Juanita Moore

African American actress 'Juanita Moore' (qv) entered films in the early 1950s, a time in which few black people were given an opportunity to act in major studio films. Fortunately Moore's roles began improving as Hollywood developed a social consciousness toward the end of the decade. In 1959 she received an Academy Award nomination for her performance in _Imitation of Life (1959)_ (qv), a glossy updating of a once controversial 'Fannie Hurst' (qv) novel about racism. Within the next decade Hollywood underwent several sociological upheavals, and Juanita was one of the beneficiaries. She became a fixture in black-oriented films of the 1960s and 1970s, appearing in such films as _Uptight (1968)_ (qv), _Thomasine & Bushrod (1974)_ (qv) and _Abby (1974)_ (qv). She also appeared in Walt Disney Pictures' _The Kid (2000)_ (qv), and was in a total of more than 50 films. Moore retired in 2001 and passed away New Year's Day 2014 . She was 99.::A. Nonymous