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One Leg Too Few
Featuring an extensive range of fresh interviews, previously unpublished archive material, and a wealth of information about the most creative (and explosive) double act that British comedy has ever produced, this is a book about an extraordinary a friendship, a partnership—almost, at times, a marriage. Like a lot of marriages, it ended badly, but for nearly 20 years, between the first date and the inevitable divorce, Peter Cook and Dudley Moore were the funniest thing on three continents. This is the story of that relationship, and the comedy that came from it.
720 pages, Hardcover
First published September 26, 2013
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About the author
William Cook
8 booksWilliam Cook is the author of Ha Bloody Ha - Comedians Talking (Fourth Estate), The Comedy Store - The Club That Changed British Comedy (Little, Brown) and 25 Years of Viz (Boxtree). He edited Tragically I Was An Only Twin - The Complete Peter Cook and Goodbye Again - The Definitive Peter Cook and Dudley Moore, both published by Century, and Eric Morecambe Unseen. He has worked for the BBC and written for the Guardian, the Mail on Sunday, the New Statesman and Conde Nast Traveller.
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
December 16, 2015
A disappointing missed opportunity. While the detail and appreciation expressed for Dudley Moore is a welcome corrective to the attention more often paid to his partner, the author's antipathy for Peter Cook as a comedian and as a man eventually brings the book down. Eventually the constant carping against one of the greatest comedians of the last 50 years is repetitive and frankly a bit ridiculous.
July 11, 2015
A very bittersweet story. Watching the relationship between Peter Cook and Dudley Moore deteriorate is like watching a train wreck. However, the trajectory of their careers- together and separately- is quite impressive, especially the descriptions of their work style together.
Their humor was new for their time, although younger people might take it for granted because they influenced so many who came after them.
Dudley Moore's impressive body of musical work was a revelation as well. Not only was he able to create hilarious parody performances which relied upon his previous classical training; he also had a solid career as a jazz pianist.
Both of them had a driving creativity which came at a price.
I confess I did not read the "But also" section containing the reflections of various family members and accquaintances. The "Not only" section pretty much told the whole story, and in the chronological manner of most biographies, the end signalled the end of the book to me, and the rest was superfluous.
If you remember Beyond the Fringe from the 60s, or even if you only knew Peter and Dudley from their later movies (unfortunately, far too few...), I think you will find this book quite a revelation.
Their humor was new for their time, although younger people might take it for granted because they influenced so many who came after them.
Dudley Moore's impressive body of musical work was a revelation as well. Not only was he able to create hilarious parody performances which relied upon his previous classical training; he also had a solid career as a jazz pianist.
Both of them had a driving creativity which came at a price.
I confess I did not read the "But also" section containing the reflections of various family members and accquaintances. The "Not only" section pretty much told the whole story, and in the chronological manner of most biographies, the end signalled the end of the book to me, and the rest was superfluous.
If you remember Beyond the Fringe from the 60s, or even if you only knew Peter and Dudley from their later movies (unfortunately, far too few...), I think you will find this book quite a revelation.
February 28, 2014
Even for this dedicated fan of Dudley Moore's tremendously talented jazz piano in the Dudley Moore Trio and possibly more still of "Pete and Dud" in the 60's BBC TV series "Not Only ... But Also" this weighty tome defeated me.
I do not say I didn't enjoy it. The author clearly had affection for his two subjects and treated his material honestly. The readable writing style, the new photos and the keen pleasure in being able to read some of the Pete and Dud sketches ensured my interest but the protracted waning of each man's moment in the entertainment, especially comedic, sun began to feel like heat exhaustion.
This was a result of repetition and the literal weight of the hardback book which at 641 pages, excluding notes, was too long for the material. It could have been shortened and tightened and have been faithful to the spirit of the men and the times. To me nothing was added by including interviews with 36 contributors whose views of Peter and Dudley are represented in the last quarter of the book.
Still ... two very talented men with 124 years of living, loving and entertaining between them made getting it all down it quite a task.
If you are a fan and can handle a big hardback read this book to page 479. You will probably gain insights.
I do not say I didn't enjoy it. The author clearly had affection for his two subjects and treated his material honestly. The readable writing style, the new photos and the keen pleasure in being able to read some of the Pete and Dud sketches ensured my interest but the protracted waning of each man's moment in the entertainment, especially comedic, sun began to feel like heat exhaustion.
This was a result of repetition and the literal weight of the hardback book which at 641 pages, excluding notes, was too long for the material. It could have been shortened and tightened and have been faithful to the spirit of the men and the times. To me nothing was added by including interviews with 36 contributors whose views of Peter and Dudley are represented in the last quarter of the book.
Still ... two very talented men with 124 years of living, loving and entertaining between them made getting it all down it quite a task.
If you are a fan and can handle a big hardback read this book to page 479. You will probably gain insights.
August 16, 2021
Having read several other books on Peter Cook, 'Beyond the Fringe' and other participants in the Oxbridge comedy movement of the 1960s, and being a fan of Pete and Dud, it was a no brainer for me tackle this very detailed biography of Cook and Moore. I was certainly far more aware of Peter Cook's career due to excellent books such as his biography by Harry Thompson and Roger Wilmut's seminal text 'From Fringe to Flying Circus', however when it came to Dudley Moore's life and work I was on somewhat shakier ground. Thankfully William Cook's text fills in a lot of gaps in that area, whilst consolidating and expanding upon my previous acquired knowledge. This is a most comprehensive book.
That the author tracks the iconic duo from their childhood through to their respective demises is a relatively straight forward approach to a book such as this. There are probably no new revelations as to both of his subjects' past, as Cook draws on plenty of other books written about his subject, as well as TV shows and interviews. What might be considered as a new insight into Cook and Moore is how they are positioned by the biographer as something akin to a marriage or fraternal rivarly. Peter Cook is depicted as a a comedic genius who needed Dudley Moore to ground his work, whereas Dudley Moore is presented as a genial clown with a love of music who ultimately didn't need his colleague.
The biographer's account of Cook and Moore leaves one in no doubt that their personalities and their close relationship were the cause of their success and their failures. For example, it is a provocative argument that Dudley Moore's eponymous performance in 'Arthur' was based on the drunken antics of Peter Cook, and one that does make a lot of sense. The author also maps the reversal of dominance in the pairing with Cook starting out as the main driver of their careers, and how by its end Moore was the one to keep things afloat. His decision to move away from Peter and from Britain appears to have had a more deleterious effect on Cook than perhaps one would have expected based on their earlier lives.
There is a small slight towards Cook's life and work in this biography which reflects perhaps previously held conceptions of his stature. However to be fair it also is a result of the biographer's sources; he has been able to bring together the testimony of several key participants in Cook's private life including his first two wives, whereas Moore is spoken of more often from a distance. This is not a flaw of the book nor of the author; it's an understandable bias that is in synch with how so many people perceive the two comedians.
There is not much else I can say about this book that will encourage people to either read or not read it. I am sure anyone who loves Peter Cook and Dudley Moore, and who is fascinated with that amazingly rich vein of comedic talent that came out of Cambridge and Oxford from the late 1950s onward, will want to read 'One Leg Too Few'. It makes for a great story and William Cook has compiled a very comprehensive biography. Yet at the end one will also feel saddened by what happened to both men; their individual tragedies hang a grey shroud over their joint lives.
That the author tracks the iconic duo from their childhood through to their respective demises is a relatively straight forward approach to a book such as this. There are probably no new revelations as to both of his subjects' past, as Cook draws on plenty of other books written about his subject, as well as TV shows and interviews. What might be considered as a new insight into Cook and Moore is how they are positioned by the biographer as something akin to a marriage or fraternal rivarly. Peter Cook is depicted as a a comedic genius who needed Dudley Moore to ground his work, whereas Dudley Moore is presented as a genial clown with a love of music who ultimately didn't need his colleague.
The biographer's account of Cook and Moore leaves one in no doubt that their personalities and their close relationship were the cause of their success and their failures. For example, it is a provocative argument that Dudley Moore's eponymous performance in 'Arthur' was based on the drunken antics of Peter Cook, and one that does make a lot of sense. The author also maps the reversal of dominance in the pairing with Cook starting out as the main driver of their careers, and how by its end Moore was the one to keep things afloat. His decision to move away from Peter and from Britain appears to have had a more deleterious effect on Cook than perhaps one would have expected based on their earlier lives.
There is a small slight towards Cook's life and work in this biography which reflects perhaps previously held conceptions of his stature. However to be fair it also is a result of the biographer's sources; he has been able to bring together the testimony of several key participants in Cook's private life including his first two wives, whereas Moore is spoken of more often from a distance. This is not a flaw of the book nor of the author; it's an understandable bias that is in synch with how so many people perceive the two comedians.
There is not much else I can say about this book that will encourage people to either read or not read it. I am sure anyone who loves Peter Cook and Dudley Moore, and who is fascinated with that amazingly rich vein of comedic talent that came out of Cambridge and Oxford from the late 1950s onward, will want to read 'One Leg Too Few'. It makes for a great story and William Cook has compiled a very comprehensive biography. Yet at the end one will also feel saddened by what happened to both men; their individual tragedies hang a grey shroud over their joint lives.
May 13, 2020
Even though I never got into their humour I found this a thoroughly engrossing book,charting both lives and with enough invites in small chapters with their insight into their personal and working lives.auote poignant towards the end,their demise Peter's self inflicted and Dudley's impairment.these two and others during the sixties where at the forefront with their comedy as much as the Beatles with their music.no longer did we have to doff our caps to the gentry they were ripe for satarising.peter I think got left behind and this irked him.dudley on the other grabbed the golden ring in Hollywood a choice I think he came to regret,Hollywood being the beast that it is sucks the talent dry and then spits them out without a second glance.i think Dudley should have stayed true to his music and remained over here England and been a great musician.
November 22, 2020
I didn't know much about them other than that they were big in the '60s so took a punt on this from a charity shop. It was good, very well researched. The way they treated the women in their lives was generally dreadful, and the book was a little blase on that, but is it a biographer's role to judge?
February 20, 2019
Delightfully bleak
September 17, 2023
I give 4 stars for the first part of the book, which contained well written biographical material but 2 to the second part, which contained small interviews with people involved in Peter and Dudley's lives, which added nothing to what had gone before and made the book unnecessarily longer than it needed to be.
February 23, 2014
an amazing way of finding out about pete and dud. I was surprised that the end of the book was interviews with the people that knew them best
June 1, 2015
I learned a lot not just about these really funny talented men, but british comedy as well.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews