Throughout his 71 years of life, Rudy Ray Moore, who passed away last night, wore a lot of hats. He started his show business career as an R & B singer, but after a stint in the US Army, he got interested in stand up comedy. Throughout the 1960’s and 70’s, he put out a string of incredibly funny, incredibly profane comedy records that combined his humor with his showmanship, which caused him to refer to himself as the ‘king of the party records’ and later ‘the godfather of rap.’ However, the character he’s best known for is the articulate pimp named Dolemite.
Dolemite was the cornerstone of Rudy’s comedy career, spawning three movies (Dolemite, The Human Tornado, and The Return of Dolemite) and a litany of comedy albums and guest appearances. The only character who has inspired more rappers is Scarface. Snoop Dogg has been pretending to be Dolemite since 2000, and rapper ODB put out a Dolemite-inspired video in 1999. That’s not even including Rudy’s work in other classic non-parody Blaxploitation movies. He had a full filmography.
I wish I could post some video clips of Mr. Moore’s stand up comedy here, but his work is so blue it makes foul mouthed contemporaries like Redd Foxx and Richard Prior look like Mr. Rogers. Suffice it to say, he’s hilarious, and stayed busy working right up until the end. In fact, he played a sold-out show in my home town just last year. Good to see he kept working and doing what he loved right up until the end.
We should all be so lucky. Rest in peace, Rudy. You’re pimp-smacking angels in heaven now.
Tags: Rudy Ray Moore, Dolemite, celebrities, Hollywood, obituaries, Rudy Ray Moore passed away, blaxploitation, Rudolph Frank Moore, Human Tornado, Petey Wheatstraw. King of the Party Records, Disco Godfather
