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Mickey Moore

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Mickey Moore
Moore (center) with Lois Wilson and Conrad Nagel in The Lost Romance (1921)
Born
Dennis Michael Sheffield

October 14, 1914
DiedMarch 4, 2013 (aged 98)
Other names
  • Micky Moore
  • Michael Moore
  • Michael D. Moore
Occupations
  • Actor
  • director
Years active1919–2007
Spouses
Esther McNeil
(m. 1933; died 1992)
Laurie Abdo
(m. 1997; died 2011)
Children2 daughters; 5 grandsons; 4 great-grandchildren

Mickey Moore (born Dennis Michael Sheffield, October 14, 1914 – March 4, 2013) was a Canadian-born American film director, second unit director, and child actor.[1] He was credited as Michael Moore on all the films and television projects that the directed, and on most of the films on which he was second unit director.

Life and career

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Mickey Moore, Jack Holt and Mary Miles Minter in All Soul's Eve (1921)

Dennis Michael Sheffield was born in Vancouver, British Columbia,[2] the son of Thomas William Sheffield, a British marine engineer, and his wife, Norah Moore Sheffield,[3] an actress from Dublin.[2] He and his brother Patrick were Hollywood silent film child actors. At the age of five he appeared in his first film under the stage name "Mickey Moore", chosen because their mother "decided that the boys should work under her maiden name of Moore."[3] He appeared in two dozen films, including The Dramatic Life of Abraham Lincoln (1924) and The King of Kings (1927), until 1927 when he was 13.

In the early 1950s, Moore began working as an assistant director. He was first A.D. on dozens of major motion pictures including The Ten Commandments (1956), and Gunfight at the O.K. Corral (1957). He was an assistant director on several Elvis Presley musical films and directed Presley in the film Paradise, Hawaiian Style (1966) for Paramount Pictures. Because of that, plus his experience directing a western film, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer hired him to direct rock and roll singer Roy Orbison in The Fastest Guitar Alive (1967). He worked exclusively as a director in film and television from 1965 to 1969.

He then became a second unit director, working on numerous major films such as Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969), Patton (1970), and The Man Who Would Be King (1975). He was credited as associate producer in charge of action and animal scenes for Quest for Fire (1981).[4] In the 1980s, Steven Spielberg hired Moore as second unit director on Raiders of the Lost Ark, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, and Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. His association with Spielberg led him to direct the "Alamo Jobe" episode of the Amazing Stories television series. Moore was still active as a second unit director into his eighties. His last work was for Disney's 2000 film, 102 Dalmatians.[4]

Moore attended Venice High School in the 1930s where he played football. He married high school sweetheart Esther McNeil in 1933 and had two daughters, Sandra Kastendiek-Drake (born 1936) and Patricia Newman (born 1937). McNeil died in 1992 and Moore married Laurie Abdo, formerly a personal assistant of Paramount producer Howard W. Koch, five years later; Abdo died in 2011.[2]

Death

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Moore died of congestive heart failure at the age of 98 in Malibu, California on March 4, 2013.[2]

Filmography

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As second unit director

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Year Title Director
1969 Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid George Roy Hill
How to Commit Marriage Norman Panama
1970 Patton Franklin J. Schaffner
1971 Sometimes a Great Notion Paul Newman
1973 Emperor of the North Robert Aldrich
Badge 373 Howard W. Koch
1974 Mame Gene Saks
1975 Rooster Cogburn Stuart Millar
The Man Who Would Be King John Huston
1976 The Missouri Breaks Arthur Penn
The Return of a Man Called Horse Irvin Kershner
1977 Airport '77 Jerry Jameson
Damnation Alley Jack Smight
1980 Raise the Titanic Jerry Jameson
1981 Raiders of the Lost Ark Steven Spielberg
Zorro: The Gay Blade Peter Medak
1982 Six Pack Daniel Petrie
1983 Never Say Never Again Irvin Kershner
1984 Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom Steven Spielberg
The Little Drummer Girl George Roy Hill
1985 Sylvester Tim Hunter
National Lampoon's European Vacation Amy Heckerling
1987 Outrageous Fortune Arthur Hiller
Ishtar Elaine May
1988 Willow Ron Howard
Funny Farm George Roy Hill
Le palanquin des larmes Jacques Dorfmann
1989 Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade Steven Spielberg
Ghostbusters II Ivan Reitman
1991 Toy Soldiers Daniel Petrie Jr.
1992 The Mighty Ducks Stephen Herek
Chaplin Richard Attenborough
1993 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III Stuart Gillard
Cool Runnings Jon Turteltaub
The Three Musketeers Stephen Herek
1994 Little Giants Duwayne Dunham
1996 101 Dalmatians Stephen Herek
1997 Flubber Les Mayfield
1998 Wrongfully Accused Pat Proft
2000 102 Dalmatians Kevin Lima

References

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  1. ^ Eyman, Scott (2010). Empire of Dreams: The Epic Life of Cecil B. DeMille. Simon and Schuster. ISBN 9781439180419. Retrieved 22 September 2016.
  2. ^ a b c d Moore's obituary in the L.A. Times
  3. ^ a b Jarrett, Diane (Summer 2016). "Micky Moore: Acting with Pickford ... Directing with Spielberg". Films of the Golden Age (85): 68–91.
  4. ^ a b Michael D. Moore at IMDb

Bibliography

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  • Holmstrom, John. The Moving Picture Boy: An International Encyclopaedia from 1895 to 1995, Norwich, Michael Russell, 1996, pp. 73–74.
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