Child actor Dickie Moore starred in the first sound adaptation of Charles Dickens’ Oliver Twist in 1933.
Dickie Moore, a child actor who grew up in the Hollywood studio system, and public relations executive married to actress Jane Powell, died Sept. 7, according to The New York Times. He was 89 and lived in Wilton.
From his debut in the 1927 silent feature The Beloved Rogue, Moore appeared in dozens of films — features and shorts — up to the age of 12. He appeared opposite many stars of the 1930s and 40s including Marlene Dietrich in Blonde Venus (1932), Paul Muni in The Story of Louis Pasteur (1932), and Gary Cooper in Sergeant York (1941). He also appeared in the Our Gang shorts from 1932-33.
As an actor, he was perhaps best known for giving Shirley Temple her first on-screen kiss in Miss Annie Rooney of 1942.
Moore’s acting career waned through the 40s and was over by the early 1950s.
He served in the Army near the end of World War II, and later worked in public relations. He started his own firm, Dick Moore & Associates in 1966.
He was born John Richard Moore Jr. in Los Angeles on Sept. 12, 1925.
He had been married twice before meeting Powell. She was one of the former child actors he interviewed for his 1984 book on growing up in the film business, Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star (But Don’t Have Sex or Take the Car). They married in 1988.
It was Moore who enticed Powell, who had spent most of her life on the West Coast, to move east. While living in New York City they searched for a home in the country.
“We just wanted to have it for a weekend house,” Powell told The Bulletin in 2012. “Its kind of different now. We are Connecticut residents.”
In addition to Powell, Moore is survived by a son, Kevin; a stepson, Geary; two stepdaughters, Lindsay and Suzanne; a sister, Pat Kingsley; and several grandchildren and step-grandchildren.
The post Obituary: Dickie Moore, 89, child actor, lived in Wilton appeared first on Wilton Bulletin.