Juanita Moore
Summary
Actress Juanita Moore was honored posthumously with the 2,793rd star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on Friday, October 18, at 11:30 am PT at 6100 Hollywood Boulevard. Moore was honored with a star in the category of Motion Pictures.
WHO | HONOREE Juanita Moore
EMCEE Angelique Jackson, Variety Senior Entertainment Writer
GUEST SPEAKERS Actresses Margaret Avery and Jayne Kennedy, Actress and Director Debbie Allen, and Film Critic Leonard Maltin. Accepting the star will be Moore’s nephew Arnett Moore
WHAT Dedication of the 2,793rd star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame
WHEN Friday, October 18, 2024 at 11:30 AM PT
WHERE 6100 Hollywood Boulevard at Gower
WATCH LIVE The event was streamed live exclusively at www.walkoffame.com
Actress Juanita Moore was honored posthumously with the 2,793rd star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on Friday, October 18, at 11:30 am PT at 6100 Hollywood Boulevard. Moore was honored with a star in the category of Motion Pictures. Joining emcee Angelique Jackson were actresses Margaret Avery and Jayne Kennedy, actress and director Debbie Allen, and film critic Leonard Maltin. Accepting the award was Juanita’s nephew Arnett Moore who will accept for the family.
The Hollywood Chamber of Commerce administers the legendary Hollywood Walk of Fame for the City of Los Angeles and has proudly hosted the globally iconic star ceremonies for decades. Millions of people from here and around the world have visited this cultural landmark since 1960.
ABOUT OUR HONOREE
“The Hollywood Chamber of Commerce is honored to dedicate a star to trailblazing actress Juanita Moore, whose contributions to the motion picture industry will forever be etched in history on the iconic Hollywood Walk of Fame,” stated Ana Martinez, Producer of the Walk of Fame ceremonies.
Juanita Moore was born on October 19, 1915, on the Moore family farm in Itta Bena, Mississippi, the youngest of nine children. Juanita’s mother, Willie Ella Dunn-Moore, eventually moved the family to Los Angeles during the Great Migration, after the death of her husband Harrison Moore.
In grade school, Juanita sang in the glee club and formed a female trio at Jefferson High School in Los Angeles. She was a 5’8” talented and natural beauty that afforded her an opportunity at age 17 to travel to New York during Harlem’s Renaissance to pursue a career in show business. She sang and danced throughout Harlem as a chorus girl and in 1933 appeared in two movies, Roman Scandals and So This Is Africa, as a dancer. At twenty years of age, Juanita moved to Europe, performing with Josephine Baker and other black performers in chorus lines.
During the late 1930s and early 1940s, Juanita sang and danced with chorus troupes in Black cinema and appeared in soundies such as Shine with Louis ‘Satchmo’ Armstrong and Paper Doll with the Mills Brothers and Dorothy Dandridge, who developed an enduring friendship with Juanita.
While studying at the racially integrated Actors’ Lab in Hollywood, she obtained her first film speaking role as a nurse in Pinky (1949). She studied at the Actors’ Lab with Marlon Brando, Dorothy Dandridge, and Marilyn Monroe, among other acting luminaries.
Moore’s breakthrough came at forty-four years of age with Universal’s “Imitation of Life” (1959) directed by Douglas Sirk. The film earned her an OSCAR nomination that same year for Best Supporting Actress which she was the fifth Black actor to be nominated in any category and third in this category.
During the 1960s, she was regularly seen on television productions such as Alfred Hitchcock Presents, The Alfred Hitchcock Hour, Wagon Train, Dragnet, Gentle Ben, and numerous others. She also appeared in films such as Walk on the Wild Side, Stanley Kramer’s A Child is Waiting with Burt Lancaster and Judy Garland, The Singing Nun with Debbie Reynolds, and Uptight with Ruby Dee.
As a founding member of the original Cambridge Players, she took a Los Angeles production of The Amen Corner to Broadway’s Ethel Barrymore Theater in April 1965. She also supported the Ebony Showcase Theater in LA, which was a venue for black performers to play roles previously denied in mainstream theater productions. Here, she taught free acting lessons to neighborhood children and performed regularly.
Early in 2000, while semi-retired, Juanita was rediscovered by an agent in a chance meeting that led to a role in Walt Disney’s The Kid, her final feature film.
Juanita Moore’s unparalleled show business longevity, lasting over seven decades, and her refusal to accept demeaning roles earned her admiration throughout the entertainment industry. She developed numerous friendships in the industry, supported all individuals regardless of their race or sexual orientation, and was respected for speaking her mind.
The curtains closed for Juanita Moore at 98 years of age on December 31, 2013.
