Criminal Minds' Shemar Moore

Shemar Moore sees his acting roles as educational levels.

"The soap opera was high school," he says. "I graduated. Now I'm in college with 'Criminal Minds.' In a couple of years I will graduate from 'Criminal Minds,' and hopefully that will be the start of a long, long film career."[1]

The soap opera Moore referred to is "The Young and the Restless" where he portrayed Malcolm Winters from 1994 to 2002. He won a Daytime Emmy award in 2000 for that role along with a number of NAACP awards for his portray.

Born Shemar Franklin Moore April 20, 1970 in Oakland, California, Moore's father is African-American and his mother is of Irish-French Canadian descent.

At the age of six, Moore and his single mother moved to Boston where Moore played in Little League and hung out with science teacher and uncle, Stephen Wilson.

"I worked at the middle school, and he would come to my room at the end of the day," recalls Wilson, who lives in West Roxbury. He describes his nephew as energetic and driven. "Shemar had the Energizer bunny thing going on. He went all day all the time."[1]

Indeed, after Moore and his mother returned to California, Moore began playing baseball in high school. He could hurl a fastball at 93 miles per hour.

After landing a partial baseball scholarship, Moore attended Santa Clara University. He majored in communications and minored in theater and arts.

Even though Moore was offered drafts by the Red Sox and the Baltimore Orioles, Moore didn't drop out of college to pursue a baseball career. He wasn't about to not complete college without having at least one degree. Which turned out to be a good call.

When he began suffering from tendonitis in his arms and knee, Moore sought an alternative to paying for college. He began modeling for Irene Marie Models. He was in ads for Macy's, Sears and International Male.

Moore appeared in Toni Braxton's music video for "How Many Ways" in 1995. He also dated the singer for a period of time.

His first big break in acting came as Malcolm Winters on "The Young and the Restless." He played that role for eight years and it garnered him more acting roles.

He appeared in "The Brothers" (2000)." By that time, Moore was hooked on acting.

"There's something fascinating about being able to put on costumes and become something else," Moore says. "Or allow yourself to be something that you don't allow yourself to do in your personal life. By acting, you get full permission to act in a way that you may not act in your everyday life."[1]

Moore hosted the series "Soul Train" for four years and appeared in the film "Motives" (2004) and "Diary of a Mad Black Woman" (2005).

Then came his break on "Criminal Minds." Riding high for five seasons as Special Agent Derek Morgan, Moore enjoys the acting part, even though the show itself depicts the darker side of human nature.

Moore's real life has not been without trials and tribulations.

He was arrested in 2007 for suspected DUI. Also in 2007, nude photographs of Moore surfaced in tabloids and on the website. The photographs were taken in Hawaii. Moore was there with two girlfriends, but, somehow, rumors abounded that he was gay. (It was alleged the beach where the shots were taken was a gay nude beach in Maui.) [2]

Moore was quick to establish that he is not gay, considering women to be "God's greatest creation." [2] He was also quick to add that he has no problem with gay people, having a godfather who was gay and died from AIDS as well as having dear friends who are gay. Co-worker and fellow thespian Kirsten Vangsness, who portrays Penelope Garcia on Criminal Minds, is one of them.

In August 2009, Moore was involved in a car accident when he was struck by a car while riding his bike. He suffered a broken leg and a number of missed episodes of Criminal Minds.

Despite whatever trials he may face, Moore also had a wonderful event occur in 2007. He visited Boston to throw out the first pitch at a baseball game.

"To come to my hometown and throw the first pitch out in Fenway Park and to get to do it in front of my family for a team I wanted to play for, it was a dream come true," says Moore. . . . "To stand on that mound, I mean, I was a nervous wreck. All I cared about was, please don't bounce it, please don't bounce it."[1]

Not to worry. With what he's got going for him, Moore will be bouncing his way to the Academy Awards someday.

Sources:

[1] Boston.com News
[2] People, July 20, 2007
Internet Movie Database