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In Memoriam 2002
Our annual tribute to entertainment's dearly departedDUDLEY MOORE APRIL 19, 1935-MARCH 27, 2002
Dudley Moore's characters behaved like cads: the spoiled rich drunk, the middle-aged man who stalks a newlywed, the bigamist. But in Arthur, 10, and Micki & Maude, audiences rooted for Moore anyway, because he projected such charm and innate goodness. Though best known for his films, Moore's passion was music, and he was an accomplished composer and pianist. His 10 costar, Bo Derek, recalls Moore bringing the set to a standstill simply by quietly plaing a piano in the corner. ''Everyone turned and was just locked on Dudley.'' she says. '' He was beautiful as he played.'' (Moore died of progressive supranuclear palsy, a brain disease, at home in Plainfield, N.J.)
TERESA GRAVES JANE 10, 1949-OCT 10 2002
She played comedy and cops-and-robbers with equal confidence. Graves got an early shot on TV in 1969 as a regular on Rowan and Martin's Laugh-In. But it was as the sassy star of the 70's police drama Get Christie Love! that she cemented her place in pop culture. Playing an undercover L.A. cop, she was the first black female police officer on television. She was teasingly tough, alarmingly inventive - and always looked good getting her bad quys. (Graves died in L.A. after a house fire.)
LAWANDA PAGE OCT. 19, 1920-SEP. 14, 2002
Best known as the grumpy, bible-thumping Aunt Esther on Sanford and Son, the Cleveland born Page was, like Sanford star and childhood friend Redd Foxx, a nightclub comic who ''worked blue'' as they used to say (her racy material is suggested by comedy album titles like Mutha is Half a Word). Page's shrewd, skeptical persona served her well in both TV and film - a new generation dug her take-no-guff- attitude in Ice Cube's Friday (1995). A wheelchair-bound Page appeared in a recent stage production of The Inquest of Sam Cooke, playing the hotel manager who shot the soul singer. No guff right to the end. (Page died in L.A. from complications due to diabetes.)
JAMES COBURN AUG. 31, 1928-NOV. 18, 2002
To any role he played, Coburn brought a voice that was sub-woofer-deep and a wolfish smile. Thought initially typecast as a tough guy in films like The Great Escape and The Magnificent Seven, Coburn soon showed that he had the rare ability to wink at his own bravado, and directors cast him in a series of tongue-in-cheek thrillers, among them, In Like Flint, and The President's Analyst. He spent much of the '80s coping with rheumatoid arthritis, but made a triumphant comeback in the '90s, a decade capped by a Best Supporting Actor Oscar for Affliction. (Coburn died of a cardiac arrest in L.A.)
