WARNING: This Article May Contain Spoilers
Born: 8th January 1924
Died: 11th June 2015 (age 91)
As you will know my main modus operandi for these things is to look at an actors top five worldwide box office films and then talk about my favourite film of theirs. Unfortunately, as I have found out, that’s not always possible, I don’t know if the actor isn’t an international success or what but in such cases I will try to find a film from each decade of their acting career.
Ron Moody was born Ronald Moodnick to a Russian Jewish father and a Lithuanian Jewish mother. At the age of six his family legally anglicised their surname – from Moodnick to Moody. He was raised in Tottenham. He trained to be an economist at the London School of Economics before deciding to become an actor. He was a versatile actor and had a strong career both on and off screen but he will probably be remembered for playing Fagin in Lionel Bart’s musical Oliver!, an adaptation of Charles Dickens’ story of Oliver Twist. Most of you may not know this but he first played the role in the West End at the age of 36 and reprised the role, 24 years later, on Broadway (for which he received a Tony Award nomination for Best Actor in a Musical). He had several film roles, both big and small, before he got to play his “part of a lifetime”, Fagin, on the big screen in 1968. Unfortunately, however many roles, in film or TV, Moody took after that would ever change people’s minds away from the fact that he was Fagin – not that I think he would ever have changed that as he reprised the role several times in one form or another.
Murder Most Foul (1964)
Murder Most Foul is based on an Agatha Christie’s book ‘Mrs McGinty’s Dead’. The book is a Hercule Poirot novel so you’d expect Moody to have been playing the detective but this film has been changed to a Miss Marple, played by the wonderful Dame Margaret Rutherford. Moody plays H. Driffold Cosgood, leader of the Cosgood Players, a bit of a ham really but nothing more than you’d expect from a semi-professional theatre company. Moody makes the role his own; he gets to play around with all aspects of his talent – comedy and drama as well as melodrama. This was his second film in which he starred alongside Dame Margaret, the first being a year previous The Mouse on the Moon, and the two have an obvious on screen chemistry.
Dog Pound Shuffle (1979)
A sweet little film about friendship and what some will do to support each other. Moody is Steps, an old vaudevillian who is down on his luck, and his only friend is Spot, his dog, that is until he meets Pritt (played by the late David Soul). Steps and Pritt make an interesting couple, I think the age gap is supposed to be bigger than it actually is as the friendship is more of a mentor/mentee at first. Moody dances, he is light on his feet for someone his age and that, as far as I can tell, is not a trained dancer. This is a good film maybe another one where his accent goes a little awry but a good film all in all. And if Moody does his own stunt, breaking into the Pound, for this he is extremely agile for 55.
Wrong is Right (1982)
Let me start by saying that during the 80s Ron Moody’s big screen career took a bit of a downturn (for reasons only known to himself and his agent). He had numerous TV roles, made several films for TV and three feature films – one of which was as a voice actor and two small roles of which Wrong is Right was one. He plays King Awad, a role which, although as an on screen part was very small, is sort of the linchpin of the whole plot. I’m glad I chose this film to watch although I cannot judge Moody’s performance – it had a lot of twists and turns and to be honest I was expecting a twist for Moody’s King Awad but it never came to fruition which was a shame.
A Kid in King Arthur’s Court (1995)
Moody plays Merlin first seen as a disembodied head floating in a well, he says the spell that causes the earthquake which brings the kid to the court but then they say that Merlin is dead and I thought I’d seriously lucked out with this one but no Merlin may be dead but his spirit survives as the disembodied head. Actually I was quite pleased with this as Merlin is one of those characters that, depending on the style of film obviously, can be over played but you can’t really overplay a floating head! This isn’t a perfect film, I’ve seen this sort of story done better, but it’s OK for what it is and Moody does fit well yet I do think if he had more scenes there could have been a slight chance for him to make the role slightly melodramatic which would not fit the script.
Moussaka & Chips (2005)
Considering Ron Moody’s name tops the cast list, both at the start and at the end, he is in this for very little time. It’s a (very) low budget gangster film in which he stars as Secret Service Officer David Tomlinson – typical British Service Officer bowler hat, umbrella and moustache. Not a comedy role just a poor script and some worse acting that leans towards it without meaning too, I’m sure, makes it verge on the edge of funny. Watch the end credits for outtakes this is where you see the truly funny side of Moody in his one outtake. This was Moody’s last big film, he passed away ten years later, and it reunited him (maybe not in screen time but at least in credits) with Jack Wild, Oliver!’s Artful Dodger, who passed away himself a year after this film was released.
There is only one role that I think of when I think of Ron Moody and it is probably the role that everyone remembers him for and that is Fagin in Lionel Bart’s Oliver! Fagin plays to all Moody’s strengths – funny, serious and a good character role. There are times when I watch the film that I think the dance sequences are a little too much but never really where Fagin is concerned there seems to be a good balance for all his scenes. I cannot find anywhere that says he was a trained singer and if he wasn’t he had a wonderfully natural voice. To be honest growing up my family weren’t exactly film lovers but if Oliver! was on it would stay on until the end (even if it was only on in the background) but am I reviewing the situation of my favourite role? Definitely not, I could watch this film over and over.
Ron Moody was a star of stage and screen and he won awards for his work (he was beaten to an Oscar by Cliff Robertson’s portrayal of an intellectually disabled man who undergoes an experiment that gives him the intelligence of a genius) but he also served in the RAF, was a novelist, a composer and a singer. He married at the age of 61 and he and his wife had six children. He died of natural causes at the age of 91.
Although Ron Moody took on several roles in both well remembered films and in some big named TV series he will always be remembered for Fagin but you have to ask the question: if he had taken on the role of Doctor Who, which was offered to him a year after the Oliver! was released, would people have remembered him differently? We will never know but I don’t believe he would want to be remembered for any other role.
