Dennie Moore (born Florence Moore; December 30, 1902 – February 22, 1978) was an American film and stage actress.

Early life

Moore was born in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

on December 30, 1902, to immigrant parents of Scottish and Irish descent. She was raised in

Hell's Kitchen Hell's Kitchen, also known as Clinton, or Midtown West on real estate listings, is a neighborhood on the West Side of Midtown Manhattan in New York City, New York. It is considered to be bordered by 34th Street (or 41st Street) to the south, ...

Manhattan Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...

. 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.

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. 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''. She also appeared in productions in

Chicago, Illinois Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

and

London, England London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

. In 1935, Moore arrived in Hollywood and made her screen debut in an uncredited but substantial role in the

Cary Grant Cary Grant (born Archibald Alec Leach; January 18, 1904November 29, 1986) was an English and American actor. Known for his blended British and American accent, debonair demeanor, lighthearted approach to acting, and sense of comic timing, he ...

Katharine Hepburn Katharine Houghton Hepburn (May 12, 1907 – June 29, 2003) was an American actress whose Katharine Hepburn on screen and stage, career as a Golden Age of Hollywood, Hollywood leading lady spanned six decades. She was known for her headstrong ...

film, '' Sylvia Scarlett'' for

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. She was primarily a freelance actress and floated between

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc. (also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures, commonly shortened to MGM or MGM Studios) is an American Film production, film and television production and film distribution, distribution company headquartered ...

and Warner Bros. Studios. In the course of her film career, she appeared in twenty-two films between 1935 and 1951, including '' Boy Meets Girl'' (1938), '' The Women'' (1939), '' Saturday's Children'' (1940), ''

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'' (1941), and '' Anna Lucasta'' (1949). 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''. In 1957, she retired from acting at the age of 55.

Later life and death

Moore was a

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and a Democrat who supported

Adlai Stevenson Adlai Stevenson may refer to: * Adlai Stevenson I Adlai Ewing Stevenson (October 23, 1835 – June 14, 1914) was an American politician and diplomat who served as the 23rd vice president of the United States from 1893 to 1897 under President Gr ...

's campaign during the 1952 presidential election.''Motion Picture and Television Magazine'', November 1952, page 33, Ideal Publishers 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". Moore died of natural causes at age 75 on February 22, 1978, in her

apartment. She left no immediate survivors. She was

cremated Cremation is a method of Disposal of human corpses, final disposition of a corpse through Combustion, burning. Cremation may serve as a funeral or post-funeral rite and as an alternative to burial. In some countries, including India, Nepal, and ...

and her ashes scattered off her balcony.

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

References

External links

1940 US census, with "Florence D. Moore" listing, and age given as 36
familysearch.org; accessed March 30, 2015. * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Moore, Dennie 1902 births 1978 deaths 20th-century American actresses Actresses from Manhattan American film actresses American stage actresses American people of Irish descent American people of Scottish descent American Roman Catholics New York (state) Democrats California Democrats People from Hell's Kitchen, Manhattan