Owen Moore

Born: 12 December 1886, County Meath, Ireland
Died: 09 June 1939, Beverly Hills, Calafornia, USA

It's fair to say that Owen Moore in his heyday was one of the great stars of silent films, as popular as his contemporary, Rudolph Valentino. Unlike Valentino however, his name has faded somewhat over time.
He was born in County Meath, Ireland in 1886. His family emigrated to America in 1896 and he and his siblings (Tom, Matt, Mary and Joe) would all end up working in the motion picture industry, although his was the greatest success. His acting career, like many before him, began on the stage. He got his big break when he signed for D.W. Griffith at the Biograph Studios in 1908. It was at Biograph that he met and married in 1911 (and in secret), a young Canadian actress, Gladys Smith. Smith, under her stage name, Mary Pickford (named in honour of her Irish grandfather, John Pickford Hennessy) would soon be one of the biggest actors in Hollywood. Moore at this time was a big star, a leading man and much in demand. Between 1908 and 1915 he made over 230 films and scores of these were made with Pickford. But as her own career exploded into superstardom his would reach a plateau. In 1912 he moved to Victor Studios where he co-starred in numerous films with the studios owner, Canadian actress Florence Lawrence.
Mary Pickford left Biograph to join Independent Moving Pictures which subsequently merged with Universal. Her rising star, coupled with Moore's own personal issues, led to the couple becoming estranged. Pickford divorced him in 1920 and she married Douglas Fairbanks shortly afterwards. Moore himself married again, to another actress Katherine Perry, in 1921. Although he was a talented singer, the advent of sound in film in reality ended his acting career. He founded a production company, The Owen Moore Film Group, along with Lewis J. Selznick. He still made occasional films, the last of which was "A Star is Born" in 1937.
Owen Moore died 2 years later of a cerebral hemorrhage. Coincidentaly Douglas Fairbanks died just 6 months later, on what would have been Moore's 53rd birthday. It is easy to remember Moore simply as Mary Pickford's husband but that would be doing him a disservice. In a career that spanned over 280 films, Moore at one stage was at the top of his field and he appeared with many of the early cinemas greats, including Roscoe Arbuckle, Mable Normand (in three shorts), Mack Sennett, Ben Turpin, James Finlayson, Lon Chaney, Mae Busch , Mae West and Cary Grant.
Owen Moore is one of the small group of Irish actors that has been honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of fame.