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Rudy Ray Moore, 1927-2008
October 21, 2008

A comedian, singer, musician, actor and producer, Rudy Ray Moore is probably best identified as the embodiment of “pimp chic” It’s image he cultivated over the course of his 50-plus years in the entertainment business and most vividly exhibited in his role of Dolemite, the fast-talkin’, hard-livin’, vengeance-minded pimp in the 1975 flick Dolemite, which he wrote and produced, and it’s 1976 sequel, The Human Tornado. Moore died yesterday of complications from diabetes. He was 81 years old.

 

Moore’s Dolemite persona was developed years earlier in the late Fifties and Sixties through his stand-up routines and comedy recording, which were referred to as “party records.” It was these “adults only” endeavors, which featured rhyming, over-the-top tales as related by Moore, that paved the way for such comedians as Richard Pryor and Redd Foxx (and, later, Eddie Griffin and Eddie Murphy). The party records, not

surprisingly, went on to influence a future generation of hip-hop artists, including Dr. Dre, N.W.A., Busta Rhymes and the Beastie Boys, all of who shave sampled Moore’s works for their own records.

 

But it’s Dolemite for which he’ll be most remember by the audiences of today who often look back to the titles of the Seventies from a quick fix of nostalgia. I challenge anyone who’s come across them in a discount bin or cult shelf to deny that they haven’t cracked a smile when they see the pimped-out image of Moore on the covers in all his feathered gold-chain-and-derby-garbed glory. The Dolemite films are available from Xenon Pictures, along with a handful of other films featuring Moore, including the endearingly ridiculous—and delightfully titled--crime drama Disco Godfather (1979).

Posted by Laurence Lerman on October 21, 2008 | Comments (0)