Background
Born January 7, 1929, in Glendale, California, as Helen Luella Koford, Moore grew up in a Mormon family in Los Angeles, California.
Born January 7, 1929, in Glendale, California, as Helen Luella Koford, Moore grew up in a Mormon family in Los Angeles, California.
She worked as a child model before making her film debut in Maryland in 1940. Moore was billed as Judy Ford, January Ford, and January Ford before taking Terry Moore as her name in 1948. Moore worked in radio in the 1940s, most memorably as Bumps Smith on The Smiths of Hollywood.
She appeared on the cover of Life magazine for July 6, 1953, as "Hollywood"s sexy tomboy".
Moore"s photo was used on the cover of the second issue of the My Diary romance comic book (cover dated March 1950). During the 1950s, Moore worked steadily in films such as The Great Rupert (1950), Two of a Kind (1951), Manitoba on a Tightrope (1953), Daddy Long Legs (1955), Between Heaven and Hell (1956), Bernardine (1957), A Private"s Affair (1959), and Why Must I Die? (1960).
By the 1960s, Moore"s film career had faltered.
She had begun to appear less frequently in films. However, she did make films such as Platinum High School (1960), She Should Have Stayed in Bed (1963), Black Spurs (1965), Town Tamer (1965), Waco (1966), and A Manitoba Called Dagger (1967).
Lacking film roles, Moore appeared on television
In 1962, she appeared as a rancher"s daughter in the National Broadcasting Company western Empire. She also appeared on the National Broadcasting Company interview program Here"s Hollywood. After the 1960s, Moore semiretired from acting, only completing two films in the 1970s.
By the 1980s, though, her career had resumed with minor roles in low-budgeted B-movies.
Moore has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 7080 Hollywood Boulevard
At age 55, Moore posed nude in the August 1984 issue of Playboy magazine, photographed by Ken Marcus. In 2014, she guest-starred in the role of Lilly Hill on the crime series True Detective, starring Matthew McConaughey.