Former child star Dickie Moore dies

Los Angeles: Little Dickie Moore, the beloved former child star, has died. He was 89.

Moore's third wife, actress Jane Powell, recently revealed her husband was battling dementia. He died on Thursday, reported Deadline.

Moore was less than a year old when he first appeared on-screen in the late 1920s and became a regular star of classic silver screen films throughout the 1930s and 1940s such as "Out of the

Past", "Oliver Twist" and "Sergeant York".

He quit acting in the late 1950s, aged 29, when he accepted a public relations post at Actors Equity and in 1964 he formed his own PR company, Dick Moore Associates.

He co-produced, co-directed and appeared in a short film called "Boy and the Eagle" that earned him an Oscar nomination in 1950.

His 1984 book, Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star, is an autobiographical account of his childhood in the movie business that explores the hardships that many child actors face growing up in front of the cameras.

He was also author of Opportunities In Acting Careers and co-author of a study titled "The Relationship Of Amateur To Professional In The American Theatre."

Besides his wife, he is survived by his son, Kevin Moore; and numerous grandchildren, stepchildren and step-grandchildren.