Del Moore was a
comedianA comedian or comic is a person who seeks to entertain an audience, primarily by making them laugh. This might be through jokes or amusing situations, or acting a fool, as in slapstick, or employing prop comedy...
, a
televisionTelevision is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
and movie actor, and a
radioRadio is the transmission of signals through free space by modulation of electromagnetic waves with frequencies below those of visible light. Electromagnetic radiation travels by means of oscillating electromagnetic fields that pass through the air and the vacuum of space...
announcer.
Born Marion Delbridge Moore in
Pensacola, FloridaPensacola is the westernmost city in the Florida Panhandle and the county seat of Escambia County, Florida, United States of America. As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 56,255 and as of 2009, the estimated population was 53,752...
, he began his career in
radioRadio is the transmission of signals through free space by modulation of electromagnetic waves with frequencies below those of visible light. Electromagnetic radiation travels by means of oscillating electromagnetic fields that pass through the air and the vacuum of space...
before moving to television. In 1952, he appeared in the first of several
So You Want To . . .Joe McDoakes is the protagonist of a series of 63 black and white live action comedy one reel short subjects released between 1942 and 1956. The Joe McDoakes shorts are also known as the Behind the Eight Ball series or the So You Want... series...
Warner Bros. comedy shorts with
George O'HanlonGeorge O'Hanlon was an American screen actor, comedian, and voice actor.-Early life and career:George O'Hanlon was born in Brooklyn, New York City on November 23, 1912....
. He co-starred in the early television comedy
Life with ElizabethLife with Elizabeth is an American sitcom which aired in syndication from October 7, 1953, to September 1, 1955. The show stars Betty White and Del Moore; Jack Narz was the on-camera announcer and narrator....
(1953–1955) with
Betty WhiteBetty White Ludden , better known as Betty White, is an American actress, comedienne, singer, author, and former game show personality. With a career spanning seven decades since 1939, she is best known to modern audiences for her television roles as Sue Ann Nivens on The Mary Tyler Moore Show and...
. A good friend of
Jack WebbJohn Randolph "Jack" Webb , also known by the pseudonym John Randolph, was an American actor, television producer, director and screenwriter, who is most famous for his role as Sergeant Joe Friday in the radio and television series Dragnet...
, with whom he had served in the
United States Army Air ForcesThe United States Army Air Forces was the military aviation arm of the United States of America during and immediately after World War II, and the direct predecessor of the United States Air Force....
during
World War IIWorld War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, Moore appeared in many episodes of
DragnetDragnet is a radio and television crime drama about the cases of a dedicated Los Angeles police detective, Sergeant Joe Friday, and his partners...
and
Adam-12Adam-12 was a television police drama which followed two police officers of the Los Angeles Police Department, Pete Malloy and Jim Reed, as they patrolled the streets of Los Angeles in their patrol unit, 1-Adam-12. Created by Jack Webb who is known for creating Dragnet, the series captured a...
. For several years in the late 1950s he hosted a daily children's program opposite Willy the Wolf (a muppet-like adult size character) on KTTV Channel 11 in
Los AngelesLos Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
.
Moore played supporting roles in several
Jerry LewisJerry Lewis is an American comedian, actor, singer, film producer, screenwriter and film director. He is best known for his slapstick humor in film, television, stage and radio. He was originally paired up with Dean Martin in 1946, forming the famed comedy team of Martin and Lewis...
films, including
The Big MouthThe Big Mouth is a 1967 comedy film produced, directed, co-written by and starring Jerry Lewis released on July 12, 1967 by Columbia Pictures. It was filmed in San Diego and features Frank De Vol as an onscreen narrator.-Plot:...
and
The Patsy. He made his feature film debut in Lewis'
CinderfellaCinderfella is a comedy film version of the classic Cinderella story, with several of the roles reversed. It was released December 16, 1960 by Paramount Pictures and stars Jerry Lewis as Fella.-Plot:...
in 1960 and was the university president in 1963's
The Nutty ProfessorThe Nutty Professor is a 1963 Paramount Pictures science fiction comedy feature film produced, directed, co-written and starring Jerry Lewis...
. He was also in the 1967 teen film
Catalina CaperCatalina Caper is a 1967 comedy musical mystery film starring Tommy Kirk. It is one of the last in the beach party film genre. This entry blends the beach format with a standard crime-caper comedy...
, which later appeared as an "experiment" in a 1990 episode of
Mystery Science Theater 3000Mystery Science Theater 3000 is an American cult television comedy series created by Joel Hodgson and produced by Best Brains, Inc., that ran from 1988 to 1999....
.
Moore died of a cerebral hemorrhage in Encino, California in 1970 at the age of 54. survived by his wife, Gayle, daughters Laura and Lesli and son from a former marriage, Del Jr. He was interred in Forest Lawn Memorial Park in
Glendale, CaliforniaGlendale is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. As of the 2010 Census, the city population is 191,719, down from 194,973 at the 2000 census. making it the third largest city in Los Angeles County and the 22nd largest city in the state of California...
.
For his pioneering work on television, Del Moore received a “Star” on the
Hollywood Walk of FameThe Hollywood Walk of Fame consists of more than 2,400 five-pointed terrazzo and brass stars embedded in the sidewalks along fifteen blocks of Hollywood Boulevard and three blocks of Vine Street in Hollywood, California...
.
External links