Shemar Moore: From Soap Opera Star To Action Star

Shemar Moore has been in the entertainment industry for decades. From his early days on "The Young and the Restless" to his more current long-running gig as the star of "SWAT," the actor has always been willing to take whatever opportunities were given to him, while looking to better himself and the lives of the people around him. But it hasn't always been easy. "I could describe my career in two words: who knew," he told BET in 2015. "When I decided to move out to L.A. to try acting, nobody was betting on me, not even my family. But it's always been that way for me, nothing has come easy."

Moore's long and winding path to television superstardom has taken him down many detours. He's been a model, a soap star, a TV host, an FBI profiler, and a SWAT team leader ... though those last two are just acting jobs he played on CBS. Read on for a look back at the highs and lows of Shemar Moore's career and personal life, from soap opera star to action star.

As a teenager, Shemar Moore was approached to be a model. He wasn't interested. "At 16, I thought it was for sissies," he told Ebony in 1998. "But at 19, when tuition was a reality, I was like, okay, well maybe it's not for sissies." The star gave it a shot, and modeling became his career for years. However, Moore struggled to find his place in the industry, sometimes living paycheck to paycheck. In particular, his looks confused some casting agents. "They didn't know what I was. I was uni-race," he recalled. "I didn't fit the clothes or I wasn't pretty enough, wasn't tough enough or Black enough." Moore also noticed that many of the clothes he was expected to wear seemed to have been designed for other types of bodies: "I used to say, 'I'm Black. Don't they make clothes for big butts or big thighs?'"

Moore eventually wanted to move into acting, but he found that people still focused on his good looks rather than his other talents. "With the physical, I can't speak to that," he told Ebony a few years after his initial interview. Still, the attention wasn't all bad. "I'm flattered that people find me attractive. I'd rather have that than to have them throwing darts at my pictures." His time in the industry paid off, because Moore's modeling in GQ came across the desk of someone who worked in daytime television. Soon, those good looks would be opening more doors for Moore.

At the height of his '90s fame, Shemar Moore was linked to some of Hollywood's most beautiful women. He dated both Toni Braxton and Halle Berry, among others, generating interest from tabloids about what those relationships were like. He dodged specifics while talking with Ebony in 1998, allowing, "[Reporters] are going to take it to where they're going to take it. Dirt is what sells." A few years later, in the same magazine, he recalled the intense scrutiny. "I had the Enquirer standing outside my apartment when I was only two years into being on a soap opera. What dirt do you possibly think you're going to get from me?"

Though he tried to keep his private life private while those romances were going on, Moore later opened up about his experiences, looking back on his relationships with Berry and Braxton. He told BET that Braxton was his first Hollywood girlfriend, reminiscing, "I was like the little kid who found the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. It was a wild ride with Toni." The actor had one complaint, however: "She would never sing for me, though. That always bothered me." Berry, Moore said, was true love. "She was the first woman to really knock my socks off," he admitted. "I fell hard for Halle."

Braxton reportedly wasn't happy that he kissed and told. A source told the National Enquirer (via BET) of the interview, "That was just classless and disrespectful."

Early in his career, Shemar Moore made no secret of the fact that he wanted to use his modeling and television fame to make the jump to the big screen. Speaking with Ebony in 1998, the aspiring movie star told the magazine that he hoped to follow in the footsteps of Samuel L. Jackson and Denzel Washington. "They bring magic to the screen!" he marveled. A few years later, after dabbling in film with a role in "The Brothers," Moore told the same outlet, "I've made no bones about it. I've wanted to get into movies and see if I can find a career in film."

Moore's highest-profile big screen role came in 2005, when he starred in Tyler Perry's hit "Diary of a Mad Black Woman." He played Orlando, a heartthrob, but his appearance in the movie still makes the rounds online for all the wrong reasons. "Good movie," he acknowledged on Instagram in 2012, adding, "Sometimes crooked wig."

The actor previously told MovieWeb that he hoped the film would introduce him to a whole new world of acting opportunities, speculating, "Now that those doors are opening for me, the answer is I don't know [what's next], but I do know it's in the world of feature film. Television is in a different time because of reality television, so it's not as exciting." Ultimately, though, the movie roles weren't forthcoming. Mere months after that interview, Moore would make his debut on one of the most enduring TV shows of the 2000s.

In 2014, Shemar Moore's career underwent another transformation: he got animated. Moore has voiced the superhero known as Cyborg in a series of animated films for DC, beginning with "Justice League: War" and including films like "Justice League vs. Teen Titans" and "Reign of the Supermen." Moore told the "Krypton Chronicles" that he related to the character for a number of reasons, noting, "He's half Black, half white; I'm half Black, half white. He's a big-time athlete before he became Cyborg ... but he wanted the love of his father, the validation of his father, which was hard to come by. I know a little something about that."

When he first began playing the character, Ray Fisher had yet to be cast in Zack Snyder's live-action "Justice League" film. Understandably, Moore had his eye on the role. He noted that he wasn't quite as big a star as people like Ben Affleck and Robert Downey Jr., joking, "I get it, you're the man ... I just wanna be the man next to the man." Perhaps it's for the best that Moore was able to avoid working on the live-action "Justice League" film; after all, Fisher famously had a miserable time playing Cyborg, alleging on-set racism in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter.

If fans know one thing about Shemar Moore, it's probably how much he loved his mother, Marilyn. He spoke about her to Ebony all the way back in 2001, telling the magazine, "When females find out you love your mother, they get excited because the way a man treats his mama is a good barometer of how he's going to treat his woman." 

A couple years earlier, Marilyn had been diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. "I went through the whole denial thing for a couple of years," Moore told People in 2015. But with her son's help, Marilyn moved from San Francisco to LA. "My quality of life is totally determined by Shemar's generosity," Marilyn told the outlet. The actor became an advocate, raising money for a cure through charity bike rides and by donating the proceeds of his Baby Girl clothing line. Unfortunately, Moore's attempts to raise funds for MS were undercut by a fellow actor. According to the Los Angeles Times, Keith Tisdell met Moore on set of "Criminal Minds," and they became friends. Tisdell ultimately pleaded no contest to grand theft of more than $61,000 from Moore's charity, but he agreed to repay Moore thanks to a deal that helped him avoid jail time.

Tragically, Moore announced that his mother had passed away in February 2020. "I miss her more than I ever thought possible," he wrote on Twitter. "And I don't know how to do this life without her."

On "SWAT," Shemar Moore plays Sgt. Dan "Hondo" Harrelson, the show's lead. "SWAT" is about the lives and careers of people on the Los Angeles SWAT team; as opposed to some earlier roles, "SWAT" requires Moore to be in full-on action hero mode. While appearing on "Sway's Universe" on Sirius XM, Moore noted that his role on the show might be due to more than just his acting skill. "Do you think I'm the lead of the show 'cause they like me and I'm just that talented?" he asked rhetorically, before clarifying: "They need me, 'cause they ain't got no color on the network. But I scratch their back, they scratch mine. I give them something they need, they give me something I've always wanted, which is a shot on my terms."

Having premiered in 2017, "SWAT" has been on the air for more than 100 episodes, and Moore is grateful that he's been able to use his position on the show to address important issues. In 2020, as the country saw widespread protests due to police brutality and the killings of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor, Moore realized "SWAT" had an opportunity. He told Digital Spy that he called the show's producers and told them the series needed to address the topic. "It's really like watching an action movie on TV," he said. "And that's our signature we're always going to do that. But all the while we're also going to mix in current topics and prevalent messages."

In January 2023, Shemar Moore delighted fans by announcing that he would soon be adding a new position to his multi-hyphenate resume: father! Appearing on "The Jennifer Hudson Show," he revealed, "Shemar Moore is about to be a daddy!" He noted that it was always a dream of his mother's for him to have a child, and coincidentally, his girlfriend, Jesiree Dizon, was due to give birth on the three-year anniversary of his mother's passing that February.

Dizon wound up having the baby slightly early, and Moore announced the birth of their daughter, Frankie, in late January. "THE LOVE OF MY LIFE!! I'm a Girl Daddy!!!! HOLY S***!!! DREAMS COME TRUE!!" he wrote on Instagram. He imagined how happy his mother must be, writing, "Grandma Marilyn is in heaven puff puff passing, drinking her wine, and doing her happy dance ... I LOVE and MISS YOU everyday Mom." A few weeks later, the actor took his daughter to his mother's grave. Alongside a photo of himself, his daughter, and his girlfriend, Moore wrote, "Mom's dream was for me to become a father and give momma some grand babies ... it took me a minute, but momma's dream is now reality!!"