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In
Remembrance: Constance Moore
Constance Moore, the actress best remembered for her role as Wilma Deering
in the classic 1939 serial Buck Rodgers, has passed away September
16, 2005 in Woodland Hills, CA. She was 84.
Born Mary Constance Moore on January 18, 1920 in Sioux City, Iowa, Moore
was raised in Dallas, Texas, where she pursued her ambition to become an
opera singer by taking voice lessons. While still in school, she began to
appear on local Dallas radio – her godfather, the owner of a chain of
drugstores, even sponsored a show just to showcase her singing. By the time
she was in high school she was the featured singer on The Early Bird’s
Program. In 1937, a Universal Studios talent scout heard her on the
air and she was signed to a contract with the studio without the usual
pre-requisite screen test.
Although her first screen appearance was barely a walk-on part in the
romantic comedy Prescription For Romance (1938), she took the lead
female role in her next film, the b-western Border Wolves (1938).
Despite her musical background, Moore found herself in a series of gritty
crime and dramatic b-films including The Crime Of Dr. Hallet,
The Last Stand and Prison Break (all 1938). She finally got to
show off her musical talents toward the end of the year in Freshman
Year and Swing That Cheer.
In 1939, Moore made the two of her most memorable screen appearances. The
first was playing the feisty Lt. Wilma Deering in the 12 part
science-fiction serial Buck Rogers, based on the popular newspaper
comic strip. The second was in the comedy You Can’t Cheat An Honest Man,
starring as W. C. Fields’ daughter. Later that same year, Moore would
reunite with Honest Man co-star ventriloquist Edgar Bergen for the comedy
Charlie McCarthy, Detective.
Moore continued to make films in a number of genres- wartime dramas such
as I Wanted Wings (1941), comedies such as Buy Me That Town (1941)
and Take A Letter, Darling (1942) and westerns such as Mexicana
(1945) and In Old Sacramento (1946). She also appeared in such
musicals as Delightfully Dangerous and Earl Carroll Vanities
(both 1945). Moore delivered perhaps her finest vocal performances in two
1944 films - Show Business and Atlantic City.
During the 40s Moore also headlined the Coconut Grove nightclub in Los Angeles
and clubs in Las Vegas. She also starred opposite Ray Bolger in the
1942 Rodgers and Hart Broadway hit By Jupiter.
Moore retired in 1947 after appearing in Hit Parade Of 1947 opposite
Eddie Albert, though she would return to the screen one last time for a
small role in Otto Preminger’s film noir The 13th Letter
in 1951. Although she made a few television appearances, most notably
starring in the short-lived 1961 sitcom Window On Main Street with
Robert Young and the 1964 soap opera The Young Marrieds, she spent
the remainder of her career on stage. She retired completely
from acting in the late 1960s. |
