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Mildred Moore

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Mildred Moore
BornJanuary 22, 1895
New Albany, Indiana, USA
DiedAugust 12, 1941 (aged 46)
New York, New York, USA
Other namesMildred Lee
OccupationActress

Mildred Moore (also known as Mildred Lee)[1] was a silent film actress who appeared in a string of Hollywood westerns and serials in 1919 and 1920, often starring alongside Hoot Gibson.[2][3][4][5] Her career came to an abrupt end in 1920 with a drug scandal.[5]

Biography

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Born in New Albany, Indiana,[6] and raised in Kansas City, Missouri, Mildred won a beauty contest in St. Louis as a teenager, and she eventually made her way to New York City to pursue a career after winning a screen test via a Photoplay beauty contest.[7][8] She first found work as a dancer at the Roof Garden Review and later as a Ziegfeld girl at Cocoanut Grove. A skilled musician who played the piano, harp, accordion, banjo, and oboe, she was eventually spotted by a director from Los Angeles and recruited to appear in silent comedies.[9]

Starting with the 1917 short Roaring Lions and Wedding Bells — in which she appeared alongside a trio of real lions — she appeared in a string of Fox Sunshine silent comedies[10][11] using the name Mildred Lee (which may or may not be her birth name).[12] She also appeared in shorts by Eddie Lyons and Lee Moran.

Mildred was eventually poached by Universal to become a Western star, reinventing herself as Mildred Moore.[9][1] In 1919 and 1920, she starred alongside big names like Hoot Gibson and Art Acord.[13][14][15]

Her career was cut short in 1920, when she and actor Jay Belasco — her rumored boyfriend — were arrested in an apartment in Los Angeles for possession of cocaine and heroin.[16][17][18] Cornered in Belasco's apartment at Wilcox and Hollywood Boulevard by the police, she reportedly tried to commit suicide by swallowing a large quantity of morphine.[17] She later pled guilty to the charges and was sent to a sanitorium to dry out.[19]

In subsequent interviews with reporters, Moore explained that she had been an addict for many years, having been introduced to the drug in New York City when she first began acting.[5] Despite her professed intent to return to filmmaking after she was released from jail, she does not appear to have notched any credits after she was let out on probation in October 1920.[16] Belasco, on the other hand, continued to accrue roles through the mid-1930s.

She reportedly died of a heart attack in New York City in August 1941.[6]

Select filmography

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References

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  1. ^ a b "Sign for Copyrights". Los Angeles Evening Post-Record. 4 Jan 1919. Retrieved 2021-12-30.
  2. ^ Katchmer, George A. (2015-05-20). A Biographical Dictionary of Silent Film Western Actors and Actresses. McFarland. ISBN 978-1-4766-0905-8.
  3. ^ "Screen Chat". Detroit Free Press. 14 Sep 1919. Retrieved 2021-12-30.
  4. ^ "Mixed Bill at the Hippodrome Today". The Leavenworth Times. 30 Oct 1919. Retrieved 2021-12-30.
  5. ^ a b c "Film Player Tells How She Began Drugs". The San Francisco Examiner. 19 Sep 1920. Retrieved 2021-12-30.
  6. ^ a b "Mrs. Mildred Moore". The Indianapolis Star. 26 Aug 1941. Retrieved 2021-12-30.
  7. ^ "Motion Picture Beauties Today and How They Appeared When Children". St. Louis Globe-Democrat. 1 Feb 1920. Retrieved 2021-12-30.
  8. ^ "Kansas City's Latest Recruit to the Movies". The Kansas City Star. 10 Sep 1916. Retrieved 2021-12-30.
  9. ^ a b "Camera! Miss Midnight Frolic Registers Joy". Los Angeles Evening Express. 6 Mar 1917. Retrieved 2021-12-30.
  10. ^ "Oh, So Different". The Los Angeles Times. 7 Oct 1917. Retrieved 2021-12-30.
  11. ^ The Moving Picture World. World Photographic Publishing Company. 1917.
  12. ^ "Lions Easy, Says Fox Star". Los Angeles Evening Post-Record. 28 Sep 1917. Retrieved 2021-12-30.
  13. ^ "The Shadow Drama". The Washington Post. 21 Mar 1920. Retrieved 2021-12-30.
  14. ^ "Great Musician". Akron Evening Times. 6 Jun 1919. Retrieved 2021-12-30.
  15. ^ "Theatrical Notes". The Lincoln Star. 17 Aug 1919. Retrieved 2021-12-30.
  16. ^ a b "Actress in Jail Takes Cure, Wins Probation". The Los Angeles Times. 17 Oct 1920. Retrieved 2021-12-30.
  17. ^ a b "Arrest 2 to Nip Drug Ring". The Los Angeles Times. 19 Sep 1920. Retrieved 2021-12-30.
  18. ^ "Drug Raid Reveals Players' Romance". The Los Angeles Times. 20 Sep 1920. Retrieved 2021-12-30.
  19. ^ "Film Actress Arraigned in Los Angeles Clean-Up". The San Francisco Examiner. 21 Sep 1920. Retrieved 2021-12-30.
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