Rudy Ray Moore, "Dolemite", dead

by Brian McKim & Traci Skene on October 20th, 2008

Dolemite is dead. Back on June 23, 2006, we posted that Rudy Ray Moore, aka Dolemite, was ill.

It sounds like Dolemite (the name comes from his monster-grossing cult film, which spawned a monster-grossing 1976 followup) has the necessary fire to come back from his current health troubles. We wish him well.

From the Dolemite MySpace page, comes this:

Legendary actor, filmmaker, comedian, singer, Godfather of Rap and King of the Party Records, Rudolph Frank Moore better known as Rudy Ray Moore or Dolemite has left this earthly plane.

A 60 + year veteran of the stage, the first x rated comedian, one of the first African American filmmakers and the third most sampled man in the world, his self made comedy records and films have inspired and influenced generations from a thousand walks of life and a hundred nations.

He had recently finished work on “The Dolemite Explosion” with longtime friend and costar Jimmy Lynch (his first self made film in 30 years), an album of soul ballads called “Let Me Sing To You Before I Drift Away” with his daughter Yvette “Rusty” Wesson, and had been Highlighted by Hadjii in an episode of “Somebodies” on BET and was looking forward to a resurgence and a country album.

After a long battle with diabetes and obscurity, he passed peacefully on Sunday at the age of 81.

He was a good God fearing man who loved his friends and family.

USAToday has the full story here.

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