Owen Moore
 | This article needs additional citations for verification. (May 2008) |
Owen Moore | |
|---|---|
 from the film High Voltage (1929). |
Owen Moore (December 12, 1886 - June 9, 1939) was born in Fordstown Crossroads, County Meath, Ireland. Along with his brothers Tom, Matt, & Joe (1895-1926), he emigrated to America and they all went on to successful careers in motion pictures in Hollywood, California. Moore made 279 movies spanning from 1908 to 1937, possibly more than any other actor.
While working at D.W. Griffith's Biograph Studios, Owen 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 IMP Co. to replace their major star, Pickford’s Canadian friend, Florence Lawrence. Carl Laemmle, the owner of IMP Co., agreed to sign her husband as part of the deal. This humiliation and his wife's meteoric rise to fame, drastically affected Owen Moore and alcohol became a problem that led to violent behaviour and his physically abusing Pickford. Before long, the marriage ended and Mary Pickford left him for actor Douglas Fairbanks.
Owen 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.
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)
- The Blackbird - (1926)
- The Road to Mandalay (1926)
- The Red Mill - (1927)
- The Taxi Dancer - (1927)
- 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 IMDb