Actor and model Shemar Moore has been making women swoon for decades on the big and small screen. His notable roles are that of Malcolm Winters on The Young and the Restless from 1994 to 2005, the third permanent host of Soul Train, and Derek Morgan on CBS's Criminal Minds for over 10 years.
It's hard to believe that he just recently turned 51 (that's right, 51)! Moore won eight Image Awards for his roles on The Young and the Restless and Criminal Minds, and the 2000 Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series.
Yet, with all the accolades and fame, life wasn't always that easy for the handsome actor.
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Moore’s dad, Sherrod Moore, was African-American and his mother, Marilyn Wilson, was Irish and French-Canadian. Both of his parents have passed away. Like many biracial children, Moore had trouble fitting in, but he also credits being biracial to shaping who he is today.
His father ended up spending four years in Sam Quentin prison for domestic charges against his mother. Moore cites civil unrest, interracial relationships being taboo, and racism in the U.S. in the 1970s as part of the reason his mother moved abroad with him to another country for awhile before returning to the states as a pre-teen.
That aside, he kept trying to pursue his dream. After graduating high school, he initially struggled to make ends meet. At first, Moore could not get many modeling or acting assignments anywhere. He worked as a waiter at a coffee shop during nights while he tried to get modeling jobs by the day.
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He was almost broke in 1994 when he auditioned for the part in ‘The Young and the Restless’. The competition was huge—there were 368 other actors auditioning for the same part, but Moore beat them all.
In 2019, Moore laid to rest his Young & the Restless co-star and good friend Kristoff St. John. Moore says that giving the eulogy of his friend was surreal.
“It was just the strangest thing I’ve ever done in my life, let alone my career, just to stand at a podium on set with a camera aimed at you with makeup on and a cast of actors sitting there, and I have to deliver this monologue," Moore shares. "The only thing I needed to remember was to call him Neil and not Kristoff.”
Fast forward to 2018 and beyond, he has become the lead in the television series S.W.A.T.
“When I met the real men and women who work as Los Angeles S.W.A.T. law enforcement agents fighting for justice in life or death situations, they were all in ridiculous physical shape from always having to carry 40 to 60-pound heavy tactical gear," Moore told Men’s Health.
“They are a specialized division and it’s a mandated organizational policy that each SWAT officer start their day with a workout, which must be at least one-hour minimum. They look like linebackers. So while I am an actor playing a role, I still wanted to look as authentic as possible, to physically have a presence."
To get in shape for the demanding role, Moore, who does many of his own stunts, was put on a high-protein diet. He increased his food intake and altered his workout routine with his trainer, Jon Aranita with In Training.
“I gained 10 pounds. It changed my physique," says Moore, who is 6'1'' and 195 pounds. "I’m looking to gain more. It’s just hard with the schedule that we keep when we are working 12-16 hour days. Ideally, I would like to be 200-205 pounds, so I can add more muscle. For me, that’s a good weight in terms of flexibility, being able to move, be nimble and do all the action.”
Despite having a chiseled and fit body, Moore is still a bachelor. But there was one woman he fought for daily before her death in 2020: his mom Marilyn, who was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis.
Several years ago, Marilyn was essentially bedbound. Moore wondered if he would have to start looking into in-home nursing care for his mother and if this would continue for the rest of her life. This condition was...
... naturally attributed to Marilyn’s MS. However, after almost a year in a wheelchair it was discovered that it wasn’t — her hips were shattered. Marilyn replaced both hips —One was metal and the other ceramic — at the time she was 73 and feeling younger than she did in her sixties.
“If you have MS, you’re taking steroids and you’re in pain,” Marilyn shared after her hip replacement, “check with your doctor to make sure the pain isn’t orthopedic.”
“We thought MS was messing up her hips,” Moore adds, remembering her dancing in the kitchen.
After the surgery, Marilyn lost weight and did yoga, which was essential to her life before her diagnosis. She was in the best shape of her life in over eight years and couldn't be more proud.
“Yoga is perfect for setting goals for yourself,” Marilyn shared, “but also for setting boundaries. Wherever you’re at in that moment is perfect. That’s the ultimate goal.”
Marilyn, sadly passed away three years later at the age of 76. Moore announced it in an Instagram post saying "my mother, best friend, and partner in crime passed away February 8 at 76 years old... I miss her more than I ever thought possible..."
Moore, who commemorated the one-year anniversary of his mother's passing in another Instagram post in Febuary, has been keeping his mother's spirit alive in his new home. Although his mother didn't get to enjoy his house, she was able to see it just days before she passed.
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"I brought my mom to the house," Moore told PEOPLE. "She looked around and then she said, 'This is my son's home. I'm proud of you, Boo. And I hope it gives you a great life.'"
He is now doing his best to fill the void that his mother's passing left. "My house is beautiful, but it's empty without her," Moore shares. "There's always going to be that void. But I'm doing my best to make it me, to make it my mother's son's home."
Currently, Moore is raising money to fight MS as well as working on movies and television shows. As far as his love life goes, he says he still wants to start a family with a young lady and remembers the advice his grandmother told him.
"My grandmother said, don't go looking for it. It will happen when you least expect it. When the right person comes along, you will know it and she will bite you on the bum."
Well, alright now!
