Book review: One Leg Too Few, By William Cook

This illuminating study of a great comic duo also tells of roles reversed and tables turned

Double the talent, double the trouble: Cook & Moore (Rex Features)

If it had not been for a pair of suede shoes, Peter Cook and Dudley Moore would never have had their uncivil partnership. No Dud and Pete with the Rubens nudes in the art gallery where "the bottoms follow you round the room".

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No Leaping Nuns. No ravens taught to fly underwater by Sir Arthur Streeb-Greebling. No one-legged actor auditioning for the part of Tarzan, only to be told – all together now – "I've got nothing against your right leg. The trouble is – neither have you." And there would not have been One Leg Too Few, this enthralling joint biography of "the best double-act in the history of British comedy" by William Cook (no relation).

John Bassett, the man who created Beyond the Fringe for the Edinburgh Festival, had originally got his job because the rival applicant turned up for the interview in suede footwear – the mark of a bounder. He signed up his Oxford mate Dudley, while Jonathan Miller pointed him towards Cambridge's Peter Cook.

This is not to say that Moore, a brilliant musician and actor, and Cook, a comic genius, wouldn't have achieved a place in comedy's hall of fame as solo acts. But, while the former once said that he provided only one idea for every 17 whizzing from the latter, Peter needed Dudley's disciplined mind and acting skills to harness his wild imagination and deliver the sketch. He wrote the Tarzan piece in his student days but it was his partner who made it fly, or hop.

The book's 700 funny, sad and always entertaining pages show how the classic Not Only… But Also sketches reflected not only the disintegration of Peter's marriage but also the subordination of Dudley in the relationship. In the Fringe days, Moore was in awe of Cook and the rest of the team.

From then on, the tall, upmarket Peter had, gently and not so gently, savaged the small, downmarket Dudley, publicly and privately. In their film Bedazzled, he played the Evil One leading deluded Dudley the devil of a dance. Gradually the sketches showed the underdog moving towards the position of top dog.

Off camera, Dudley made advances to Peter's favourite wife. He insisted on a generous share of the writing credits. Enraged by Cook turning up drunk on stage, he resolved never to work with him again. Both hoped to leap from television to films but it was the little guy who became the heart-throb in 10 and Arthur.

Both were lovable – and loved. Having driven him out of his life and work by disgraceful behaviour, Cook after his death showed his affection for his old colleague. He left him a Tiffany lamp, his most prized possession.