Florence Moore

Florence E. Moore (November 13, 1886 – March 23, 1935) was an American actress, comedian, and vaudeville performer born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, whose career spanned Broadway, touring productions, and silent film. She was active on Broadway from 1912 to 1932.

Moore's early exposure to performance came through singing in the choir of Saint Clement's Church in Philadelphia, which she began at age thirteen. Her professional start came through the stock company run by her brother Frank, with whom she toured. An early break arrived in Moscow, Idaho, when a male cast member failed to appear and Moore stepped in to fill the role, initially performing the part of a Chinese character without pay. She subsequently became a regular member of the company.

Her Broadway debut came in 1912, when she appeared as Clorinda Scribblem in Hanky Panky. Over the following two decades, Moore worked across multiple formats, performing in musical comedies, revues, and plays while also headlining as a vaudeville actress on tour throughout the United States. Among her Broadway credits were The Greenwich Village Follies of 1923, Artists and Models, She Couldn't Say No, The International, and Cradle Snatchers. She also appeared in Parlor, Bedroom and Bath, a production that debuted in New York before running for two years on the road. New York audiences additionally recognized her as the first female emcee to perform at the Palace Theatre.

While working in The Champagne Girls, Moore met William J. Montgomery, whom she married; the two went on to form a vaudeville partnership. She later divorced Montgomery and married John O. Kerner, from whom she was subsequently separated. Records also indicate a marriage to Jules I. Schwob.

Moore's final Broadway appearance came in 1932 in a revival of Cradle Snatchers, in which she starred in the role of Mary Boland, a part that had been originated seven years prior. Alongside her stage work, Moore had a brief career in silent film, appearing in The Old Melody (1913) opposite King Baggot, The Weakness of Strength (1916), and The Secret of Eve (1917) opposite Olga Petrova. She held membership in the Actors' Equity Association and the Twelfth Night Club.

Moore died on March 23, 1935, at Fitzgerald Mercy Hospital in Darby, Pennsylvania, following an operation for cancer. She was forty-eight years old.