Constance Moore

Constance Moore
Mary Constance Moore (January 18, 1920 or January 18, 1921 – September 16, 2005) was an American singer and actress. She appeared in wartime musicals such as Show Business and Atlantic City and the classic 1939 movie serial Buck Rogers, in which she played Wilma Deering, its only female character.
Life and career
Moore was born in Sioux City, Iowa, but her family moved away when she was aged six months and spent most of her formative years in Dallas, Texas. She had at least two siblings, both sisters. She got a job as a singer in the 1930s with CBS radio. Her work impressed a scout from Universal Studios and she signed a contract with the company. Among the stars she worked with was W. C. Fields in You Can't Cheat an Honest Man (1939). She appeared on Broadway in the musical By Jupiter.
Beginning in mid-1945, Moore starred with Dennis O'Keefe on Hollywood Mystery Time on ABC radio.
She retired from films in 1947 but made sporadic appearances over the next few decades. She appeared on a USO tour with Bob Hope and the Nicholas Brothers in 1951. She painted still lifes and in 1976 was the chairwoman for the Braille Institute Auxiliary in Beverly Hills, California.
Moore guest starred as Doris in the episode "Just a Housewife" (1960) on the ABC sitcom, The Donna Reed Show. In the 1961–1962 season, Moore co-starred in ten episodes on CBS as Robert Young's romantic interest in his short-lived nostalgia series, Window on Main Street.
Personal life
At age 18, Moore married her agent, John Maschio, who died in 1998. The couple had two children, son Michael and daughter Gina. Moore was a Republican who campaigned for Thomas Dewey in 1944.
Moore died September 16, 2005, of heart failure following a long illness. She was interred at Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery, Los Angeles.
Filmography
Prescription for Romance (1937) - Girl (uncredited)
You're a Sweetheart (1937) - (uncredited)
Border Wolves (1938) - Mary Jo Benton
Reckless Living (1938) - Girl Singer (uncredited)
The Crime of Doctor Hallet (1938) - Susan
State Police (1938) - Helen Evans
The Last Stand (1938) - Nancy Drake
Wives Under Suspicion (1938) - Elizabeth
Prison Break (1938) - Maria Shannon
Letter of Introduction (1938) - Autograph Seeker (uncredited)
The Missing Guest (1938) - Stephanie Kirkland
Freshman Year (1938) - Marian Stuart
Swing That Cheer (1938) - Marian Stuart
You Can't Cheat an Honest Man (1939) - Victoria Whipsnade
Buck Rogers (1939, Serial) - Wilma Deering
Ex-Champ (1939) - Doris Courtney
Mutiny on the Blackhawk (1939) - Helen Bailey
When Tomorrow Comes (1939) - Bride (uncredited)
Hawaiian Nights (1939) - Lonnie Lane
Laugh It Off (1939) - Ruth Spencer
Charlie McCarthy, Detective (1939) - Sheila Stuart
Framed (1940) - Phyllis Sanderson
Ma! He's Making Eyes at Me (1940) - Connie Curtiss
La Conga Nights (1940) - Helen Curtiss
Argentine Nights (1940) - Bonnie Brooks
I'm Nobody's Sweetheart Now (1940) - Betty Gilbert
Las Vegas Nights (1941) - Norma Jennings
I Wanted Wings (1941) - Carolyn Bartlett
Buy Me That Town (1941) - Virginia Paradise
Take a Letter, Darling (1942) - Ethel Caldwell
Show Business (1944) - Constance Ford
Atlantic City (1944) - Marilyn Whitaker
Delightfully Dangerous (1945) - Josephine 'Jo' Williams / Bubbles Barton
Earl Carroll Vanities (1945) - Drina
Mexicana (1945) - Alison Calvert
In Old Sacramento (1946) - Belle Malone
Earl Carroll Sketchbook (1946) - Pamela Thayer
Hit Parade of 1947 (1947) - Ellen Baker
References
External links
Actresses from Iowa
American film actresses
American television actresses
Burials at Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery
Actors from Sioux City, Iowa
Singers from Dallas
Actresses from Dallas
20th-century American singers
1920s births
2005 deaths
California Republicans
20th-century American women singers
20th-century American actresses
Universal Pictures contract players
21st-century American women