Colleen Moore

Colleen Moore, born on August 19, 1899, was a prominent American film actress who made her mark during the silent film era and transitioned into the early sound film era. Renowned for her fashion sense and as one of the highest-paid stars of her time, she played a significant role in popularizing the iconic bobbed haircut.

Throughout her illustrious career, Moore appeared in a total of sixty-four films, of which thirty remain intact, seven are partially lost, and twenty-seven are completely lost. She generously donated prints of fifteen of her films to the Museum of Modern Art for preservation, but sadly, many of these deteriorated beyond restoration, causing her considerable distress. Among her most celebrated works, the film Flaming Youth (1923) is now mostly lost, with only an eleven-minute reel surviving.

After taking a hiatus from acting between 1929 and 1933, Moore returned to the screen, but her last four sound films, including The Power and the Glory (1933) and The Scarlet Letter (1934), did not achieve financial success, leading her to retire permanently from acting.

Post her film career, Moore adeptly maintained her wealth through savvy investments, becoming a partner at Merrill Lynch. She also authored a how-to book on stock market investing. In addition to her financial pursuits, she had a lifelong passion for dollhouses, culminating in the design and curation of The Colleen Moore Dollhouse, a celebrated exhibit at the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago since 1949, which attracts approximately one and a half million visitors each year.