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Cleo Moore Profile
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| (Cleouna Moore) |
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| 31 October 24 | is born in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Her father, Murphy Moore, is a building contractor. |
| 41 | graduates from Gonzales High School |
| 44 ? | elopes with Palmer Long, youngest son of the assassinated Governor of Louisiana, Huey Pierce Long. The marriage ends after six weeks. |
| 46 | moves with her family to Southern California and begins a successful building construction enterprise with her father |
| May 49 | is heralded "Miss Plastic Art." She poses in her costume, in which everything is made entirely of plastic, from the orchid in her hair to her gloves, to illustrate the variety of plastic arts that will be displayed at the California Hobby Show, held at Shrine Convention Hall, May 27. |
| columnist Harrison Carroll reports that she and Al Mathes made up their quarrel |
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| resides in Van Nuys, California |
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| 50 | an ardent boxing fan, she’s discovered by an RKO talent scout while attending a fight at the Hollywood Legion Stadium |
| February 50 | severs the tire chain to open a new Pep Boys store at 6264 Van Nuys Boulevard, Van Nuys, California |
| August 50 | models the "The Riviera Peasant Blouse," which costs $3.95 |
| Mid-September 50 | columnist Harrison Carroll reports her at Ciro's with Al Mathes "only a few hours after their announcement that they wouldn't date steadily anymore. But one of Cleo's New Orleans friends, oil-wealthy John Owen, is arriving and things may be different then." |
| September 53 | she and Al Mathes are noted nightclubbing together again, just as if they hadn't called off their engagement |
| October 53 | columnist Erskine Johnson thinks she and Mathis are singing "It Was Just One of Those Things" |
| November 53 | John Owens, Texas oilman, has moved into the number one place in her life. They look serious at the Capri. |
| December 53 | she and producer Leonard Goldstein are a new twosome at Jake Kosloff's Ciro's party for the three Gabors. Porfirio Rubirosa poses for news pictures. |
| 54 | lands a contract for Universal-International's Hawk of the Desert |
| Late January 54 | she and Bill Holmes are a new twosome at the Sportsmen's Lodge |
| 14 February 54 | causes a scandal while doing a live Chicago TV promotional kiss with Jack Eigen, radio and TV veteran for ABC affiliate WBKB, in what he terms an experiment testing of the reaction of TV audiences. The kiss lasts approximately 5 minutes and 17 seconds. Both are sitting in separate seats. |
| 16 February 54 | Eigen is fired after protests from hundreds of women viewers charging him with "vulgarity, coarseness, and bad taste." Eigen says: "I have no guilty conscience. I have been happily married for 18 years, and my wife knew what I planned for the program. If she had thought there was anything unladylike or rude about it, she would have told me." Cleo says the kiss "certainly was not intended to be offensive. I am sorry that this all came about because I wouldn't want anyone to lose his job." |
| Mid-February 54 | and Travis Kleefeld, once Jane Wyman's adorer, are warm for February. "Cleo is due to give MM a run for her 37 inches as a Panoramic star this year." |
| March 54 | with actor Lance Fuller as her escort, she attends the oriental welcome-back party for Korean homecomers Terry Moore and Susan Zanuck |
| May 54 | is frequently seen with actor Fernando Lamas, the Argentine star, who is reported selling a home in Palm Springs |
| June 54 | studies ballet at Nico Charisse's studio |
| after lunching the same day with singer Tony Travis, the former Travis Kleefeld, and dining with Fernando Lamas, she says: "Well, a girl has to eat." |
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| 15 June 54 | is named honorary city siren of Tarzana, California. Actor Edward Arnold is installed as honorary mayor; crooner Guy Mitchell is appointed honorary sheriff. |
| July 54 | is too pretty and talented to keep harping on the fact that she’s “the kiss girl,” whose long smooch with disc jockey Jack Eigen got him fired from his TV show in Chicago |
| August 54 | columnist Louella Parsons thinks that Cleo's romance with Travis goes "into high gear toward the marriage license bureau" |
| October 54 | after months of going steady, she and Travis decide to date others. "I have more fun with Tony than with anybody else," she says, "but everybody was thinking we were about to be married. We just aren't that serious." |
| November 54 | is among Hollywood stars doing periodic free shows for Camarillo State Hospital patients |
| December 54 | her ex-date, Tony Travis, raises some eyebrows when he walks into the Captain's Table with Cynthia Baxter, model and bit player |
| 55 | lives with her sister Marilee, 17, and her brother Johnnie, 11, in Tarzana, 20 minutes from Hollywood |
| February 55 | flies into New York to see Charles Simonelli, Universal-International executive |
| 4 March 55 | announces on a NBC talk show that she will eventually run for governor of Louisiana |
| ? | does a 66-city tour with John Agar to promote Hold Back Tomorrow |
| June 55 | is back in Burbank Hospital, and her friends wonder about her continuing loss of weight |
| July 55 | gets serious with singer Tony Travis |
| columnist Lee Mortimer thinks that she and Simonelli are discussing more than contracts |
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| is crowned "Miss Billboard" in Las Vegas, Nevada |
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| Summer 55 | is on a 60-city tour to ballyhoo her Women's Prison. In Houston, the red-blooded Texans almost tear her clothes off. About a dozen boys, aged 16 or 17, want to be kissed by her, and they pull a ruffle off her blouse as a souvenir. Columnist Earl Wilson thinks that she now gives most of her kisses to Tony Travis and Charles Simonelli. |
| August 55 | Mortimer reports she "has the Tony, last name of Travis" |
| September 55 | her latest is actor David Landfield |
| November 55 | is a twosome with Gary Crosby |
| interrupts her ballyhoo tour for Hold Back Tomorrow and goes to New York to accept a large diamond from Charles Simonelli |
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| December 55 | attends Sammy Davis, Jr.'s opening at Ciro's |
| is in love with Charles Simonelli, the ex of actress Piper Laurie. They may take the big step, but a matter of religion must first be adjusted. |
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| wins the COMPO National Audience Award as one of the "Stars of the Future" |
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| 56 | is dropped by Columbia |
| Early 56 | poses with fellow actress Jayne Mansfield at the New York Academy Awards celebration |
| February 56 | columnist Walter Winchell thinks that "her amore is Al Mathes" |
| April 56 | as to her reported romance with Joe DiMaggio, Joe says neither yes nor no |
| May 56 | is Dick Haymes' afternoon cocktail date at the New York Plaza |
| June 56 | gives Charles Simonelli a fancy watch for his birthday |
| July 56 | is seen at the Luau with Joe Kirkwood, Jr. |
| columnist Walter Winchell reports that "Chic James, the Latin Quarter blonde, is the pause that refreshes Universal-International's Charles Simonelli when Cleo Moore is away..." |
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| announces she will run for governor of Louisiana in 1960. "I was married to Huey Long's son for six weeks, and while that doesn't make me an authority on politics, I know a lot about Louisiana. Matter of fact, I'm related to 50 per cent of the people down there. I'm sure I stand a good chance of getting elected." |
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| the press calls her a real-estate tycoon. "In addition to her own $100,000 estate, she heads an investment corporation which holds property valued at $250,000 and currently is embarking on a million-dollar sports center in the San Fernando Valley. Meanwhile, Cleo has wiggled her way out of a contract with Columbia Pictures so that she can freelance for more money." |
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| August 56 | actor Brad Dexter, the ex of singer Peggy Lee, is reported "entering the Cleo Moore sweepstakes" |
| declares in Hollywood that she is thinking of running for governor of her native Louisiana in 1960 and becoming "a political Florence Nightingale. Any great politician has to be a great actor," she says. If she's elected, she says she will seek more rights for women. "But all my right-hand men will be men." |
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| November 56 | is seen at the Copa listening to Nat "King" Cole, and comic Dick Martin dates her quick |
| December 56 | her romance with Simonelli seems to have cooled off |
| February 57 | columnist Walter Winchell reports that she and Gary Morton "have stopped denying it" |
| her sister Mara Lea is screen-tested. She will play with her in Hit and Run. |
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| March 57 | is expected to make even more money from her investment in a petticoat factory. "They have 100 machines going and can't fill the orders." |
| is seen at the Villa Venice with actor Joey Foreman |
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| October 57 | is seen at the Beverly Hilton's L'Escoffier Room with Juan Rodriguez |
| 58 | goes on a publicity tour for South Pacific |
| February 58 | columnist Harrison Carroll writes: "It's been a long time since I saw Cleo Moore look at a man as she looked at Juan Rodriguez, son of the former Mexican president, at the Mocambo. I scanted a serious romance, but Cleo tells me: 'Juan is a very wonderful man, so kind and considerate, but I have too many obligations to get married.'" |
| Winchell knows that she’s telling pals she will become Mrs. Juan Rodriguez soon |
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| August 58 | Winchell reports Tony Travis is taking her swimming at Burbank’s Pickwick Park |
| she and actress Marjorie Durant, a.k.a. Mrs. Ron Waller, are hostesses at the opening of Joe Kirkwood's Bowling Center near the intersection of Whitsett Avenue and Ventura Boulevard in Van Nuys, California |
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| October 58 | to resume her career, she moves out of her family's home in the Valley and takes a place in Hollywood. She also enrolls at UCLA for night courses in law and psychology. |
| January 59 | Juan Rodriguez is well enough from his plane crash injuries to take her to Jack Denison's. They arrive in time to hear Dorothy Dandridge sing a telephone duet with Sammy Davis, Jr., who calls from Las Vegas. |
| April 59 | she and Sid Slate are reported being uh-huhneys |
| August 59 | is seen at the Luau with Jerry Carpenter |
| September 59 | Harrison Carroll reports that she is dating Anthony T. Carsola, a lawyer, and tells that it's the first time in many months that he saw Cleo with anybody but Juan Rodriguez. "Juan and I have decided not to date each other exclusively." she says. "Undoubtedly we'll be seeing each other from time to time. I think Juan is a wonderful fellow." |
| October 59 | due to an automobile accident she has to cancel her trip to Manila to appear in the picture This Side of Yesterday. Another driver ploughed into her car while she was waiting at the stop light. |
| Early February 60 | after four months recuperating from her automobile accident, she finally gets out to dinner. She and Rafael Gonzales are seen at the 7 Chefs. |
| April 60 | is seen at the Luau with Charles Simonelli |
| August 60 | her date at the Luau is Al Mathes |
| November 61 | columnist Earl Wilson spots her lunching at Blair House in New York City |
| 19 November 61 | marries builder and real estate mogul Herbert Heftler, whom she met while making an industrial film, in Teaneck, New Jersey. He's 46; she's 32. The wedding takes place at the home of the bridegroom's brother, George, an attorney, and is attended by friends and relatives. The civil ceremony is performed by Mayor Matthew Feldaman. The couple plans to live in Beverly Hills. |
| ? | her daughter Debra Lee is born |
| 60s | becomes a Beverly Hills socialite |
| 25 October 73 | as Cleouna M. Heftler, she dies at age 48 from a heart attack in Inglewood, California. Surviving are her husband, Herb Heftler, a daughter, her father and three sisters. Her age is given as 44. Heftler will die at age 85 in 1999 in Florida. |
| 29 October 73 | her funeral services are held |
| as Cleo Moore Heftler, she is interred at Del Ivy, Lot 881, Inglewood Park Cemetery, Inglewood, California |
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| Sources: Screenland, Modern Screen, Photoplay, Picturegoer, Screen Annual, The New York Times, Appleton Post-Crescent, Van Nuys News, The Era, The Monessen Daily Independent, Dixon Evening Telegraph, The Portsmouth Herald, The Lethbridge Herald, Nevada State Journal, Redlands Daily Facts, Mansfield News-Journal, Oxnard Press-Courier, The Lima News, Chronicle-Telegram, The Zanesville Signal, The Frederick Post, The Coshocton Tribune, Parade, Walla Walla Union-Bulletin, The Hammond Times, The Vidette Messenger, The Daily Gleaner, The Lancaster Eagle-Gazette, Manitowac Herald-Times, Debra Heftler Duster, www.Findagrave.com, www.Ancestry.com, www.FindAGrave.com | |
| Recommended Books: Fifties Blondes by Richard Koper One Girls' Confession: The Life and Career of Cleo Moore by Richard Koper | |
| Links: Filmography Cleo Moore B-Movie Queen Brian's Drive-In Theater: Cleo Moore Wallpapers | |