Dennis Moore

Texas born Dennis Meadows, AKA Dennis Moore, was one of the more prolific cowboy and serial players during the 1930s and 1940s. And he was one of the few actors who successfully migrated back and forth between hero, second lead, sidekick and baddie roles. His Hollywood career began in the mid 1930s under his real name of Dennis 'Denny' Meadows, and you can spot him in several of the Lone Star westerns starring John Wayne.

Though a tad on the short side, Moore looked good as a sagebrush hero. But for some reason, his good guy roles were playing "second fiddle" to the primary star. He did a brief stint as one of the three heroes at the tail end of the Monogram Range Busters series; when Johnny Mack Brown left Universal, Moore came in to give Tex Ritter a hand in a film or two; he helped both George Houston and Bob Livingston in the Lone Rider series at PRC; and later still at Monogram, he was the saddle pal to Jimmy Wakely.

Moore also appeared in cliffhangers, and was the lead in several including RAIDERS OF GHOST CITY (Universal, 1944) and THE PURPLE MONSTER STRIKES (Republic, 1945). A decade later, Moore was the star/co-star in the last two serials that were filmed, BLAZING THE OVERLAND TRAIL (Columbia, 1956) and PERILS OF THE WILDERNESS (Columbia, 1956). He also had the lead in the color short MAN FROM TASCOSA which was lensed circa 1939 or 1940 by the Cinecolor company and distributed primarily through the Monogram exchanges. A few years later, TASCOSA was acquired by Warner Bros., re-titled to WELLS FARGO DAYS (Warners, 1944), and released as part of their Santa Fe Trail series (which most often starred Robert Shayne who portrayed 'Inspector Henderson' on TV's Superman).

In TV of the 1950s, Moore did roles on WILD BILL HICKOK, WAGON TRAIN, CISCO KID, BUFFALO BILL JR., GENE AUTRY SHOW, lots more. During March, 2000, I was watching the old SPIN AND MARTY TV series on the Disney channel. Harry Carey Jr. and Roy Barcroft had ongoing roles in that B&W series, and in this episode, an older Dennis Moore, with several days worth of beard on his face, was ranchhand 'Hank'.

Moore wore a unique gunbelt which buckled on either side, not in the middle, and he'd either have one holster or two. In several of the pictures and lobby cards above and below, you can spot that gunbelt.

You may want to go to the In Search Of ... page on the Old Corral and then to the California Death Records database. There you will find a record for: Dennis Moore, born 1/26/1908, Mother's maiden name of Price, and he passed away on 3/1/1964.

Although some of the data is incomplete or inaccurate, the Internet Movie Database (IMDB) has information on Dennis Moore: http://us.imdb.com/name/nm0601117/

(From Old Corral image collection)

Above from left to right are John Wayne, Yakima Canutt and a young Dennis Moore (billed as Denny Meadows) in Wayne's THE DAWN RIDER (Lone Star/Monogram, 1935).

(Courtesy of Les Adams)

Above from left to right are Al 'Fuzzy' St. John, melodic George Houston and Dennis Moore during their 1941-1942 Lone Rider films. Note the slight differences in the gunbelt Moore is wearing vs. the later design shown in the portrait shot at the top of this webpage.

(From Old Corral image collection)

In the above window card, note that Moore was billed as 'Smoky' during his time as the Lone Rider's helper at PRC.

(Courtesy of Minard Coons)

Above are Evelyn Finley and the final three members of the Range Busters taking a break on their trusty steeds during the filming of COWBOY COMMANDOS (Monogram, 1943). Finley is riding 'Lucky/Tex', which was ridden by Jack Randall, John 'Dusty' King, Raymond Hatton, Jimmy Wakely and others. From left to right are Finley, Max Terhune, Ray Corrigan and Dennis Moore.

(Courtesy of Minard Coons)

Above from left to right are Max Terhune, Ray Corrigan, Evelyn Finley and Dennis Moore in another still from COWBOY COMMANDOS (Monogram, 1943).

(Courtesy of Minard Coons)

Above from left to right are Dennis Moore, Bud Osborne and George Chesebro in another scene from COWBOY COMMANDOS (Monogram, 1943). Take a gander at Moore's unique gunbelt with twin six-shooters - it has buckles on the left and right side, not a single buckle in the center. There's more on Moore in the Gunbelt Trivia section of the Old Corral.

(From Old Corral image collection)

Above from left to right - and with sixguns at the ready - are Dennis Moore and Ray Corrigan in a lobby card from BLACK MARKET RUSTLERS (Monogram, 1943).

(From Old Corral image collection)

When Johnny Mack Brown left Universal for Monogram Pictures, Tex Ritter wound up starring in several solo westerns. In ARIZONA TRAIL (Universal, 1943), Ritter (red shirt) had help from Dennis Moore (yellow shirt) and Fuzzy Knight (uniform). Thx to Les Adams (Shoot-Em-Ups co-author) for identifying several other players in this lobby card: Dan White is between Ritter and Moore (with badge on his vest), and on the far left is bit player Bill Wolfe (who only got lines in W. C. Fields films).

(From Old Corral image collection)

Above, Moore made a number of serials. Here he battles Lionel Atwill in the chapterplay, RAIDERS OF GHOST CITY (Universal, 1944).

(Courtesy of Bill Telfer)

Above from L-to-R are Dennis Moore, Christine McIntyre, Raymond Hatton and Johnny Mack Brown in WEST OF THE RIO GRANDE (Monogram, 1944). In the background are Hal Price (purple shirt), and Steve Clark is standing behind Johnny Mack's hat.

(From Old Corral image collection)

Above, Al LaRue had an early role in THE MASTER KEY (1945) serial, a year or so before he became 'Lash' LaRue. From L-to-R are: Milburn Stone (later 'Doc' on TV's GUNSMOKE), LaRue, and Dennis Moore.

(Courtesy of Minard Coons)

Above, from L-to-R are unidentified player, Lee 'Lasses' White, Dennis 'Denny' Moore and Johnny Bond from one of the Jimmy Wakely westerns at Monogram in the 1940s. Les Adams added more details: the scene above is from Wakely's first starring film at Monogram, 1944's SONG OF THE RANGE, and the unidentified is Cedric Stevens as prissy, fussy Hotel Manager Chase (check the way he's handling Moore's gun). Betty Burbridge dusted off her old Three Mesquiteers' PALS OF THE SADDLE script for this one and subbed Wakely, Moore and White for Wayne, Corrigan and Terhune. The main difference was this one had nine songs to PALS none. Johnny Bond's 'Red River Valley Boys' here were Wesley Tuttle, Jimmie Dean (Eddie Dean's brother) and Paul Sells. Coleen Sumners---who gained fame as Mary Ford on husband Les Paul's 'How High the Moon' --- was also on hand as one of the Sunshine Girls singing trio.

(From Old Corral image collection)

Former Hopalong Cassidy saddlemates Jimmy Ellison and Russell Hayden made six yarns for Lippert Pictures around 1950 and faced this trio of baddies --- above from left to right are Tom Tyler, Dennis Moore and John (Bob) Cason. And Moore still has that gunbelt.