Early Life and Career
Moore was born in Fordstown Crossroads, County Meath, Ireland, and along with his brothers Tom, Matt, and Joe (1895–1926), and sister Mary (1890–1919), he emigrated to the United States as a steerage passenger on board the S.S. Anchoria and was inspected on Ellis Island in May 1896. All went on to successful careers in motion pictures in Hollywood, California.
While working at D. W. Griffith's Biograph Studios, 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 Independent Moving Pictures (IMP) to replace their major star, Pickford’s Canadian friend, Florence Lawrence. Carl Laemmle, the owner of IMP who soon merged IMP into Universal Studios, agreed to sign her husband as part of the deal. This humiliation and his wife's meteoric rise to fame, drastically affected Moore and alcohol became a problem that led to violent behavior and his physically abusing Pickford. In 1916, Pickford met actor Douglas Fairbanks, Pickford filed for a divorce from Moore, and Pickford and Fairbanks married in 1920.
Appearing in a number of successful films for Lewis J. Selznick (father of producer David O. Selznick and agent Myron Selznick), in the late teens and early 1920s, Moore was a popular star at Selznick Pictures along with Olive Thomas, Elaine Hammerstein, Eugene O'Brien and Conway Tearle. He also appeared in films for his own production company as well as Goldwyn and Triangle.
Moore married a second time to another silent film actress, Katherine Perry, in 1921. With the advent of sound film, Moore's career declined. His last film appearance was as a film director in the 1937 drama A Star Is Born.
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