Irish-born Owen Moore came to America at age 11, along with his three brothers, Matt, Tom, and Joe -- actors all. At 19, Moore began his theatrical career, abandoning the stage in 1908 to work with D.W. Griffith at the Biograph film studio. While working at D.W. Griffith's Biograph Studios, Owen 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.
Owen Moore's later career was not as successful, though he staged some worthwhile comeback attempts throughout the talkie era: co-starring with his brothers, Matt and Tom, in 1929's Side Street, offering a bizarre and unsettling performance as Mae West's imprisoned ex-boyfriend in She Done Him Wrong, and convincingly portraying a cold-sober movie director in Selznick's A Star Is Born (1937). Although Moore was a good actor, his talent for singing and music went to waste during the silent film era. By the time "musical talkies" came along, it was too late for Moore to take much advantage of his gifts.
Moore made 279 movies spanning from 1908 to 1937. He has Star #6743 on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6727 Hollywood Blvd.
Irish-