Shemar Moore

Background

Shemar Franklin Moore was born on April 20, 1970, in Oakland, California, to Marilyn Wilson, a business consultant, and Sherrod Moore. Moore’s father was African-American, while his mother was of Irish and French-Canadian descent. Moore received an athletic scholarship to Santa Clara University, where he played varsity baseball for four years as both a pitcher and an outfielder. He has a Bachelor of Arts in Communications with a minor in Theater Arts.

During his college years, Moore worked as a model, and he is signed to DNA Model Management in New York City. Moore was also featured in Men’s Fitness magazine’s March 2009 cover. Moore rose to popularity on The Young and the Restless for eight years as Malcolm Winters. He returned to “The Young and the Restless” in November 2004 but left in September 2005. Moore hosted the syndicated edition of Soul Train from 1999 to 2003 and he appeared in the 2001 feature film “The Brothers.” From 2002 to 2003, he played Detective Jesse Reese in the television series “Birds of Prey.” Moore co-starred with Vivica A. Fox and Golden Brooks in the 2004 film “Motives” as Emery Simms, and he had a supporting role in “Diary of a Mad Black Woman.”

He also starred alongside Kelly Rowland and Duane Martin in the romantic comedy The “Seat Filler.” Moore began as Derek Morgan on “Criminal Minds” in 2005, beginning with the seventh episode of the first season, and he left the character after 11 seasons and 251 episodes. He was then chosen in CBS’s upcoming series “S.W.A.T.,” that’s set to begin in 2020. He’s also confirmed to have joined the cast of Sonic the Hedgehog 2 in an unspecified role in June 2021.