Priscilla Moran(1918-2006)
- Actress
Priscilla Moran was born into poverty, her parents both ill with
tuberculosis at the time of her birth (and from which, neither ever
recovered.) Her father owned and ran a small movie house in Sedalia,
and she was named for actress Priscilla Dean. When she was barely four,
it was suggested that the family move to a drier climate to try to
improve their health. Friends urged them to go to Hollywood, where they
felt Priscilla would be able to easily break into the movies and
provide a source of income for her parents. During a trip to a casting
office, she was spotted by the director of "The Toll of the Sea", and
was picked on the spot for a part. Priscilla became an instant favorite
of her co-stars and other actors - including her namesake, Priscilla
Dean. When her co-stars learned of the parents' financial problems,
they took up a collection to help her. Soon, Priscilla's own salary
easied her family's financial burden. However, upon her mother's death,
almost all the money was used to pay for doctors and burial expenses.
On April 22, 1923, her father left her with the John Coogan family
(parents of Jackie Coogan), and dropped out of sight. The Coogans
wanted to adopt her, but six months later her father reappeared and
took her away. Nothing is known of this time of her life, and there was
no news of the Morans for several months. Eventually, they resurfaced
in New York, where Mr. Moran had begun the Priscilla Moran Productions
Company, and was looking for investors. One woman paid Moran $35,000
for stock on the condition that she receive custody of Priscilla - so
that she could "protect her investment." Moran agreed, Priscilla got a
new home, and he disappeared again. Two months later he resurfaced and
went to visit Priscilla, but never returned her. They ended up in New
York where he named a movie executive her legal guardian in his will.
He then borrowed $500 dollars and left for the Southwest, where he died
only days later. Her father's death made Priscilla's life more
complicated. There was a drawn-out court battle with three parties
asking for custody - her first guardian, the man named in her father's
will, and her aunt and grandmother. The judge viewed the first two
petitioners as having tried to buy Priscilla, and custody was awarded
to the aunt and grandmother. Priscilla went to yet another new home,
and her life as a "movie star" came to an end.
