Dudley Moore buried in low-key service

The comedian and musician Dudley Moore was buried yesterday during a private hour-long ceremony close to his home in the United States.

Police from eight patrol cars kept the media and a small group of onlookers away from the low-key service in the New Jersey town of Watchung.

A cortège of cars carried mourners and the body of Moore, who died last week, to the Higgins Home for Funerals, a family-run company that specialises in "compassionate and professional" services at an affordable cost.

A yellow and black floral tribute in the shape of a keyboard symbolised Moore's love of playing the piano and his great musical ability.

Moore, 66, had suffered from progressive supranuclear palsey, a rare degenerative brain condition, for several years. He made his illness public in September 1999, explaining that the condition turned his vision hazy, his speech slurred and his walk impaired. In a television interview, he said: "I am trapped in this body and there is nothing I can do about it."

The illness framed his later years after a riotous lifestyle and four failed marriages.

He was projected to stardom by his "Pete 'n' Dud" partnership with Peter Cook and a string of successful films.

The diminutive actor became an unlikely Hollywood romantic lead after years as a star of stage and television when he lined up alongside Bo Derek in the movie 10.

He was nominated for an Oscar for his role as a hard-drinking millionaire in the film Arthur. The actress Liza Minnelli, who played his lover, said after his death that Moore had been one of her heroes.