Ron Moody, beloved British character actor best known for his role as Fagin in Oliver! , has passed away at 91, Mercury News is reporting.
His widow, Therese, issued a statement via What’s On Stage .
“He brought joy to his family and to the hearts of many and will be greatly missed. He was singing until the end.”
Ron Moody was nominated for multiple awards, including Oscar, BAFTA, and Golden Globe nominations for Best Actor, for his role in the 1968 screen adaptation of Oliver! Moody had been playing the character on stage , in London’s West End theater district, since 1960, according to Variety . He would also return to the role of Fagin for a 1984 Broadway revival of Oliver! , for which Moody won a Tony Award.
Moody, who was born in London to Jewish immigrant parents, would later face criticism for playing the role of Fagin, a Jewish character whose portrayal in the narrative can be viewed as anti-Semitic. The miserly, heartless, and thoroughly evil character is referred to as “the Jew,” rather than by name, in the original Dickens novel, something that Dickens himself would later struggle with , according to PBS .
“Dickens, himself, eventually had second thoughts and halted the printing of the book about halfway through so as to refer in later chapters to Fagin by name rather than the 257 times in the first 38 chapters where he is called ‘the Jew.’ “
Moody laughed off that criticism.
“I couldn’t possibly have played the role if it was seen as antisemitic. I knew in my Jewish bones, he was a funny character, who would get laughs, because I played him anarchistically.”
Although Moody didn’t win any awards for his role in the film adaptation of Oliver!, the film won the award for Best Picture, and Moody went on to have a long career on stage, TV, and film, mostly playing secondary roles. In the 1970s and 1980s, Moody played bit parts on Starsky and Hutch , Hart to Hart , and Murder, She Wrote . In the 1990s and beyond, Moody played a series of bit parts on British TV.
One role he turned down — a decision he would later regret — was the role of The Doctor on the cult TV series, Dr. Who .
Ron Moody is survived by his widow and six children.
[Image courtesy of Getty Images / Monti Spry ]
