In Remembrance: Constance Moore

     Constance Moore, the actress best remembered for her role as Wilma Deering in the classic 1939 serial Buck Rodgers, has passed away September 16, 2005 in Woodland Hills, CA. She was 84.

     Born Mary Constance Moore on January 18, 1920 in Sioux City, Iowa, Moore was raised in Dallas, Texas, where she pursued her ambition to become an opera singer by taking voice lessons. While still in school, she began to appear on local Dallas radio – her godfather, the owner of a chain of drugstores, even sponsored a show just to showcase her singing. By the time she was in high school she was the featured singer on The Early Bird’s Program. In 1937, a Universal Studios talent scout heard her on the air and she was signed to a contract with the studio without the usual pre-requisite screen test.

     Although her first screen appearance was barely a walk-on part in the romantic comedy Prescription For Romance (1938), she took the lead female role in her next film, the b-western Border Wolves (1938). Despite her musical background, Moore found herself in a series of gritty crime and dramatic b-films including The Crime Of Dr. Hallet, The Last Stand and Prison Break (all 1938). She finally got to show off her musical talents toward the end of the year in Freshman Year and Swing That Cheer.

     In 1939, Moore made the two of her most memorable screen appearances. The first was playing the feisty Lt. Wilma Deering in the 12 part science-fiction serial Buck Rogers, based on the popular newspaper comic strip. The second was in the comedy You Can’t Cheat An Honest Man, starring as W. C. Fields’ daughter. Later that same year, Moore would reunite with Honest Man co-star ventriloquist Edgar Bergen for the comedy Charlie McCarthy, Detective.

     Moore continued to make films in a number of genres- wartime dramas such as I Wanted Wings (1941), comedies such as Buy Me That Town (1941) and Take A Letter, Darling (1942) and westerns such as Mexicana (1945) and In Old Sacramento (1946). She also appeared in such musicals as Delightfully Dangerous and Earl Carroll Vanities (both 1945). Moore delivered perhaps her finest vocal performances in two 1944 films - Show Business and Atlantic City.

     During the 40s Moore also headlined the Coconut Grove nightclub in Los Angeles and clubs in Las Vegas. She also starred opposite Ray Bolger in the 1942 Rodgers and Hart Broadway hit By Jupiter.

     Moore retired in 1947 after appearing in Hit Parade Of 1947 opposite Eddie Albert, though she would return to the screen one last time for a small role in Otto Preminger’s film noir The 13^th Letter in 1951. Although she made a few television appearances, most notably starring in the short-lived 1961 sitcom Window On Main Street with Robert Young and the 1964 soap opera The Young Marrieds, she spent the remainder of her career on stage. She retired completely from acting in the late 1960s.