James Sterling Moran

Background

James Sterling Moran was born on November 24, 1907, in Woodstock, Virginia, United States. He was the son of a chimney maker. James had a brother, Paul.

Education

James Sterling Moran did not attend college. Instead of attending it, Moran took a variety of jobs.

Career

Among James Sterling Moran's early jobs was working as a tour guide in Washington. He later became an airline executive there and then operated a studio where members of Congress recorded speeches for local radio stations. His attention-grabbing publicity stunts began in the 1930s.

To promote the book, The Egg and I, he sat on an ostrich egg (painted with the title of the book) for nineteen days, until it hatched. To promote the 1959 film The Mouse That Roared, about a mythical country, he opened an embassy for the country in Washington, D.C. He once sold a refrigerator to an Eskimo to promote a line of refrigerators, changed horses in midstream to promote a political candidate, and searched for a needle in a haystack for ten days to sell a piece of real estate. One of his last appearances was promoting the movie Yellowbeard (1983) on Late Night with David Letterman.

Some of these stunts were in conjunction with Fred Waring, the popular musician and bandleader of the 1940s. Moran was Waring's press agent. He also acted in several films: The Body Snatcher (1945), Specter of the Rose (1946), The Mask (1961) and Is There Sex After Death? (1971). He also wrote several humor books, including two children’s books, Sophocles, the Hyena: A Fable (1954) and Miserable: A Story about a Dinosaur (1960), and several works of humor for adults, including Why Men Shouldn ’t Marry (1969), The Frustrations of the Irish (1971), and How I Became an Authority on Sex (1973). In later years, 1970s-1990s, he worked at graphic design and painted.

Achievements

• James Sterling Moran became a legend in the publicity business. Moran was known for outrageous publicity stunts in the 1940s and 1950s to promote products, Hollywood films and himself. His book Why Men Shouldn't Marry was translated into Finnish and French.

Works

More photos

• book

  • Sophocles, the Hyena: A Fable

    (1950s vintage story of the small neighborhood animals wal...)

    1954
  • Miserable: A Story About A Dinosaur 1960
  • Why Men Shouldn't Marry 1969
  • How I Became An Authority On Sex 1973

Personality

A tall, rotund prankster with a flowing white beard, James Sterling Moran played classical guitar, liked Champagne and read two or three books a week.

Quotes from others about the person

• ''Jim Moran is a folk hero in the P.R. business.'' - Howard J. Rubenstein

Interests

• books, guitar, wine

Connections

James Sterling Moran was married several times, but had no children.

Brother:

Paul Moran

Friend:

Burl Ives

Friend:

Lee J. Cobb

Friend:

John Henry Faulk

References

• Contemporary Authors
  2000