A biography for Ron Moodyhasn’t been written yet.
“The day after the Oscars, I flew back to London to film a television play for Anglia. It was a big mistake because you never really get acknowledged for wanting to work in England, as I did.”
“My training was that you fill in the canvas where it needs colour and polishing. You start with the words on the first night and keep adding bits of business.”
“I felt very insecure about whether I was up to recreating my stage 'Fagin' in front of a camera.”
“I went to the London School of Economics to study sociology and psychology on a serviceman's grant.”
“My father and my uncle used to be amateur monologuists because their generation grew up with Henry Irving and the like, and they had that style of delivery, of declamation: 'The Belllllls!' What we call 'ham' now, larger than life.”
“I grew up with music hall and revue and was used to filling in the little gaps here and there to get bigger audience reaction.”
“I don't think a professional agent or theatre manager would say my career had gone as well as perhaps it should have after that first 'Oliver!' success, but then again I was never really intending to have a career in the professional theatre in the first place.”
“For me, making the show work was getting belly laughs - like most variety artists. But the straight actor believes you fix your performance in rehearsal and that's it.”
“I love getting up in the morning with nothing else to do except write.”
“Fate destined me to play Fagin. It was the part of a lifetime, and I was the only actor to be in the stage production and in the film.”
“I'll never forget seeing 'Guys and Dolls' over and over. I used to sit up in the coliseum watching this magnificent musical. Brilliant.”
“I think I'm a straight actor who occasionally does musicals; most people think I'm an eccentric comedian. It's amazing how many years you can spend in this business just sorting out something as simple and basic as that.”