Dudley Moore him an unprecedented status as a romantic leading man. Moore followed up with the comedy film "Wholly Moses!", which was not a major success. In 1981 Moore appeared in the title role of the comedy "Arthur", an even bigger hit than "10". Co-starring Liza Minnelli and Sir John Gielgud, it was both commercially and critically successful, Moore receiving an Oscar nomination for Best Actor, whilst Gielgud won the Best Supporting Actor Oscar for his role as Arthur's stern but compassionate manservant. Moore lost to Henry Fonda (for "On Golden Pond"). He did, however, win a Golden Globe award for Best
Arthur (1981 film) the role of Hobson. According to Splitsider, John Belushi was also considered for Arthur. Initially Gordon wanted Moore to perform the role with an American accent, but this proved contentious as Moore had trouble performing with one and eventually convinced Gordon to let him use his natural English accent. Debra Winger reportedly turned down the role of Linda. Although the project was initially in the works at Paramount, they eventually dropped the project with Orion Pictures taking over. Promoting the film proved to be a challenge, reportedly six ad campaigns were discarded before a final one was decided upon. Pop