Annabelle Moore

{{Infobox writer  | image = Annabelle Moore.jpg | image_size = | alt = | caption = Whitford in 1895 | birth_name = Annabella Whitford | birth_date = {{birth date|1878|07|06}} | birth_place = Chicago, Illinois, U.S. | death_date = {{dda|1961|11|29|1878|07|06}} | death_place = Chicago, Illinois, U.S. | resting_place = | notableworks = ''Annabelle Serpentine Dance'' | spouse = {{marriage|Edward James Buchan|1910|1958|end=died}} }} '''Annabelle Moore''' (born '''Annabella Whitford''',<ref>[http://cabinetcardgallery.wordpress.com/tag/annabelle/ Annabelle Moore: early film dancer]</ref> July 6, 1878 – November 29, 1961), also known as '''Peerless Annabelle''', was an American dancer and actress who appeared in numerous early silent films. She was the original Gibson Girl in the 1907 Ziegfeld Follies.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=hFxwX-dM008C&dq=Annabelle+Moore&pg=PA446 Encyclopaedia of Early Cinema] by Richard Abel</ref>

== Life and career == [[File:Serpentine Dance (1895) - yt.webm|thumb|Hand tinted version (1895) of ''Annabelle Serpentine Dance'']] Annabelle Whitford was born in Chicago. She made her debut at age 15 dancing at the World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago in 1893.<ref name="upiobit">''United Press International'' (December 1, 1961). 'Original Gibson Girl' dies at 83. ''Pittsburgh Press''.</ref> She later moved to New York City, where she performed in several films for the Edison Studios<ref name="Yumibe">Yumibe, Joshua (2012). ''Moving Color: Early Film, Mass Culture, Modernism.'' Rutgers University Press, {{ISBN|9780813552989}}</ref> and appeared on Broadway.

Annabelle was quite popular in her youth. The sale of her films was further boosted in December 1896<ref>Paul McDonald (2000). ''The Star System: Hollywood and the Production of Popular Identities''.</ref> when it was revealed that she had been approached to appear naked at a private dinner party at Sherry's Restaurant.<ref>[http://www.victorian-cinema.net/annabelle Biography of Annabelle by Barry Anthony – ''American skirt dancer and stage beauty'']</ref><ref>[http://bellastsation.wordpress.com/2010/07/13/the-mysterious-annabelle-whitford/ The Mysterious Annabelle Whitford]</ref> It was said she introduced eroticism in film.<ref>[https://archive.org/details/dance1895 Serpentine Dance (1895)]</ref>

She married Edward James Buchan in 1910. He died in 1958.

Although she was very popular before her marriage,<ref>André Gaudreault. ''American Cinema 1890–1909: Themes and Variations''.</ref> Annabelle died penniless in Chicago in 1961.<ref name="nytobit">Staff report (December 2, 1961). PEERLESS ANNABELLE, 83; Former Dancer and Showgirl Dies Penniless in Chicago. ''The New York Times''.</ref><ref name="tribobit">Staff report (December 3, 1961). Obituary. ''Chicago Tribune''.</ref>

== Selected filmography == {| class="wikitable sortable" ! Year ! Title ! Role ! class="unsortable" | Notes |- | rowspan="3"|1894 | ''Annabelle Butterfly Dance'' | rowspan="2"|Self (as Annabelle) | rowspan="13"|Short film |- | ''Annabelle Sun Dance'' |- | ''Annabelle Serpentine Dance'' | Self |- | rowspan="2"|1895 | ''Annabelle Serpentine Dance, no 2'' | {{no}} |- | ''Annabelle Serpentine Dance'' | rowspan="2"|Self (as Annabelle) |- | rowspan="4"|1896 | ''Butterfly Dance'' |- | ''Annabelle in Flag Dance'' | rowspan="6"|Self |- | ''Serpentine Dance by Annabelle'' |- | ''Tambourine Dance by Annabelle'' |- | rowspan="3"|1897 | ''Butterfly Dance'' |- | ''Serpentine Dance, Annabelle'' |- | ''Sun Dance – Annabelle'' |- | 1902 | ''A Mermaid Dance'' | Mermaid (as Annabelle) |- | 1998 | ''Glorious Technicolor'' | Self – Dancer (as Annebelle) | Archive Footage, posthumously release, TV movie |- | 2003 | ''Sex at 24 Frames Per Second'' | rowspan="2"|Self | Archive Footage, uncredited, posthumously release |- | 2013 | ''The Quiet Room: A Story of Cinema'' | Archive Footage, posthumously release |}

== Other work == *''The Charity Girl'' (1912) *''The Happiest Night of His Life'' (1911) *''Ziegfeld Follies of 1909'' (in scene with Grace La Rue, Nora Bayes and Lucy Weston) *''Ziegfeld Follies of 1908'' *''The Belle of Mayfair'' (1906) *''A Venetian Romance'' (1904) *''The Sleeping Beauty and the Beast'' (1901) *''The Sprightly Romance of Marsac'' (1900)

== References == {{Reflist}}

== External links == *{{IMDb name|0600903}} *{{IBDB name}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Moore, Annabelle}} Category:1878 births Category:1961 deaths Category:Actresses from Chicago Category:Actresses from New York (state) Category:American female dancers Category:Dancers from New York (state) Category:American film actresses Category:19th-century American actresses Category:American stage actresses Category:American silent film actresses Category:20th-century American actresses Category:Articles containing video clips