Dennis Moore (born Dennis Meadows; January 26, 1908 – March 1, 1964) was an American

actor An actor (masculine/gender-neutral), or actress (feminine), is a person who portrays a character in a production. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. ...

who specialized in

Western Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that id ...

films and

film serial A serial film, film serial (or just serial), movie serial, or chapter play, is a motion picture form popular during the first half of the 20th century, consisting of a series of short subjects exhibited in consecutive order at one theater, ge ...

Early years

Moore was born Dennis Meadows in

Fort Worth, Texas Fort Worth is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the county seat of Tarrant County, Texas, Tarrant County, covering nearly into Denton County, Texas, Denton, Johnson County, Texas, Johnson, Parker County, Texas, Parker, and Wise County, Te ...

, and attended schools in El Paso. He was active in aviation and had a pilot's license. Before going into films, he worked in stock theater. A plane crash nearly ended his life. After more than a year spent in a hospital and two additional years of recovery, he could not pass the physical examination for a pilot's license, so he chose to change from aviation to acting.

Career

Moore began appearing in short subjects and low-budget feature films in the 1930s under the name Denny Meadows and enjoyed greater recognition and employment after he changed his professional name to Dennis Moore. His dark looks and solemn demeanor kept him working steadily as an all-purpose utility player, in both heroic and villainous roles. Moore became a familiar face in Westerns, but never became a major star. In 1942, he co-starred for six films in PRC's ''Lone Rider'' series, beginning with ''

The Lone Rider and the Bandit ''The Lone Rider and the Bandit'' is a 1942 American Western film directed by Sam Newfield and written by Sam Robins. The film stars George F. Houston as the Lone Rider, Al St. John as his sidekick "Fuzzy" Jones and Dennis Moore as Sheriff Sm ...

'' and ending with ''

Overland Stagecoach ''Overland Stagecoach'' is a 1942 American Western film directed by Sam Newfield and written by Fred Myton. The film stars Robert Livingston as the Lone Rider, Al St. John as his sidekick "Fuzzy" Jones, and Dennis Moore as Sheriff Smoky Moo ...

''. He also appeared on television in the syndicated '' The Range Rider'', with Jock Mahoney and Dick Jones, in the 1955

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS (an abbreviation of its original name, Columbia Broadcasting System), is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainme ...

series '' Brave Eagle'' with

Keith Larsen Keith Larsen (born Keith Larsen Burt, June 17, 1924 – December 13, 2006) was an American actor who starred in three short-lived television series between 1955 and 1961. Background Larsen was born in Salt Lake City in 1924. He was of Norwegia ...

, and in the 1956 episode "Panhandle" of the CBS series ''

Tales of the Texas Rangers ''Tales of the Texas Rangers'' is a 20th century Western old-time radio and television police procedural drama which originally aired on NBC Radio from 1950 to 1952 and later on CBS Television from 1955 to 1958. Film star Joel McCrea voiced the ...

'', with Willard Parker and Harry Lauter. He was cast as Mr. Finley in "The Gold Watch" and as Jeb in "A Permanent Juliet" on the

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. It is one of NBCUniversal's ...

Western series '' Buckskin'', starring Tom Nolan, Sally Brophy, and Mike Road. He was cast as Walker in the 1958 episode "Three Wanted Men" of the syndicated Western series ''

Frontier Doctor ''Frontier Doctor'' is an American Western television series starring Rex Allen that aired in syndication from September 26, 1958, until June 20, 1959. The series was also known as ''Unarmed'' and ''Man of the West''.TV Guide Guide to TV. Bar ...

,'' starring

Rex Allen Rex Elvie Allen Sr. (December 31, 1920 – December 17, 1999), known as "The Arizona Cowboy", was an American film and television actor, singer and songwriter; he was also the narrator of many Disney nature and Western productions. For his cont ...

. At this time, he also made multiple appearances on Richard Carlson's syndicated Western series '' Mackenzie's Raiders''. He also guest-starred on the syndicated adventure series ''

Rescue 8 ''Rescue 8'' is a syndicated American action adventure drama series about Los Angeles County Fire Department (LACFD) Rescue Squad 8. It premiered in 1958 and originally ran for two seasons with syndicated reruns continuing for almost a deca ...

'', starring Jim Davis and Lang Jeffries, the crime drama '' U.S. Marshal'', starring John Bromfield, and the NBC Western ''

Riverboat A riverboat is a watercraft designed for inland navigation on lakes, rivers, and artificial waterways. They are generally equipped and outfitted as work boats in one of the carrying trades, for freight or people transport, including luxury ...

'', starring

Darren McGavin Darren McGavin (born William Lyle Richardson; May 7, 1922 – February 25, 2006) was an American actor. McGavin began his career working as a set painter for Columbia Pictures. In 1954, he originated roles in Broadway productions of '' My Three ...

. Moore played leads or second leads in serials, and holds the distinction of having appeared in the last serials produced by

Universal Pictures Universal City Studios LLC, doing business as Universal Pictures (also known as Universal Studios or simply Universal), is an American filmmaking, film production and film distribution, distribution company headquartered at the 10 Universal Ci ...

in 1946 and

Columbia Pictures Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc., Trade name, doing business as Columbia Pictures, is an American film Production company, production and Film distributor, distribution company that is the flagship unit of the Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group ...

in 1956.

Later years

Moore moved with his family from Los Angeles to Big Bear Lake, operating a gift shop there.

Death

On March 1, 1964, Moore died of rheumatic heart disease in

San Bernardino, California San Bernardino ( ) is a city in and the county seat of San Bernardino County, California, United States. Located in the Inland Empire region of Southern California, the city had a population of 222,101 in the 2020 census, making it the List of ...

Selected filmography

* '' The Dawn Rider'' (1935) * '' China Clipper'' (1936) as Engineer on Clipper * '' Desert Justice'' (1936) * '' Fugitive in the Sky'' (1936) Unbilled * '' Irish Luck'' (1939) * '' Overland Mail'' (1939) * '' Girl from Rio'' (1939) * '' Boys of the City'' (1940) as Giles *'' Fugitive from a Prison Camp'' (1940) * '' Flying Wild'' (1941) as George * '' Bowery Blitzkrieg'' (1941) as Dorgan * '' Spooks Run Wild'' (1941) as Dr. Von Grosch * ''

The Lone Rider Fights Back ''The Lone Rider Fights Back'' is a 1941 American western film directed by Sam Newfield and written by Joseph O'Donnell. The film stars George Houston as the Lone Rider and Al St. John as his sidekick "Fuzzy" Jones, with Dorothy Short, Denn ...

'' (1941) as Al Williams * '' Billy the Kid in Santa Fe'' (1941) as Silent Don Benson * ''