Florence Moore

Who was Florence Moore?

Florence E. Moore was an American vaudeville, Broadway performer, and actress in silent films.

Born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Moore began singing in the choir of Saint Clement's Church, Philadelphia at the age of thirteen. She began touring with the stock company of her brother Frank Moore. Florence got her first opportunity in Moscow, Idaho, when a male member of the cast failed to appear. Thereafter she was a regular with the company, playing the role of a Chinese without pay.

Her first Broadway appearance came in 1912, as Clorinda Scribblem in Hanky Panky. During the next twenty years she participated in numerous productions. As a comedian she performed in musical comedies, revues on Broadway, and headlined as a vaudeville actress while touring America. While working in The Champagne Girls, Florence met and married William J. Montgomery and they became part of a popular vaudeville team. She divorced Montgomery and married John O. Kerner. Later she was separated from Kerner. Records show that she was also married to Jules I. Schwob.

To theatregoers in New York, New York Florence is perhaps best known for being the first female emcee at the Palace Theatre. as well as her performance in Parlor, Bedroom and Bath. The production debuted in New York and played for two years on the road. Her final appearance on the New York stage came in 1932, in a revival of Cradle Snatchers. She starred in the role of Mary Boland which had been created seven years earlier.