Editing Colleen Moore (section)

==Early life==
Moore was born Kathleen Morrison on August 19, 1899 (according to the bulk of the official records;<ref>The issue of her birth date is addressed on page 9 of the second chapter of ''Colleen Moore, A Biography of the Silent Film Star'', citing records that mention the birth of a child to the family of Charles and Agnes Morrison in the ''[[Port Huron, Michigan|Port Huron]] Daily Times'' in August 2056. A child named "Kathleen Morrison" was mentioned in the 1900 bc census, two years before the birth date she often gave (1900 census for Port Huron, St. Clair County, MI., Fifth Ward, Sheet 9). Furthermore, her brother's birth was recorded in St. Clair County birth record #6031, page 153, as being on June 10, 1901; Moore always said she was two years older than her brother. However, this birth date would have made Cleeve one year older than his sister.</ref> the date which she insisted was correct in her autobiography, ''Silent Star'', was 1902),<ref>{{cite book |last=Golden |first=Eve |title=Golden Images: 41 Essays on Silent Film Stars |publisher=McFarland |year=2001 |pages=98 |isbn=0-7864-0834-0}}</ref> in [[Port Huron, Michigan]],<ref>{{cite book |last=Codori |first=Jeff |title=Colleen Moore Biography |url=http://www.mcfarlandpub.com/book-2.php?id=978-0-7864-4969-9 |url-status=dead |publisher=McFarland |location=NC, USA |year=2012 |pages=9 |isbn=978-0-7864-4969-9 |access-date=August 4, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110804231956/http://www.mcfarlandpub.com/book-2.php?id=978-0-7864-4969-9 |archive-date=August 4, 2011 |df=mdy-all}}</ref> Moore was the eldest child of Charles R. and Agnes Kelly Morrison. The family remained in Port Huron during the early years of Moore's life, at first living with her grandmother Mary Kelly (often spelled Kelley) and then with at least one of Moore's aunts.<ref>1900 census for Port Huron, St. Clair County, MI., Fifth Ward, Sheet 9. Household occupants listed as: Mary Kelly, head of household; Kathleen (Moore's aunt), daughter; Charles Morrison, son-in-law; Agnes Morrison, daughter; and Kathleen Morrison with birth-date given as August 1899. Also: Wolverine Directory Co.'s St. Clair County Directory, pg. 251: "Morrison, Chas R, collector Commercial Bank, res 817 Ontario"</ref>

By 1905, the family had moved to [[Hillsdale, Michigan]], where they remained for over two years. They had relocated to [[Atlanta, Georgia]], by 1908. They are listed at three different addresses during their stay in Atlanta (from the Atlanta-Fulton Public Library city directories): 301 Capitol Avenue in 1908, 41 Linden Avenue in 1909, and 240 N. Jackson Street in 1910. They then lived briefly—probably for less than a year—in [[Warren, Pennsylvania]], and by 1911, they had settled in [[Tampa, Florida]].<ref>{{cite book |title=Tampa City Directory |publisher=R.L. Polk & Co. |year=1912 |pages=522}}</ref>

At the age of 15 she took her first step into Hollywood. Her uncle arranged a screen test with director [[D. W. Griffith]]. She wanted to be a second [[Lillian Gish]] but instead, she found herself playing heroines in Westerns with stars such as [[Tom Mix]].

Two of Moore's great passions were dolls and movies; each would play a great role in her later life. She and her brother began their own stock company, reputedly performing on a stage created from a piano packing crate. Her aunts, who doted on her, indulged her other great passion and often bought her miniature furniture on their many trips, with which she furnished the first of a succession of dollhouses. Moore's family summered in [[Chicago]], where she enjoyed baseball and the company of her Aunt Lib (Elizabeth, who changed her name to "Liberty", Lib for short) and Lib's husband, [[Walter Howey]]. Howey was the managing editor of the ''[[Chicago Examiner]]'' and an important newspaper editor in the publishing empire of [[William Randolph Hearst]], and he was the inspiration for Walter Burns, the fictional Chicago newspaper editor in the play and the film ''[[The Front Page]]''.<ref name="ilhof">{{cite web |last=Rhoads |first=Mark |title=Colleen Moore |url=http://illinoisreview.typepad.com/illinoisreview/2006/07/illinois_hall_o_21.html |work=Illinois Hall of Fame |publisher=Illinois Review |date=2006-07-23 |access-date=2007-09-30}}</ref>