Clara Moores

Clara Moores, born Clara Louise Munchhoff on July 27, 1896, in Omaha, Nebraska, was an American stage actress who performed on Broadway between 1918 and 1924. She was the daughter of Joseph W. Munchhoff and Mate (also known as May Etta) Cannon Munchhoff. Her father operated a traveling carnival, while her mother was active in the suffrage movement. Her stepgrandfather, Frank E. Moores, served as a controversial Mayor of Omaha. Following her mother's 1909 remarriage to railwayman Harry E. Moores, she adopted the surname Moores. She was raised in Seattle, where she graduated from Broadway High School and subsequently attended the University of Washington.

Moores began her acting career on the college stage before moving on to professional work, primarily in Boston and on Broadway. Her stage work encompassed a range of productions, including Madame X, Under Cover, His Majesty Bunker Bean, Dangerous Years, Lilies of the Field, Common Clay, and The Circle. Her verified Broadway credits span from 1918 to 1924 and include A Cure for Curables, Shavings, Pot Luck, and Cobra.

During the run of Shavings in 1920, Moores was photographed wearing hats constructed from wood shavings as a publicity effort for the production. That same year, she authored a beauty advice column focused on attractive arms, which was distributed through newspaper syndication.

In 1927, Moores became the second wife of writer, editor, and publisher William Farquhar Payson. Her husband died in 1939. During World War II, operating under the name Payson, she organized vaudeville-style entertainment programs for enlisted men stationed in the Seattle area. She died in Seattle on January 21, 1986, at the age of 89.