Things I Forgot to Tell You: The Forgotten Legacy of Phil Moore

In January 2014, the Black Film Center/Archive received the collection of composer, Hollywood arranger, and singing star talent coach Phil Moore as part of the Black Filmmakers Hall of Fame. Moore was the first African American musician hired by a major Hollywood studio and is commonly recognized for his impact on the careers of Lena Horne, Dorothy Dandridge, Marilyn Monroe, Goldie Hawn, and many others. Moore's collection contains his unpublished autobiography as well as the spoken notes and interviews he recorded while writing it. Using extensive excerpts from Moore's manuscript and the tape transcripts to allow him to tell his story in his own words, this article traces Moore's life and career—from his early upbringing and classical music training in a white middle class neighborhood in pre-Depression Portland, through his teenage years playing jazz in Seattle speakeasies, and on into his experiences as the first salaried black musician at MGM in the early 1940s. Archival and secondary sources highlight Moore's impact on the film, radio, recorded sound, and television industries until the time of his death in May 1987.