Demi Moore has remained a public figure for the last 20 years, despite the fact that in that time she starred in only two, maybe three bona fide hit movies. There’s just something about her that we can’t get enough of. Born in Roswell, New Mexico, on November 11, 1962, Moore’s given name was Demetria Guynes. Before dropping out of school at the
age of 16, Moore, with her mother, stepfather, and half-brother, moved over 30 times. The
stress of moving so frequently was compounded by the abusive relationship between Moore’s mother and stepfather, ultimately resulting in her stepfather’s
suicide when Moore was 15. After his death, Moore, who had been under the assumption that he was her father, discovered that he was not, in fact, her biological father. At 16, she dropped out of school and began her
career modeling in Europe. By 18, she began her first of two unsuccessful marriages. Although Moore landed small parts in a couple of
movies in the early 80s (
Parasite and
Young Doctors in Love), it was not until 1985’s
St. Elmo’s Fire that Moore established herself as a presence in Hollywood. However, during shooting Moore is rumored to have been fired for
drug use and rehired after going through rehab. After the failure of her first marriage, Moore became engaged to
St. Elmo’s Fire costar Emilio Estevez, with whom she would stay for three years before marrying Bruce Willis in 1987. Moore’s next successful
movie was 1990’s
Ghost, in which she played Patrick Swayze’s girlfriend.
Ghost’s success, however, couldn’t keep Moore away from a string of more or less memorable flops, from The
Butcher’s Wife to
Mortal Thoughts, from
Indecent Proposal to
Disclosure,
Now and Then,
The Scarlet Letter, and perhaps most memorably
Striptease. Salvaging her acting career, she took on a role in Disney’s
The Hunchback of Notre Dame in 1996. In 1997, Moore starred in what, to-date, has been the last of her major roles.
G.I. Jane, however, was a box
office disappointment. In 1998, Moore’s 11-year
marriage to Bruce Willis was finished, and until 2003, so too was her onscreen career. Meanwhile, she produced all three
Austen Powers movies. In 2003, Moore took a role in
Charlie’s Angels: Full Throttle and, her acting
career never really having a chance to outshine her offscreen persona, took a role as Ashton Kutcher’s girlfriend. Demi Moore’s
career has been marked by controversy both onscreen and offscreen. In 1991, she posed pregnant without any
clothes on for Vanity Fair, the uproar over which was matched the following year when, after giving
birth to her child, she appeared again on the cover of Vanity Fair, this time clothed only in paint. In 1993, her role in
Indecent Proposal evoked the anger of feminist
groups and critics alike. And none who have lived through the '90s can forget the enormous fanfare behind the enormous flop
Striptease, for which Moore took flak for her role as a stripper.
