Cleouna “Cleo” Moore was born ten miles southeast of Baton Rouge in Galvez, Louisiana, in either 1924 or 1929, depending on your sources. Moving to California in the mid-1940s, Moore starred in a few dozen films through the 1950s, often in B-movies and usually as the blonde bombshell. Known as “the Queen of the B-Movie Bad Girls,” she also found success as a platinum blonde pinup sensation during those years. After losing several more prestigious roles to Marilyn Monroe, Moore grew dissatisfied with the lack of substance in the roles she did play and retired from Hollywood in the late ‘50s. She married a real estate tycoon and became a mother, settling down in Beverly Hills until her extremely untimely death, from a heart attack, in 1973.
While Moore yearned for more substantial roles onscreen, the spitfire with the big, beautiful smile and tantalizingly dangerous curves became a beloved bombshell to lovers of classic Hollywood and B-movies. Moore definitely left a lasting impression on anyone who ever watched her onscreen or enjoyed her cheesecake work.
Speaking of dessert, here’s a heaping helping of the sugary sweet treat herself, Cleo Moore.
And now a word from the Starfire Lounge’s Gal Friday Yvette, who dug out and dusted off this old draft, from deep in the archives…
Yvette: “Ze Baton Rouge Bombshell!” Je l’aime. You know, monsieur, in ze southwest of France I am still hailed as “Ze Bordeaux Bombshell.” Impressive, non?
The Starfire Lounge 