With his picture perfect looks and charming nature, Shemar Franklin Moore has been melting hearts from the moment he burst on the scene in 1994. Shemar was born on April 20, 1970 to Sherrod an African-American and Marilyn Moore who is Irish-French Canadian in Oakland, California. Soon after moving to Denmark to shelter the infant Shemar from racism, his parents split up. According to Shemar, he says that his father "drifted in and out of the picture", while he grew extremely close to his mother.

After living in a number of European nations, the three year old Shemar and his mother moved to Bahrain in the Persian Gulf where she was a teacher. When he turned six years old, Marilyn relocated again to her hometown of Boston, where her fears of racism were quickly realized. "It was a complete culture shock for me," Moore says. "It was the first time in my life I heard the words 'n----r' and 'chocolate'. Shemar and his mother finally settled in Palo Alto, California in 1984, however, his father remarried and now lives in Japan. Shemar attended Nueva School for 5th and 6th grade from October of 1980 to June of 1982. It was a private

ry school in Hillsborough, California which requires an IQ test for admission. After elementary school, Shemar moved on to Menlo Junior high school, another private school in located Atherton, California which was not far from Palo Alto.

Shemar attended Gunn High School where he was active in many sports such as baseball, football and soccer. In 1988 he attended Santa Clara University on a partial althletic scholorship and majored in communications and minored in theater arts. During University, Shemar hooked up with the City Modelling Agency to help pay for his education. With this good looks, Shemar was aproached to be a model years prior to college but he dismissed the notion. "At 16, I thought it was for sissies," he recalls. "But at 19, when tutition was a reality, I was like, okay, well maybe it's not for sissies. So I tried it and ended up doing it for five years." These modelling endeavors helped allowed Shemar to pose for ads in issues of Gentleman's Quarterly (GQ), Mademoiselle, and fashion layouts for major department stores. He also appeared in commercials for Levi's Jeans, MacDonalds, Miller Beer, and Colter Clothes. It was Shemar's modelling work that caught the attention of top executives at The Young and Restless

Life for Shemar completely changed after he was discovered in the pages of GQ by Y&R, when they offered him the role of Malcolm Winters. Shemar took this opportunity very seriously and even spent $1100 the weekend before his audition on an acting coach to prepare himself. Even after he got the role, he still continues to work with his coach to improve his ability. Shemar hit it off with the viewers right away and even received two Daytime Emmy Nominations in 1996 and 1997. Aside from his obvious physical beauty, Shemar emits a special energy that leaves viewers mesmerized. Even though Shemar is constantly being typecast as nothing more than a sex symbol, he has proven himself to be a good actor and is not cocky or arrogant person. He is a sweet and generous person that takes the time to meet with fans at personal appearances and charity events. I was lucky enough to meet Shemar in person and I realized that on the inside the real Shemar Moore is just as beautiful as the man we all see and that is why I admire him.



At the age of one Shemar lived in Denmark
Sweet

's modelling work that caught the attention of top executives at The Young and Restless

Life for Shemar completely changed after he was discovered in the pages of GQ by Y&R, when they offered him the role of Malcolm Winters. Shemar took this opportunity very seriously and even spent $1100 the weekend before his audition on an acting coach to prepare himself. Even after he got the role, he still continues to work with his coach to improve his ability. Shemar hit it off with the viewers right away and even received two Daytime Emmy Nominations in 1996 and 1997. Aside from his obvious physical beauty, Shemar emits a special energy that leaves viewers mesmerized. Even though Shemar is constantly being typecast as nothing more than a sex symbol, he has proven himself to be a good actor and is not cocky or arrogant person. He is a sweet and generous person that takes the time to meet with fans at personal appearances and charity events. I was lucky enough to meet Shemar in person and I realized that on the inside the real Shemar Moore is just as beautiful as the man we all see and that is why I admire him.



At the age of one Shemar lived in Denmark
Sweet Shemar at five years old. He is just too cute!
Shemar with his mother Marilyn in 1996

Quotes highlighted in magenta are courtesy of the July 6, 1998 issue of People