Owen Moore

Owen Moore
from the film High Voltage (1929).
Born	December 12, 1886 Fordstown Crossroads, County Meath, Ireland
Died	June 9, 1939 (aged 52) Beverly Hills, California, USA

Owen Moore (December 12, 1886 – June 9, 1939) was an Irish-born actor in American films, appearing in more than 279 movies spanning from 1908 to 1937.

Life and career

Moore was born in Fordstown Crossroads, County Meath, Ireland, and along with his brothers Tom, Matt, and Joe (1895–1926), and sister Mary(1890–1919), he emigrated to the United States as a steerage passenger on board the S.S. Anchoria and was inspected on Ellis Island in May 1896. All went on to successful careers in motion pictures in Hollywood, California.

While working at D. W. Griffith's Biograph Studios, Moore met a young Canadian actress named Gladys Smith whom he married on January 7, 1911. Their marriage was kept secret at first because of the strong opposition of her mother. However, Gladys Moore would soon overshadow her husband under her stage name, Mary Pickford. In 1912, he signed on with Victor Studios, co-starring in a number of their films with studio owner/actress Florence Lawrence.

Mary Pickford left Biograph Studios to join the Independent Moving Pictures (IMP) to replace their major star, Pickford’s Canadian friend, Florence Lawrence. Carl Laemmle, the owner of IMP who soon merged IMP into Universal Studios, agreed to sign her husband as part of the deal. This humiliation and his wife's meteoric rise to fame, drastically affected Moore and alcohol became a problem that led to violent behavior and his physically abusing Pickford. In 1916, Pickford met actor Douglas Fairbanks, Pickford filed for a divorce from Moore, and Pickford and Fairbanks married in 1920.

Moore married a second time to another silent film actress, Katherine Perry. Although Moore was a good actor, his talent for singing and music went to waste during the silent film era. By the time "musical talkies" came along, it was too late for Moore to take much advantage of his gifts. Nonetheless, he gave an outstanding performance as escaped convict Chick Clark in the classic Mae West vehicle, She Done Him Wrong (1933). After years of fighting alcoholism, Owen Moore died in Beverly Hills, California from a heart attack and was interred in the Calvary Cemetery in East Los Angeles, California.

He has Star #6743 on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6727 Hollywood Blvd.

Selected filmography

• The Guerilla – (1908)
• The Lonely Villa – (1909)
• The Hessian Renegades – (1909)
• The Red Man's View – (1909)
• Resurrection – (1909)
• In Little Italy – (1909)
• To Save Her Soul – (1909)
• The Rocky Road – (1910)
• What the Daisy Said – (1910)
• In the Border States – (1910)
• Love in Quarantine – (1910)
• The Lesser Evil – (1912)
• So Runs the Way – (1913)
• The Battle of the Sexes – (1914)
• Home, Sweet Home – (1914)
• The Escape (1914)
• Cinderella (1914)
• The Little Teacher – (1915)
• Little Meena's Romance – (1916)
• Piccadilly Jim – 1919
• Hollywood (1923) cameo
• The Blackbird – (1926)
• Money Talks – (1926)
• The Road to Mandalay (1926)
• Becky – (1927)
• The Red Mill – (1927)
• The Taxi Dancer – (1927)
• The Actress (1928)
• High Voltage – (1929)
• Side Street – (1929)
• Outside the Law – (1930)
• Stout Hearts and Willing Hands (1931)
• Hush Money – (1931)
• As You Desire Me – (1932)
• She Done Him Wrong – (1933)
• A Man of Sentiment – (1933)
• A Star Is Born (1937)

External links

• Owen Moore at the Internet Movie Database
• Owen Moore at Find a Grave