Blonde singer/actress Constance Moore was a stylish, glamorous lead in
many "B" war-era musicals. Born in Sioux City, Iowa, on January 18,
1920, she was raised in Dallas, Texas, and nurtured ambitions to be a
singer. The one-time brunette with the rich contralto started out as a
band vocalist prior to entering films. Universal took notice and signed
her up initially, but she is probably better known for the vocal work
she did as leading lady in Republic Pictures tunefests, her best
showcases being Show Business (1944) and Atlantic City (1944). In the former, she joined co-stars
Eddie Cantor, George Murphy and Joan Davis in the vintage songs "I Want a Girl, Just
Like the Girl That Married Dear Old Dad" and "Dinah". In the latter,
she was top-billed and soloed on "After You've Gone" and "On a Sunday
Afternoon".
As for her non-singing endeavors, Constance was seen to good advantage
as both the femme colleague Wilma Deering to Buster Crabbe's planetary hero
in the popular Buck Rogers (1939) serial, and as the lovely young daughter of
W.C. Fields' character in the classic comedy Ehrlich währt am längsten (1939), in which she also
played second fiddle to love interest Edgar Bergen and his puppet Charlie
McCarthy. That same year Constance would yet again receive lower
billing to the puppet in the mystery Charlie McCarthy, Detective (1939). She and "husband" Macdonald Carey
complemented Rosalind Russell and Fred MacMurray in the comedy romp Liebling, zum Diktat (1942) as a
secondary couple, and she later provided lovely distraction from the
rugged goings-on in the WWII picture I Wanted Wings (1941) and westerns Mexicana (1945) and
Der Rächer mit der Maske (1946). Constance retired from films in 1947 after co-starring with
Eddie Albert in Hit Parade of 1947 (1947). She reappeared on TV only a few times in later
years. Outside of some guest shots on such shows as Am Fuß der Blauen Berge (1959) and
Meine drei Söhne (1960), she co-starred with Robert Young in the short-lived, post-Vater ist der Beste (1954)
series Window on Main Street (1961) and then replaced Irene Hervey in the dramatic series The Young Marrieds (1964)
while in its second season. She also occasionally worked up elegant
nightclub acts. Married in 1939 to agent John Maschio and the mother of two,
her husband later became a successful real estate agent. After her
retirement, Constance indulged herself in still life painting. Her
husband passed away in 1998 and she followed in 2005 of heart failure
following a long illness. The couple had two children.
