Cleouna Moore

 Cleouna Moore (October 31, 1929 – October 25, 1973)

Moore was featured in the role of a blonde bombshell in Hollywood films of the 1950s. She also became a well-known pin-up girl. Although she never obtained true film stardom, Moore has become a cult fan favorite, with several of her films being considered cult classics. She made her film debut in 1948 in Embraceable You. She also played the leading lady in the film serial Congo Bill and worked for Warner Brothers briefly in 1950. She worked for RKO Radio Pictures from 1950 to 1952, making such films as Hunt the Man Down and Gambling House. After moving to Columbia Pictures, Moore first gained attention as a doomed gun moll in Nicholas Ray's film noir On Dangerous Ground in 1952. In 1953, she made one of her most remembered movies, One Girl's Confession, opposite Hugo Haas, who directed and appeared with her in several other films. She co-starred in Thy Neighbor's Wife (1953) and Bait (1954), both directed by Haas, the latter co-starring John Agar. In 1954, she starred in The Other Woman, playing a B-movie bit player who strikes at her movie director for revenge when he declines the offer for her to be in his picture. However, in 1955 the studio signed actress Kim Novak, and began to relegate Moore to lower B-movies.

Upon completing a supporting role in Women's Prison (1955), Moore signed a brief deal with Universal Pictures to play a suicidal prostitute in the low-budget thriller Hold Back Tomorrow (1955). In 1956, she starred as a predatory career girl in Over-Exposed, co-starring Richard Crenna. The following year, Moore made her final film appearance in Hit and Run (1957). After the release of the film, Moore retired from acting. Moore found success as a businesswoman in real estate after her screen career ended. She was married twice, and lived in Beverly Hills for the rest of her relatively short life. Moore died in her sleep at the age of 43 in 1973. She is buried at Inglewood Memorial Park in Inglewood, California.