Marcia Moore (actress)

Marcia Moore was an American film and theatre actress in the early 1900s. She had leading roles in multiple productions, including early silent films and vaudeville theatre. Despite the wishes of her father for her to study piano and become a music teacher, Moore's early interest in the stage led her to gather enough money to move to Chicago in order to study the arts at a conservatory there and then join the theatre. She moved between film and stage roles several times throughout her career, including later joining performances in burlesque shows.

Marcia Moore
See caption
Moore c. 1916
Born
OccupationActress
Years active1913-1922

Childhood and education

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Born in Ishpeming, Michigan[1] to Katherine Moore, a well known comedian from England,[2] Moore became interested in theatre at the age of eleven after seeing a musical comedy for the first time. While her father wanted her to become a pianist and had her study how to play from childhood through high school, she actively disliked the instrument. After her piano teacher heard her sing and recommended to her parents that she receive vocal lessons, they set her up with an additional instructor. Her initial stage performance was in her senior year of school, where she performed at the Ishpeming Opera House for the class play, The Little Tyrant, as the prima donna.[1]

She was well received in local reviews, but her father still refused to discuss the subject and planned to have her attend Lawrence University to study to become a music teacher. An incident with her father's investments, however, just before the school year meant the family had no money to send her to college. A family friend offered to have her be a primary teacher for the school set up at the mining operation that he owned, which she did for a year. This allowed her to save enough money to travel to Chicago and attend the Lyceum Arts Conservatory while studying "voice and dramatic art". To keep paying for her studies, she also did cabaret performances on the side.[1]

Career

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Afterwards, she began performing in vaudeville theatre during her late teens and early twenties, taking on child roles that also featured her ability to dance and sing.[3] Her early years involved performing with the Barber stock company in South Bend, Indiana. Moore went on to join the Otis Oliver stock company in 1913 to perform in Lafayette, Louisiana.[3] Returning to Chicago soon after, she first began appearing in early films with Essanay Studios.[2] Several years later, she left movie performances and returned to the theatre, appearing in the lead role for A Little Mother To Be in 1918.[4] She had a number of other appearances in the following year across the B. F. Keith Circuit, before she started appearing in burlesque theatres[5] as a part of the Al Reeves' Beauty Show in 1919 as a comedian singer.[6] By 1922, she had returned to the film stage and had become the leading woman for the Charlton Film Company, noted for the large amount of gowns she required for her costumes.[7]

Filmography

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Theatre

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  • Mother Goose Girls (1913) as Miss Muffet[3]
  • A Little Mother To Be (1918) as the mother[4]
  • Slumming (1920)[27]
  • Private Property (1920)[28]
  • The Whirl of the Town (1921)[29]
  • East is West (1922)[30]

References

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  1. ^ a b c "Was Determined to Have Stage Career". The Philadelphia Inquirer. March 20, 1921. Retrieved October 20, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  2. ^ a b "Movie Studio At Riverton Gets Busy". The Brunswick Record. February 23, 1922. Retrieved October 21, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  3. ^ a b c "Marcia Moore of "Goose Girls" To Be Seen Here in Stock". Journal and Courier. January 18, 1913. Retrieved October 19, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  4. ^ a b "At The Rhode Sunday And Monday". Kenosha News. September 28, 1918. Retrieved October 20, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  5. ^ "Grand Theater". Hartford Courant. January 26, 1920. Retrieved October 20, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  6. ^ "Orpheum". The Morning Call. December 23, 1919. Retrieved October 20, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  7. ^ "Marcia Moore". Evening Express. March 22, 1922. Retrieved October 21, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  8. ^ "The Princess". Lexington Herald-Leader. October 11, 1913. Retrieved October 20, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  9. ^ "The New Portland Theater". Portland Sunday Telegram. December 14, 1913. Retrieved October 20, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  10. ^ "Seville". The Minneapolis Journal. January 11, 1914. Retrieved October 20, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  11. ^ "At Ricci's Theatre". Record-Journal. March 27, 1914. Retrieved October 20, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  12. ^ a b "Marcia Moore in "The Meddlers" Society Feature, Hippodrome Today". The Leavenworth Post. October 30, 1915. Retrieved October 20, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  13. ^ ""The Heart of Maryland"". Bismarck Daily Tribune. August 20, 1915. Retrieved October 19, 2024.
  14. ^ ""The Heart of Maryland"". El Paso Times. May 12, 1915. Retrieved October 20, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  15. ^ "Personals". The Log Cabin Democrat. January 20, 1916. Retrieved October 21, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  16. ^ "Thanksgiving Program at the Grand". The Zanesville Signal. November 25, 1915. Retrieved October 21, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  17. ^ "New Davis Theater". The Pittsburgh Post. July 25, 1915. Retrieved October 20, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  18. ^ "Victor". The Moving Picture World. Vol. 30. Chalmers Publishing Company. November 4, 1916. p. 750.
  19. ^ "Circus Play To Be Shown At The Paramount Today". Winston-Salem Journal. March 17, 1916. Retrieved October 19, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  20. ^ "Stirring Drama At Parthenon". Nashville Banner. March 11, 1916. Retrieved October 20, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  21. ^ "Bluebird Photo-Plays". The Girard Press. June 8, 1916. Retrieved October 20, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  22. ^ "At the Strand". Portsmouth Daily Times. June 20, 1916. Retrieved October 20, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  23. ^ "Hauber Theater". Pine Bluff Daily Graphic. July 14, 1916. Retrieved October 20, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  24. ^ "Chaplin Film A Series Of Laughs". New Britain Herald. August 19, 1916. Retrieved October 20, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  25. ^ "Thursday and Friday". East Oregonian. January 18, 1917. Retrieved October 20, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  26. ^ "At The Theatres". The Concord Daily Tribune. July 2, 1917. Retrieved October 20, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  27. ^ "Waldron's Casino". The Boston Globe. January 20, 1920. Retrieved October 20, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  28. ^ "Many Attractions at Pantages". The Toronto Star. September 20, 1920. Retrieved October 20, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  29. ^ ""The Whirl of the Town" At the Shubert". The Boston Globe. April 17, 1921. Retrieved October 19, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  30. ^ "Somerville Theatre". The Boston Globe. September 5, 1922. Retrieved October 21, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
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