Dennie Moore
Dennie Moore (born Florence Moore,[1] December 30, 1902[2][3] – February 22, 1978) was an American film and stage actress.
Dennie Moore | |
|---|---|
 Moore in the 1930s | |
| Born | Florence Moore[1] December 30, 1902 New York City, New York, U.S. |
| Died | February 22, 1978 (aged 75) New York City, New York, U.S. |
| Occupation | Actress |
| Years active | 1927–1956 |
Early life
Moore was born in New York City on December 30, 1902 to Scottish-Irish immigrant parents and raised in Hell's Kitchen in Manhattan. Her brother, Joe Moore, was an Olympic champion speed skater, and she had two step-sisters and one step-brother. She received six years of schooling.[1]
Career
In the late 1920s, she decided to pursue an acting career, using the name Dennie Moore to avoid confusion with the actress Florence Moore.[1] Starting in 1927, she appeared on Broadway in such plays as A Lady in Love, The Trial of Mary Dugan, Cross Roads, Torch Song, Twentieth Century, Phantoms, Conflict, Anatol, and Jarnegan.[4] She also appeared in productions in Chicago, Illinois and London, England.[1]
In 1935, Moore arrived in Hollywood and made her screen debut in an uncredited role in the Cary Grant-Katharine Hepburn film, Sylvia Scarlett for RKO Radio Pictures.[5] She was primarily a freelance actress and floated between Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and Warner Bros. Studios. In the course of her film career, she appeared in twenty-two films[1] between 1935 and 1951, including Boy Meets Girl (1938), The Women (1939), Saturday's Children (1940), Dive Bomber (1941), and Anna Lucasta (1949).[6]
By the mid-1940s, Moore found herself getting less work in Hollywood, but more parts on the New York stage. In 1951, she made her last screen appearance as Mrs. Bea Gingras in The Model and the Marriage Broker. Moving back to New York City, she made one final performance onstage, creating the role of Mrs. Van Daan in The Diary of Anne Frank.[1] In 1956, she retired from acting at the age of 54.[1][4]
Later life and death
Moore was a Roman Catholic[7] and a Democrat who supported Adlai Stevenson's campaign during the 1952 presidential election[8].
In 1977, David Ragan wrote in Who's Who in Hollywood that Moore "is retired, lives alone at an excellent hotel on Park Avenue, and is in her late 60s".[1]
Moore died of natural causes at age 75 on February 22, 1978, in her Manhattan apartment. She left no immediate survivors. She was cremated and her ashes scattered off her balcony. [1]
Stage appearances
- A Lady in Love (1927)
- The Trial of Mary Dugan (1927)
- Jarnegan (1928–1929)
- Conflict (1929)
- Cross Roads (1929)
- Phantoms (1930)
- Torch Song (1930)
- Anatol (1931)
- East Wind (1931)
- The Man Who Reclaimed His Head (1932)
- The Great Magoo (1932)
- Twentieth Century (1932–1933)
- Man Bites Dog (1933)
- The Pursuit of Happiness (1933–1934)
- Say When (1934–1935)
- Swing Your Lady (1936–1937)
- Hitch Your Wagon (1937)
- In Clover (1937)
- Ah, Wilderness! (1941)
- Johnny on a Spot (1942)
- Over 21 (1944)
- Seven Lively Arts (1944–1945)
- Star-Spangled Family (1945)
- The Rat Race (1949–1950)
- The Diary of Anne Frank (1955–1957)
Filmography
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1935 | Sylvia Scarlett | Maudie Tilt - the Maid | Uncredited |
| 1936 | Meet Nero Wolfe | Mazie Gray | |
| 1937 | Angel | Emma MacGillicuddy Wilton | |
| 1937 | The Perfect Specimen | Clarabelle | |
| 1937 | Submarine D-1 | Arabella | |
| 1938 | Mystery House | Annette | |
| 1938 | Cowboy from Brooklyn | Abby Pitts | |
| 1938 | Four's a Crowd | Buckley's Secretary | (scenes deleted) |
| 1938 | Boy Meets Girl | Miss Crews | |
| 1938 | Secrets of an Actress | Miss Blackstone | |
| 1939 | The Adventures of Jane Arden | Teenie Moore | |
| 1939 | I'm from Missouri | Kitty Hearne | |
| 1939 | Bachelor Mother | Mary | |
| 1939 | These Glamour Girls | Mavis - Jane's Roommate | Uncredited |
| 1939 | The Women | Olga | |
| 1939 | No Place to Go | Mrs. Harriet Shafter | |
| 1939 | Eternally Yours | Waitress | Uncredited |
| 1940 | Saturday's Children | Gertrude Mills | |
| 1940 | Women in War | Ginger | |
| 1941 | Dive Bomber | Mrs. James | |
| 1949 | Anna Lucasta | Blanche | |
| 1951 | The Model and the Marriage Broker | Mrs. Bea Gingras | (final film role) |
References
- Nissen, Axel (2016). Accustomed to Her Face: Thirty-Five Character Actresses of Golden Age Hollywood. McFarland. pp. 139–42. Retrieved September 4, 2017.; TCIN 51280705; ISBN 9780786497324 (subscription required)
- The Social Security Death Index and death-records.mooseroots.com both give her year of birth as December 30, 1902; however other reliable sources cite December 31, 1902 and December 31, 1903; accessed December 11, 2014.
- The 1940 U.S. census, dated April 15, 1940 gives her age as 36, indicating 1903 as her year of birth, but this is not dispositive.
- Dennie Moore at the Internet Broadway Database
- Sylvia Scarlett profile, IMBd.com; accessed December 11, 2014.
- Dennie Moore on IMDb
- Morning News, January 10, 1948, Who Was Who in America (Vol. 2)
- Motion Picture and Television Magazine, November 1952, page 33, Ideal Publishers
External links
- 1940 US census, with "Florence D. Moore" listing, and age given as 36, familysearch.org; accessed March 30, 2015.
- Dennie Moore on IMDb
- Dennie Moore at the Internet Broadway Database