Jack Moran
Encyclopedia
Jackie Moran was an American
movie actor who, between 1936 and 1946, appeared in over thirty films, primarily in teenage roles.
, John E. Moran first attracted attention through the fine quality of his voice while singing in a church choir. He was seen by Mary Pickford
who convinced his mother to take him to Hollywood for a screen test in 1935. Renamed Jackie Moran, the appealing youngster was subsequently cast in a number of substantial supporting roles, becoming, at the age of fourteen, a briefly popular adolescent star with the February 17, 1938 release of David O. Selznick
's production The Adventures of Tom Sawyer
. The 93-minute big-budget Technicolor
film was a top moneymaker, receiving an Oscar nomination for Best Art Direction
. Playing Huckleberry Finn
to Tommy Kelly's Tom Sawyer
, Jackie Moran received critical praise for his natural acting style and was favorably compared to two earlier child star Jackies, the four-months-older Jackie Cooper
and the eight-years-older Jackie Coogan
(who seven years earlier starred as Tom (with Junior Durkin
as Huck) in the December 1930 release Tom Sawyer and the August 1931 release Huckleberry Finn).
. His most frequent co-star was the one-year-younger Marcia Mae Jones
, who appeared with him in eleven films, including four Monogram tributes to life in idealized pre-World War II
rural America, 1938's Barefoot Boy
and, in 1940, Tomboy, Haunted House and The Old Swimmin' Hole
. The trio of 1940 films was helmed by the co-creator and former guiding spirit of Our Gang
, Robert F. McGowan
, in his final directorial assignment. In 1938, in addition to starring in Barefoot Boy, Jackie Moran and Marcia Mae Jones played supporting roles in the Deanna Durbin
vehicle Mad About Music
and, in Jackie's breakout picture, Marcia Mae had the relatively minor part of Tom Sawyer's bratty cousin Mary (Ann Gillis
was Becky Thatcher). Most of Jackie and Marcia Mae's remaining five films cast them in major supporting roles. They were in the independently-produced, RKO-released 1939 Jean Hersholt
vehicle Meet Dr. Christian
, made brief cameo appearances in RKO's 1940 Anne of Green Gables
installment Anne of Windy Poplars and co-starred with Frankie Darro
, Keye Luke
and Mantan Moreland
in two 1941 Monogram series films, The Gang's All Here
and Let's Go Collegiate
. Their final entry, after a two-year break, was the 1943 Republic musical Nobody's Darling, one of the first films helmed by top 1950s and 60s director Anthony Mann
.
In addition to the Dr. Christian film, Jackie Moran made memorable appearances in four other 1939 releases, including a cameo in that year's biggest, Gone with the Wind
. In an epic scene, as a Confederate
marching band passes by, the audience sees Jackie as a fife player (with Tommy Kelly on the drum). Producer David O. Selznick, who, the year before, had given Jackie and Tommy their once-in-a-lifetime roles as Huck Finn and Tom Sawyer, paid tribute to the two young stars of that very successful previous film by briefly showcasing them in his greatest production. Jackie also had a top co-starring role in Universal
's iconic 12-chapter serial Buck Rogers in which he was third-billed as Buck's young buddy, Buddy Wade. Jackie's next 1939 release was the Hardy Family
-like Everybody's Hobby, while the last, Spirit of Culver, a remake of 1932's military-school classic Tom Brown of Culver, teamed him with two former top child stars Jackie Cooper and Freddie Bartholomew
, each of whom was nearing the end of his film career. Military school pictures were a relatively frequent sight on the screen in the years immediately preceding and during World War II, with most teenage actors of the era appearing in one or more of such films (In 1940-42, for example, Tommy Kelly was in Military Academy
and Freddie Bartholomew was in Naval Academy, Cadets on Parade and Junior Army).
. Nearly a year in production, the 172-minute homefront
epic had its long-awaited Hollywood premiere in June 1944 and went into wide release on July 20. One of five Oscar nominees for Best Picture
(it eventually lost to Going My Way
), the black-and-white film was David O. Selznick's first production after Gone with the Wind and spared no expenses. Tommy Kelly, in the service during production, was not available, but Selznick once again cast Jackie in a small, but memorable role. Of the seventeen names listed in the credits, Jackie was seventeenth, but his last-place position did not prevent the character (a grocer's son) from exchanging bashful glances with the female third-lead (after Claudette Colbert
and Jennifer Jones), fifteen-year-old Shirley Temple
. Jackie, at twenty, was five years older, but appeared to be no more than sixteen or seventeen.
and Monogram. He was the title character in Monogram's comedy-mystery There Goes Kelly, and co-starred with exuberant young actress June Preisser
in Columbia's Let's Go Steady and Monogram's Junior Prom, Freddie Steps Out and High School Hero The last three were part of a series which, in addition to Jackie Moran and June Preisser, starred Freddie Stewart, Warren Mills, Frankie Darro
and future Adventures of Superman
Lois Lane
, Noel Neill
.
. Accounts differ as to his occupations in the remaining forty-four years of his life. His obituaries stated that he became a screenwriter for B movie
s in the 1950s, but no specific titles were indicated. It was also written that he fronted a band in Hollywood as a drummer, and that several of his bandmates went on to join Stan Kenton
's orchestra. In the 1960s, a screenwriter using Jackie's real name, John E. Moran, worked extensively with Russ Meyer
, notably on the films Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill!
, Good Morning and... Goodbye!
, Common Law Cabin
, and Wild Gals of the Naked West, also playing small roles in the latter two films. The credits of the two are occasionally combined, but there is no confirmation that they are the same person. The obituaries also stated that in his later years, Jackie Moran worked in public relations
for the Roman Catholic Diocese of Chicago, where, as a youngster, he was said to have been a choirboy
.
Moran moved to Greenfield, Massachusetts
in 1984 and wrote a novel, Six Step House. Six years after his arrival, he succumbed to lung cancer
in the town's Franklin Medical Center at the age of 67. As requested in his will, Jackie Moran's ashes were scattered on the backstretch of the Del Mar Racetrack
, a thoroughbred horse racing
facility in Del Mar, California
.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
movie actor who, between 1936 and 1946, appeared in over thirty films, primarily in teenage roles.
Career beginning and key role as Huck Finn
A native of Mattoon, IllinoisMattoon, Illinois
Mattoon is a city in Coles County, Illinois, United States. The population was 18,555 as of the 2010 census. It is a principal city of the Charleston–Mattoon Micropolitan Statistical Area.Mattoon was the site of the "Mad Gasser" attacks of the 1940s....
, John E. Moran first attracted attention through the fine quality of his voice while singing in a church choir. He was seen by Mary Pickford
Mary Pickford
Mary Pickford was a Canadian-born motion picture actress, co-founder of the film studio United Artists and one of the original 36 founders of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences...
who convinced his mother to take him to Hollywood for a screen test in 1935. Renamed Jackie Moran, the appealing youngster was subsequently cast in a number of substantial supporting roles, becoming, at the age of fourteen, a briefly popular adolescent star with the February 17, 1938 release of David O. Selznick
David O. Selznick
David O. Selznick was an American film producer. He is best known for having produced Gone with the Wind and Rebecca , both of which earned him an Oscar for Best Picture.-Early years:...
's production The Adventures of Tom Sawyer
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (1938 film)
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer is a 1938 American drama film directed by Norman Taurog. The screenplay by John V.A. Weaver was based on the classic 1876 novel by Mark Twain.-Plot:...
. The 93-minute big-budget Technicolor
Technicolor
Technicolor is a color motion picture process invented in 1916 and improved over several decades.It was the second major process, after Britain's Kinemacolor, and the most widely used color process in Hollywood from 1922 to 1952...
film was a top moneymaker, receiving an Oscar nomination for Best Art Direction
Academy Award for Best Art Direction
The Academy Awards are the oldest awards ceremony for achievements in motion pictures. The Academy Award for Best Art Direction recognizes achievement in art direction on a film. The films below are listed with their production year, so the Oscar 2000 for best art direction went to a film from 1999...
. Playing Huckleberry Finn
Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is a novel by Mark Twain, first published in England in December 1884 and in the United States in February 1885. Commonly named among the Great American Novels, the work is among the first in major American literature to be written in the vernacular, characterized by...
to Tommy Kelly's Tom Sawyer
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain is an 1876 novel about a young boy growing up along the Mississippi River. The story is set in the Town of "St...
, Jackie Moran received critical praise for his natural acting style and was favorably compared to two earlier child star Jackies, the four-months-older Jackie Cooper
Jackie Cooper
Jackie Cooper was an American actor, television director, producer and executive. He was a child actor who managed to make the transition to an adult career. Cooper was the first child actor to receive an Academy Award nomination...
and the eight-years-older Jackie Coogan
Jackie Coogan
John Leslie Coogan , known professionally as Jackie Coogan, was an American actor who began his movie career as a child actor in silent films. Many years later, he became known as Uncle Fester on 1960s sitcom The Addams Family...
(who seven years earlier starred as Tom (with Junior Durkin
Junior Durkin
Junior Durkin, born Trent Bernard Durkin , was an American film actor from New York, New York. Durkin began his acting career in theater while a child. He entered films in 1930, and played the role of Huckleberry Finn in Tom Sawyer , and Huckleberry Finn...
as Huck) in the December 1930 release Tom Sawyer and the August 1931 release Huckleberry Finn).
Star of low-budget, teen-oriented films
With his name now in (dim) lights, Jackie Moran went on to star in several youth-oriented films for low-budget and poverty-row studios, such as Republic and MonogramMonogram Pictures
Monogram Pictures Corporation is a Hollywood studio that produced and released films, most on low budgets, between 1931 and 1953, when the firm completed a transition to the name Allied Artists Pictures Corporation. Monogram is considered a leader among the smaller studios sometimes referred to...
. His most frequent co-star was the one-year-younger Marcia Mae Jones
Marcia Mae Jones
Marcia Mae Jones was an American actress whose prolific career spanned 47 years.-Career:Jones made her film debut at the age of two in the 1926 film Mannequin...
, who appeared with him in eleven films, including four Monogram tributes to life in idealized pre-World War II
World War II
World 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...
rural America, 1938's Barefoot Boy
Barefoot Boy
Barefoot Boy is Larry Coryell's first and only album for the Flying Dutchman label, a company created by Impulse! Records founder Bob Thiele. The album was produced by Thiele, with production assistance from Lillian Seyfert and engineered by Eddie Kramer...
and, in 1940, Tomboy, Haunted House and The Old Swimmin' Hole
The Old Swimmin' Hole (1940 film)
- Cast :*Marcia Mae Jones as Betty Elliott*Jackie Moran as Chris Carter*Leatrice Joy as Mrs. Julie Carter*Charles D. Brown as Doc Elliott*Theodore von Eltz as Baker, Grandpa's Lawyer*George Cleveland as Grandpa Harper*Dix Davis as Jimmy...
. The trio of 1940 films was helmed by the co-creator and former guiding spirit of Our Gang
Our Gang
Our Gang, also known as The Little Rascals or Hal Roach's Rascals, was a series of American comedy short films about a group of poor neighborhood children and the adventures they had together. Created by comedy producer Hal Roach, the series is noted for showing children behaving in a relatively...
, Robert F. McGowan
Robert F. McGowan
Robert Francis McGowan was an American film director and producer, best known as the senior director of the Our Gang short subjects film series from 1922 until 1933.-Career:...
, in his final directorial assignment. In 1938, in addition to starring in Barefoot Boy, Jackie Moran and Marcia Mae Jones played supporting roles in the Deanna Durbin
Deanna Durbin
Deanna Durbin is a Canadian-born, Southern California-raised retired singer and actress, who appeared in a number of musical films in the 1930s and 1940s singing standards as well as operatic arias....
vehicle Mad About Music
Mad About Music
Mad About Music is a 1938 musical film about a girl at an exclusive boarding school who invents an exciting father. When her schoolmates doubt his existence, she has to produce him...
and, in Jackie's breakout picture, Marcia Mae had the relatively minor part of Tom Sawyer's bratty cousin Mary (Ann Gillis
Ann Gillis
Ann Gillis , sometimes credited as Anne Gillis or Ann Gilles, is a retired actress, starting her career in the early 1930s as a child actress and ending in 1947. She later came back into acting for a small part in 2001: A Space Odyssey in 1968...
was Becky Thatcher). Most of Jackie and Marcia Mae's remaining five films cast them in major supporting roles. They were in the independently-produced, RKO-released 1939 Jean Hersholt
Jean Hersholt
Jean Pierre Hersholt was a Danish-born actor who lived in the United States, where he was a leading film and radio talent, best known for his 17 years starring on radio in Dr. Christian and for playing Shirley Temple's grandfather in Heidi...
vehicle Meet Dr. Christian
Meet Dr. Christian
- Cast :*Jean Hersholt as Dr. Paul Christian*Dorothy Lovett as Nurse Judy Price*Robert Baldwin as Roy Davis*Enid Bennett as Anne Hewitt*Paul Harvey as Mayor John Hewitt*Marcia Mae Jones as Marilee*Jackie Moran as Don Hewitt*Maude Eburne as Mrs. Hastings...
, made brief cameo appearances in RKO's 1940 Anne of Green Gables
Anne of Green Gables
Anne of Green Gables is a bestselling novel by Canadian author Lucy Maud Montgomery published in 1908. Set in 1878, it was written as fiction for readers of all ages, but in recent decades has been considered a children's book...
installment Anne of Windy Poplars and co-starred with Frankie Darro
Frankie Darro
Frankie Darro was an American actor and later in his career a stuntman. He began his career as a child actor in silent films, progressed to lead roles and co-starring roles in adventure, western, dramatic, and comedy films, and later became a character actor and voice-over artist.-Early life:Darro...
, Keye Luke
Keye Luke
Keye Luke was a Chinese-born American actor. He was the first Chinese-American contract player signed with RKO, Universal and, later, MGM and is generally acknowledged as the leading Asian-American actor of this era of American cinema.-Background:...
and Mantan Moreland
Mantan Moreland
Mantan Moreland was an American actor and comedian most popular in the 1930s and 1940s.-Career:Born in Monroe, Louisiana, Moreland began acting by the time he was an adolescent, reportedly running away to join the circus...
in two 1941 Monogram series films, The Gang's All Here
The Gang's All Here (1941 film)
The Gang's All Here is an American black-and-white feature film starring Frankie Darro and Mantan Moreland in a story about a trucking company targeted by saboteurs. The film was directed by Jean Yarbrough, produced by Lindsley Parsons, and is one of several that paired Darro and Moreland...
and Let's Go Collegiate
Let's Go Collegiate
Let's Go Collegiate is a 1941 American musical romantic comedy film directed by Jean Yarbrough.The film is also known as Farewell to Fame in the United Kingdom.- Plot summary :...
. Their final entry, after a two-year break, was the 1943 Republic musical Nobody's Darling, one of the first films helmed by top 1950s and 60s director Anthony Mann
Anthony Mann
Anthony Mann was an American actor and film director, most notably of film noirs and Westerns. As a director, he often collaborated with the cinematographer John Alton and with James Stewart in his Westerns.-Biography:...
.
In addition to the Dr. Christian film, Jackie Moran made memorable appearances in four other 1939 releases, including a cameo in that year's biggest, Gone with the Wind
Gone with the Wind (film)
Gone with the Wind is a 1939 American historical epic film adapted from Margaret Mitchell's Pulitzer-winning 1936 novel of the same name. It was produced by David O. Selznick and directed by Victor Fleming from a screenplay by Sidney Howard...
. In an epic scene, as a Confederate
Confederate States of America
The Confederate States of America was a government set up from 1861 to 1865 by 11 Southern slave states of the United States of America that had declared their secession from the U.S...
marching band passes by, the audience sees Jackie as a fife player (with Tommy Kelly on the drum). Producer David O. Selznick, who, the year before, had given Jackie and Tommy their once-in-a-lifetime roles as Huck Finn and Tom Sawyer, paid tribute to the two young stars of that very successful previous film by briefly showcasing them in his greatest production. Jackie also had a top co-starring role in Universal
Universal Pictures
-1920:* White Youth* The Flaming Disc* Am I Dreaming?* The Dragon's Net* The Adorable Savage* Putting It Over* The Line Runners-1921:* The Fire Eater* A Battle of Wits* Dream Girl* The Millionaire...
's iconic 12-chapter serial Buck Rogers in which he was third-billed as Buck's young buddy, Buddy Wade. Jackie's next 1939 release was the Hardy Family
Andy Hardy
Andy Hardy was a fictional character played by Mickey Rooney in an MGM film series from 1937 to 1958. Spanning over 20 years, the 16 movies were based on characters in the play Skidding by Aurania Rouverol....
-like Everybody's Hobby, while the last, Spirit of Culver, a remake of 1932's military-school classic Tom Brown of Culver, teamed him with two former top child stars Jackie Cooper and Freddie Bartholomew
Freddie Bartholomew
Frederick Cecil Bartholomew , known for his acting work as Freddie Bartholomew, was an English-American child actor. One of the most famous child actors of all time, he became very popular in 1930s Hollywood films...
, each of whom was nearing the end of his film career. Military school pictures were a relatively frequent sight on the screen in the years immediately preceding and during World War II, with most teenage actors of the era appearing in one or more of such films (In 1940-42, for example, Tommy Kelly was in Military Academy
Military academy
A military academy or service academy is an educational institution which prepares candidates for service in the officer corps of the army, the navy, air force or coast guard, which normally provides education in a service environment, the exact definition depending on the country concerned.Three...
and Freddie Bartholomew was in Naval Academy, Cadets on Parade and Junior Army).
A small part in the 1944 epic Since You Went Away
For unspecified reasons, Jackie Moran did not serve in the military during the war, but continued to act in movies, including one final appearance in a top quality film, Since You Went AwaySince You Went Away
Since You Went Away is a 1944 film distributed by United Artists, a big-budget epic about the American home front during World War II. It was directed by John Cromwell and adapted and produced by David O. Selznick from the novel Since You Went Away: Letters to a Soldier from His Wife by Margaret...
. Nearly a year in production, the 172-minute homefront
United States home front during World War II
This page, United States home front during World War II, covers the developments within the United States, 1940–1945, to support its efforts during World War II.-Economics:...
epic had its long-awaited Hollywood premiere in June 1944 and went into wide release on July 20. One of five Oscar nominees for Best Picture
Academy Award for Best Picture
The Academy Award for Best Picture is one of the Academy Awards of Merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to artists working in the motion picture industry. The Best Picture category is the only category in which every member of the Academy is eligible not only...
(it eventually lost to Going My Way
Going My Way
Going My Way is a 1944 film directed by Leo McCarey. It is a light-hearted musical comedy-drama about a new young priest taking over a parish from an established old veteran . Crosby sings five songs in the film. It was followed the next year by a sequel, The Bells of St. Mary's. This picture was...
), the black-and-white film was David O. Selznick's first production after Gone with the Wind and spared no expenses. Tommy Kelly, in the service during production, was not available, but Selznick once again cast Jackie in a small, but memorable role. Of the seventeen names listed in the credits, Jackie was seventeenth, but his last-place position did not prevent the character (a grocer's son) from exchanging bashful glances with the female third-lead (after Claudette Colbert
Claudette Colbert
Claudette Colbert was a French-born American-based actress of stage and film.Born in Paris, France and raised in New York City, Colbert began her career in Broadway productions during the 1920s, progressing to film with the advent of talking pictures...
and Jennifer Jones), fifteen-year-old Shirley Temple
Shirley Temple
Shirley Temple Black , born Shirley Jane Temple, is an American film and television actress, singer, dancer, autobiographer, and former U.S. Ambassador to Ghana and Czechoslovakia...
. Jackie, at twenty, was five years older, but appeared to be no more than sixteen or seventeen.
End of film career at the age of 23
Jackie Moran ended his screen career in 1945-46 with a collection of teenage musical comedies at ColumbiaColumbia Pictures
Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. is an American film production and distribution company. Columbia Pictures now forms part of the Columbia TriStar Motion Picture Group, owned by Sony Pictures Entertainment, a subsidiary of the Japanese conglomerate Sony. It is one of the leading film companies...
and Monogram. He was the title character in Monogram's comedy-mystery There Goes Kelly, and co-starred with exuberant young actress June Preisser
June Preisser
June Preisser was an American actress, briefly popular in musical films during the late 1930s and early 1940s, many of which capitalized on her skills as an acrobat.-Life and career:...
in Columbia's Let's Go Steady and Monogram's Junior Prom, Freddie Steps Out and High School Hero The last three were part of a series which, in addition to Jackie Moran and June Preisser, starred Freddie Stewart, Warren Mills, Frankie Darro
Frankie Darro
Frankie Darro was an American actor and later in his career a stuntman. He began his career as a child actor in silent films, progressed to lead roles and co-starring roles in adventure, western, dramatic, and comedy films, and later became a character actor and voice-over artist.-Early life:Darro...
and future Adventures of Superman
Adventures of Superman (TV series)
Adventures of Superman is an American television series based on comic book characters and concepts created in 1938 by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster. The show is the first television series to feature Superman and began filming in 1951 in California...
Lois Lane
Lois Lane
Lois Lane is a fictional character, the primary love interest of Superman in the comic books of DC Comics. Created by writer Jerry Siegel and artist Joe Shuster, she first appeared in Action Comics #1 ....
, Noel Neill
Noel Neill
Noel Neill is an American actress in motion pictures and television. She is best known as her portrayal of Lois Lane in the film serials Superman and Atom Man vs...
.
The years afterwards
Jackie Moran's final movie role was that of a seventh-billed, relatively minor supporting character in Columbia's 1946 college drama Betty Co-EdBetty Co-ed
Betty Co-ed may refer to:*"Betty Co-ed", the title of a 1930 song recorded by Rudy Vallee, which reached #4 on the charts.*Betty Co-ed , a 1931 Screen Songs animated short that featured a flapper character that had some similarities to Betty Boop.*Betty Co-ed , a 1946 film starring Jean Porter...
. Accounts differ as to his occupations in the remaining forty-four years of his life. His obituaries stated that he became a screenwriter for B movie
B movie
A B movie is a low-budget commercial motion picture that is not definitively an arthouse or pornographic film. In its original usage, during the Golden Age of Hollywood, the term more precisely identified a film intended for distribution as the less-publicized, bottom half of a double feature....
s in the 1950s, but no specific titles were indicated. It was also written that he fronted a band in Hollywood as a drummer, and that several of his bandmates went on to join Stan Kenton
Stan Kenton
Stanley Newcomb "Stan" Kenton was a pianist, composer, and arranger who led a highly innovative, influential, and often controversial American jazz orchestra. In later years he was widely active as an educator....
's orchestra. In the 1960s, a screenwriter using Jackie's real name, John E. Moran, worked extensively with Russ Meyer
Russ Meyer
Russell Albion "Russ" Meyer was a U.S. motion picture director, producer, screenwriter, cinematographer, editor, actor and photographer....
, notably on the films Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill!
Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill!
Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill! is a 1965 exploitation film directed by Russ Meyer, who also wrote the script with Jack Moran. It stars Tura Satana, Haji, and Lori Williams....
, Good Morning and... Goodbye!
Good Morning and... Goodbye!
Good Morning and... Goodbye! is a 1967 American exploitation film directed by Russ Meyer. It features Alaina Capri, Karen Ciral, as well as Meyer regular Jack Moran, who co-wrote the script....
, Common Law Cabin
Common Law Cabin
Common Law Cabin is a 1967 exploitation film directed by Russ Meyer. The movie features Alaina Capri and Meyer regulars Babette Bardot and Jack Moran...
, and Wild Gals of the Naked West, also playing small roles in the latter two films. The credits of the two are occasionally combined, but there is no confirmation that they are the same person. The obituaries also stated that in his later years, Jackie Moran worked in public relations
Public relations
Public relations is the actions of a corporation, store, government, individual, etc., in promoting goodwill between itself and the public, the community, employees, customers, etc....
for the Roman Catholic Diocese of Chicago, where, as a youngster, he was said to have been a choirboy
Choirboy
A choirboy is a boy member of a choir, also known as a treble.As a derisive slang term, it refers to a do-gooder or someone who is morally upright, in the same sense that "Boy Scout" refers to someone who is considered honorable or conscientious.- History :The use of choirboys in Christian...
.
Moran moved to Greenfield, Massachusetts
Greenfield, Massachusetts
Greenfield is a city in Franklin County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 17,456 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Franklin County. Greenfield is home to Greenfield Community College, the Pioneer Valley Symphony Orchestra, and the Franklin County Fair...
in 1984 and wrote a novel, Six Step House. Six years after his arrival, he succumbed to lung cancer
Lung cancer
Lung cancer is a disease characterized by uncontrolled cell growth in tissues of the lung. If left untreated, this growth can spread beyond the lung in a process called metastasis into nearby tissue and, eventually, into other parts of the body. Most cancers that start in lung, known as primary...
in the town's Franklin Medical Center at the age of 67. As requested in his will, Jackie Moran's ashes were scattered on the backstretch of the Del Mar Racetrack
Del Mar Racetrack
Del Mar Racetrack is an American Thoroughbred horse racing track at the Del Mar Fairgrounds in the seaside city of Del Mar, California, 20 miles north of San Diego. Operated by the Del Mar Thoroughbred Club, it is known for the slogan: "Where The Turf Meets The Surf." It was built by a partnership...
, a thoroughbred horse racing
Thoroughbred horse race
Thoroughbred horse racing is a worldwide sport and industry involving the racing of Thoroughbred horses. It is governed by different national bodies. There are two forms of the sport: Flat racing and National Hunt racing...
facility in Del Mar, California
Del Mar, California
Del Mar is an upscale beach town in San Diego County, California. The population was 4,161 at the 2010 census, down from 4,389 at the 2000 census. The San Diego County Fair is hosted on the Del Mar Fairgrounds every summer. Del Mar is Spanish for "of the sea" or "by the sea", because it is located...
.