Dudley Moore was an iconic British actor and comedian who wowed audiences with his wit and
charm in movies like Arthur and 10. He was known for being incredibly short-statured, but big
on talent. And yet Moore’s personal life was an unending up and down rollercoaster. He struggled
through several failed marriages, the worst of which was his fourth and final marriage to Nicole
Rothschild. And while there have been conflicting reports on what actually happened between them,
it’s clear there was abuse going on in the marriage. Join Facts Verse, as we present:
Dudley Moore's Spouse Made His Final Years a Misery
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Dudley Moore’s Contentious 4th Marriage Dudley Moore’s love life had as many ups
and downs as his career, if not more. By the time he married Nicole Rothschild in 1994,
he’d been in three tumultuous marriages that all ended in divorce. But when he met (and had
an extramarital affair) with Nicole, he was at the peak of his career. Reportedly, Nicole got
his attention by literally throwing herself onto the hood of his car and demanding an autograph.
The ploy worked, as Dudley not only gave her the autograph, but began dating her. They then
became husband and wife soon after. Nicole was 30 years younger than Dudley, and their relationship
unsurprisingly raised more than a few eyebrows. It also became and obsession for the media
and tabloids, as the two were photographed and written about heavily in both the U.S. and U.K.
Their relationship was somewhat doomed from the start. This was evidenced by the fact that Dudley
was arrested in 1994, shortly after their wedding, and charged with domestic assault. He reportedly
physically assaulted Nicole in their house. One odd twist in their relationship that also
happened right away was that fact that Nicole’s ex-husband, Charles Cleveland, actually lived
with the couple from the get go. That can’t have been very helpful when it came to solidifying
their marriage bonds. Cleveland was even there when Dudley and Nicole’s son Nicholas
was born the year after they got married. In 1996 they had another fall out, and it
looked to the public like the two might call it quits on their marriage. But that winter they
were photographed at their house, looking happy and seemingly past their current marital issues.
However, that was perhaps just a deceptive photo. Because about six months later, Nicole sued Dudley
for millions. She claimed he’d been abusive and a terror to her during their entire marriage,
and that he had issues with drugs and sex as well. She consulted with divorce attorneys
and was in the process of filing for divorce from Dudley. But in 1998, she decided to pull the plug
on this divorce filing, because she learned that Dudley had been diagnosed with a terminal illness.
Not wanting to pour salt in his wounds, she decided to just remain his wife until he passed.
While this might have been a nice gesture on her part, Moore certainly didn’t see it that way.
He left a clause in his will that forbade Nicole from being allowed to attend his funeral.
Dudley was generous with his money Moore apparently spent a fortune on
Nicole in the early days of their marriage, trying to keep her happy. Of course,
this wouldn’t condone any abuse towards her, but at least it shows he was trying to make things
work at some level early on. He apparently lavished her with gifts, including breast
implants for thousands of dollars. And as we mentioned earlier, he allowed Nicole’s ex,
Charles, to live with them. In fact, he bought a house adjacent to his mansion so Charles and
the kids he shared with Nicole. But Charles was reportedly a hug liability from the get
go. He was a drug addict who committed crimes to pay for his habit. Dudley was forced to pay his
bail on several occasions. He also reportedly paid Charles to hang out with his own kids.
And when Charles eventually got diagnosed with AIDS, Dudley paid for his medical care.
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Moore’s Death In 1997, Moore found
out that he had damage to the frontal lobe of his brain that was irreversible. Later that
year he underwent quadruple bypass surgery on his heart, and he had several strokes as well.
His health was rapidly deteriorating, and little could be done to stop it. Then in late 1999,
More was diagnosed with progressive supranuclear palsy, which is a syndrome which causes symptoms
very similar to Parkinson’s. It also gives sufferers symptoms where it seems like they
are drunk when they’re fully sober. Moore struggled through his last few years,
trying to live out his end days as best he could. He finally died of pneumonia, which
was caused by his progressive supranuclear palsy. He was 66, and died March 27, 2002 in New Jersey.
Nicole’s Tell All Got Nixed Seven years after Dudley died, it
was revealed that Nicole was planning to publish a tell-all memoir about her time with the diminutive
star. Their tumultuous marriage had been tabloid fodder for years, so it was assumed that people
would be excited to hear about the inner details of their life together. Reportedly, Nicole’s book
contained some juicy details about Moore and how he led a fairly depraved existence before being
diagnosed with terminal illness. In the rough draft of Nicole’s book, she made some pretty harsh
accusations about Moore’s behavior, saying he was addicted to smoking crystal meth from the onset of
their marriage, and that this made his behavior erratic and sent his libido skyrocketing. Nicole
claimed that when Moore was high, he would demand that Nicole dance naked for him for hours on end.
She said that only after she had grown too tired to dance would he let her stop,
and then he’d order prostitutes to come in to replace her for the rest of the night. However
after pressure from friends of Moore, perhaps because they threatened to
expose Nicole’s behavior towards Moore, Nicole ultimately decided not to release the book.
Dudley’s Friends Say Nicole was the terrible one When the manuscript for Nicole book was leaked,
friends and coworkers of Moore’s immediately sprang to his defense. Those who knew him best
painted a much different picture of the marriage than the one Nicole was about to sell in her book.
According to many sources, Nicole was actually the one doing the terrorizing in their relationship.
Apparently she was consistently violent towards Dudley, and smashed up all the items in his
mansion that were made of glass. She reportedly smoked crack and would become violent while high.
A woman named Barba Paskin oddly was a victim of Nicole’s violent tendencies. She was a one
time correspondent for the BBC who was writing a biography of Dudley. So she ended up spending a
lot of time at their mansion, and got to witness Nicole erratic and bizarre behavior first hand.
Nicole became convinced that Paskin was having an affair with Dudley,
and violently attacked her. According to Paskin, the attack was so vicious,
it took several security guards just to pull Nicole off of her. When she later asked Dudley
how Nicole was so strong, he told Paskin it was because she had been smoking a lot of crack,
and was still coming down of a major high. The attack on Paskin was so terrible,
she wasn’t able to work for half a year. Paskin noted that before the attack,
when she’d walk into their house, she’d have a hard time making it down the hall,
because there was so much smashed glass on the floor from Nicole’s demented behavior.
She likened it to walking into a bombsite. Ren Fruchter was a concert pianist who ended
up taking care of Dudley over the course of his final years. She was present when Nicole
attacked Paskin, and was horrified. She later said that Nicole turned to her after attacked Paskin,
saying she would get her next. Fruchter also had a different take on Nicole’s claims of
Dudley requiring prostitutes. She said Moore told her that Nicole was actually
the one who was calling in prostitutes to dance for him. Moore reportedly said that he wouldn’t
share a bed with the prostitutes, but that even so, Nicole would constantly threaten to tell the
media about them whenever she and Moore got into a fight. Fruchter claimed that Moore
wanted to end his own life, saying his life was a living hell because his wife was insane.
Moore’s legacy has been one of immense talent and effortless charm on screen, but with a personal
life that was troubled and tumultuous. It seems clear that his marriage to Nicole was doomed
from the start, though it seems that it was more likely that Nicole was the one causing much more
of the torment. It’s certainly a sad story, especially in light of how much joy Dudley
brought to millions of fans around the world. Now it’s time to hear from you. Who do you think
was the one more to blame when it comes to the terrible marriage of Nicole and
Dudley? And, what’s your favorite memory of Dudley Moore? Let us know in the comment section below.
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