation of Colin Dann's The Animals of Farthing Wood, Noah's Island, Telebugs, and Into the Labyrinth. Among his better known roles was that of Prime Minister Rupert Mountjoy in the comedy The Mouse on the Moon (1963), alongside Margaret Rutherford, with whom he appeared again the following year in Murder Most Foul (1964), one of Rutherford's Miss Marple films. He played French entertainer and mime artist The Great Orlando in the 1963 Cliff Richard film Summer Holiday. He appeared as Hopkirk in the 1966 episode entitled "Honey For the Prince" of The Avengers. He acted again with former Oliver! Co-star Jack Wild in Flight of the Doves (1971).

In 1969, Moody was offered, but declined, the lead role in Doctor Who, following the departure of Patrick Troughton from the part. He later told many people (including Doctor Who companion Elisabeth Sladen) that declining the role was a decision he subsequently regretted.

In 2004, the British ITV1 nostalgia series After They Were Famous hosted a documentary of the surviving cast of the film Oliver! Several of the film's musical numbers were reenacted. Moody, then 80 but still spry, and Jack Wild (seriously ill with oral cancer at the time) recreated their dance from the closing credits of the film.

Moody was a guest star in an episode of ITV's long-running police drama The Bill in 2004 along with actress Mollie Sugden and appeared in BBC1's Casualty (aired on 30 January 2010) as a Scottish patient who had served with the Black Watch during the Second World War.

Death Moody died of natural causes while in a London hospital on 11 June 2015, aged 91.

Partial filmography

Davy (1958) – The Unicyclist (uncredited) Follow a Star (1959) – Violinist Make Mine Mink (1960) – Jelks (uncredited) Five Golden Hours (1961) – Gabrielle A Pair of Briefs (1962) – Sidney Pudney Summer Holiday (1963) – Orlando The Mouse on the Moon (1963) – Prime Minister Rupert Mountjoy Ladies Who Do (1963) – Police Inspector Murder Most Foul (1964) – H. Driffold Cosgood Every Day's a Holiday (1964) – Professor Bastinado San Ferry Ann (1965) – German The Sandwich Man (1966) – Rowing Coach Oliver! (1968) – Fagin David Copperfield (1969, TV Movie) – Uriah Heep The Twelve Chairs (1970) – Vorobyaninov Flight of the Doves (1971) – Hawk Dove The Edwardians (1972–1973, TV miniseries) – Robert Baden-Powell Legend of the Werewolf (1975) – Zoo Keeper Dogpound Shuffle (1975) – Steps Closed Up-Tight (1975) Starsky & Hutch (1976, TV Series) – Derek Stafford The Strange Case of the End of Civilization as We Know It (1977) – Dr Henry Gropinger Dominique (1978) – Dr. Rogers The Word (1978, TV Mini-Series) – LeBrun Unidentified Flying Oddball, aka The Spaceman and King Arthur (1979) – Merlin Tales of the Unexpected (1980, TV Episode) – Richard Pratt Nobody's Perfect (1980, TV Series) – Inspector Roger Hart Into the Labyrinth (1981, TV Series) – Rothgo Othello (1981, TV Movie) – Iago Dial M for Murder (1981, TV movie) – Capt. Lesgate Wrong Is Right (1982) – King Awad Where Is Parsifal? (1983) – Beersbohm Hart to Hart (1983) – Charles Thompson The Other Side of London (1983) The Telebugs (1986–1987, TV Series) – (voice) Asterix and the Big Fight (1989) – Prolix (British version, voice) A Ghost in Monte Carlo (1990, TV Movie) – Alphonse How's Business (1991) – Pawnshop broker Emily's Ghost (1992) – Dawson The Animals of Farthing Wood (1993–1995, TV Mini-Series) – Toad, Badger, Whistler, Rollo, Bully, Spike, Large Town Rat, additional voices (voice) A Kid in King Arthur's Court (1995) – Merlin Noah's Island (1997–1999) – Noah, Rocco, Reg, Squadron Leader, additional voices (voice) The 3 Kings (2000) – King Herod Revelation (2001) – Sir Isaac Newton Paradise Grove (2003) – Izzie Goldberg Lost Dogs (2005) – Maurice Todd Moussaka & Chips (2005) – Officer David Tomlinson