William Perry Moore IV also known as Perry Moore, was an American author, screenwriter, and film director. He was an executive producer of The Chronicles of Narnia film series and the author of Hero, an award-winning novel about a gay teenage superhero died from a apparent drug overdose he was , 39,.(November 4, 1971 – February 17, 2011)
Early life
Moore was born on November 4, 1971, in Richmond, Virginia, to William and Nancy Norris Moore.[1][2][3] His father was a Vietnam War veteran who received the Bronze Star.[3] He had two sisters, Jane and Elizabeth.[1] He grew up in Virginia Beach, Virginia,[1][4] and graduated high school from Norfolk Academy in 1990.[5][6] He graduated from the University of Virginia in 1994,[1][7] and while still in college interned at the Virginia Film Festival.[1] He also served as an intern in the White House[3] and at the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer studios in New York City.[1]He worked on the production team for The Rosie O'Donnell Show,[1][8] then joined Walden Media (a media production company created by conservative billionaire Phillip Anschutz to produce family-friendly movies, documentaries, and television programs).[8][9] He was the executive in charge of production for the film I Am David, an adaptation the Anne Holm novel North to Freedom.[8]
Film career
Moore was an executive producer of The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.[10] Moore spent several years seeking the movie rights to the seven novels by C. S. Lewis which comprise the Narnia books.[11] Moore's persistence proved critical for Walden Media in winning the rights; an obituary in Variety called his role "instrumental".[12] As the New York Times reported in 2005: "At the beginning of 2001, Perry Moore embarked on a forbidding quest. Mr. Moore, an executive with an untested movie company called Walden Media, dispatched an impassioned letter to the chief executive of the C. S. Lewis Company, seeking movie rights to the much-loved Chronicles of Narnia fantasy novels."[13] After a meeting of executives, a handshake sealed the deal for the rights.[13] Moore continued his role as executive producer with Prince Caspian (2008) and The Voyage of the Dawn Treader (2010).[14]He co-wrote and co-directed (with life partner Hunter Hill) the 2008 film Lake City, a drama that tells the story of a mother (Sissy Spacek) and son (Troy Garity) who reunite under desperate circumstances years after a family tragedy drove them apart.[12][15] He also co-produced (again with Hill) a Spike Jonze-directed 2010 documentary (Tell Them Anything You Want: A Portrait of Maurice Sendak) about children's book author and illustrator Maurice Sendak.[8][12][16]
In early 2010, Moore said he and Hill were planning to co-direct a feature film to star actress Julianne Moore.[3][5] The night before he died, Moore told his father that he had just secured financing for a fourth Narnia movie based on the book The Magician's Nephew.[5]
Writing career
In addition to his work in production and development, Moore wrote The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe: The Official Illustrated Movie Companion.[11][17] The book was on the New York Times bestseller list in December 2005 and January 2006.[1]A longtime fan of children's literature and comic books,[3] Moore's novel Hero was first published by Hyperion Books in August 2007. The young adult novel tells the story of a closeted gay teenager who becomes a superhero.[4][18] In May 2008, Hero won a Lambda Literary Award as the best LGBT Children's/Young Adult novel of the past year.[19] In 2008, Moore was in talks with veteran comic book writer Stan Lee about producing a television series based on the book.[20] Moore began writing a sequel to Hero in 2009.[3][21] Moore's father said that in early 2011 his son was working on turning Hero into a movie on the Starz cable television channel.[5]
In February 2010, Moore said he was also at work on a new novel, Way of the Wolf, Book One: Fire, about triplets who inherit super powers and have to stop a villain from taking over the Earth.[3]
Personal life
Moore was openly gay[22] and lived in New York City with life partner Hunter Hill (a writer for Paper magazine). Moore was also a Christian and spoke publicly about his faith.[12] According to family members, Moore had suffered knee and back problems before his death, which required pain medication and corrective surgery, but which he had put off to continue working.[5]Death
Moore died on February 17, 2011, at the age of 39. The New York Daily News reported his death was from an apparent drug overdose.[2] His body was discovered by Hill.[2] The New York Times and Variety reported that the cause of death was yet to be officially announced, and that a medical examiner's report was pending.[1][12] Local police said there was no obvious evidence of foul play.[1] An initial autopsy proved inconclusive.[23]To see more of who died in 2010 click here
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