It's very sad to hear of the passing of Rudy Ray Moore - the star of DOLEMITE, AVENGING DISCO GODFATHER, THE HUMAN TORNADO, among many others - today at the age of 71. I had the pleasure of meeting Moore and joining him for dinner upon my first-ever visit to Montreal at the 1999 Fantastia Film Festival, and I was quite taken aback by what a kind, soft-spoken man he was outside of the persona we all knew. His films may have gained him a legendary status to a certain extent, but anyone who knew of his work outside of them (or anyone who saw him perform live, like I did back in '99) will know that he was not only a great stand-up comic, but also an accomplished R&B singer and a great raconteur. He was also a symbol of an era in comedy now long gone, that of the dirty joke teller, the kind who paved the way for the likes of Pryor, Carlin and Murphy and whose jokes are still pretty damn hilarious today. He was a fascinating fellow in a lot of ways, and even if DOLEMITE is solely how he'll be remembered, you can honestly say that for someone who made his mark in the world of film, doing so in a movie that's not very good at all is a bit of an accomplishment.
Farewell, Mr. Moore.
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