Born in Parrott, Georgia Joanna Moore was orphaned at age 7, her grandmother too feeble to care for her, she was eventually adopted and her name changed from Dorothy Cook to Jo Ann Carrison, and with her brief teenage marriage to Willis Moore, she became Joanna Moore. Discovered by a producer at a Hollywood party, between 1956 and 1976 she appeared in 17 feature films and guest-starred in nearly a hundred television series episodes. By the late 1970s personal problems overtook her career and she made her final two onscreen performances, the 1980 TV film Scout's Honor and 1986 Run Chrissie Run! She is best remembered now as the one-time wife of Ryan O'Neal and the mother of Tatum O'Neal and Griffin O'Neal.
In 1996 Joanna Moore was diagnosed with lung cancer and passed away from the disease shortly after her 63rd birthday.
