Joanna Moore was a prolific film and television actress who was best known for her four-episode-long
stint on The Andy Griffith Show.
In the series, Joanna played the part of Nurse Peggy, who served as a love interest for Andy
Griffith’s character.
Besides being involved in an on-screen relationship, Joanna and Andy also allegedly had an affair
behind the scenes.
Despite this, the on-screen Andy went on to marry someone else by the series’ end, to
many fans’ chagrin.
After her time on The Andy Griffith Show, Joanna’s career floundered as she succumbed
to substance abuse.
Join Facts Verse as we explore how these tragedies destroyed Joanna Moore after she left Andy
Griffith.
It was during The Andy Griffith Show’s third season that actress Joanna Moore made her
first appearance as the character of Nurse Peggy.
Although she only stuck around for four episodes, Joanna made a big impression on both Andy
and the audience, and many fans were saddened when the on-screen Andy went on to marry somebody
else later on in the series.
Of course, the character that Andy went on to marry on The Andy Griffith Show was schoolteacher
Helen Crump, who had plenty of fans herself!
One of the reasons that the romance between Andy and Nurse Peggy on The Andy Griffith
Show may have become such a fan favorite was that the stars portraying the characters had
romantic chemistry in real life.
In the years since filming, it has come out that Joanna Moore and Andy Griffith became
involved in an affair while Joanna was working on the series, although their romance seems
to have never become anything more serious than just a fling.
Andy Griffith’s affair with Joanna Moore wasn’t the first affair that the titular
star of The Andy Griffith Show engaged in over the course of the series’ production.
Previously, Andy had engaged in an affair with Aneta Corsaut.
Despite the show’s family-friendly image, it seems that Andy Griffith wasn’t afraid
to get down and dirty behind the scenes!
Although her relationship with Andy Griffith didn’t last, Joanna Moore had fond memories
of working on The Andy Griffith Show up until her death.
Sadly, filming of the show ended up being one of the actress’s last positive experiences
in the entertainment industry, as both her personal life and her career fell into a downward
spiral shortly afterward.
Joanna Moore was born in Americus, Georgia, on November 10, 1934.
Both of Joanna’s parents tragically passed in separate incidents by the time that the
young girl was only seven years old.
Her mother passed away in a car accident in 1941, while her father died from unrelated
severe injuries of his own later that same year.
After the tragic death of her parents, Joanna went on to be taken care of by her grandmother.
However, Joanna’s grandmother didn’t have many years left in her by that point, and
Joanna soon had to be adopted out to another bloodline altogether.
At the time of Joanna’s birth, her name had been Dorothy Joan Cook.
It was upon being adopted that she took on the first name of Joanna.
In 1951, when Joanna was only 16 years old, she married for the first time.
Joanna’s first husband was a fellow teenager by the name of Willis Moore, with the future
actress receiving her famous last name in the union.
Although Joanna would go on to keep the last name of Moore over the course of her Hollywood
career, she and Willis divorced within only a year of getting married.
Having already lived a fairly eventful life by the time she was entering adulthood, Joanna
found herself having a hard time focusing on her higher education.
She enrolled in a woman’s college by the name of Agnes Scott, located in Decatur, Georgia.
However, she didn’t make it very far into her tenure before winning a local beauty pageant
inspired her to pack her bags and head out to Hollywood.
Upon arriving in Hollywood, it didn’t take very long for the strikingly beautiful Joanna
Moore to get signed with a major studio.
At a party, a notable producer working with Universal Pictures spotted her.
She was subsequently given an opportunity to test with the studio, and later signed
her first contract.
Joanna started off working in television, and the majority of the actress’s most iconic
work ended up being confined to the medium.
However, Joanna still broke out into pictures soon after making her Hollywood entrance and
appeared in many notable films before her career came to an end.
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Joanna Moore’s impulsive marriage at the age of only 16 would be the start of a trend
of failed marriages that would continue over the course of the film and television actress’s
entire tragic life.
Her second husband was a fellow fledgling actor by the name of Don Oreck, whom Joanna
met early on in her career.
The two tied the knot in 1956 and were divorced in 1957.
Meanwhile, Joanna could be seen on the small screen over the course of the marriage, working
on such anthology series as Goodyear Theatre and Studio One in Hollywood.
As her marriage to Don dissolved, Joanna began transitioning into film work, with some of
her notable films roles during the late 1950s being in 1957’s Appointment with a Shadow
and 1958’s Flood Tide.
The same year of Flood Tide’s release, Joanna Moore received a significant career boost
when she was given a small role in Orson Welles’ Touch of Evil.
While the role was minor, the film was much classier than the B movies that the actress
had appeared in previously.
The notoriety she received from her role in Touch of Evil led to Joanna becoming more
popular than ever.
A few years later, in 1960, she’d show up on The Andy Griffith Show.
Before appearing on The Andy Griffith Show to perform her four-episode-long stint as
the character of Nurse Peggy, Joanna had performed similar guest-starring roles on a variety
of other series, including Maverick, The Rifleman, and The Untouchables.
However, it’s hard to deny that it is Joanna’s work on The Andy Griffith Show as Nurse Peggy
that remains the actress’s most iconic television work.
Not long after making her memorable appearances on The Andy Griffith Show, Joanna Moore entered
into her third unsuccessful marriage.
This third marriage, although not successful, ended up being the most notable of Joanna’s
tragic life.
Her third husband was fellow star Ryan O’Neal, whom she tied the knot in 1963.
The following year, Ryan would receive significant television stardom of his own thanks to his
role on the series Peyton Place.
Upon Joanna Moore and Ryan O’Neal’s marriage, the two became one of the most popular couples
in Hollywood.
Sadly, this tabloid popularity didn’t translate into much continued career success for Joanna.
The two had two children over the course of their marriage, but sadly couldn’t make
things work.
They divorced in 1967, after which point Ryan went on to become a big movie star over the
course of the 1970s thanks to roles in such films as 1970’s Love Story.
Whether as a result of her failed marriage to Ryan O’Neal, postpartum depression, or
simply the fact that her career seemed to be going on a downward trajectory, Joanna
exited her third divorce and entered into dire straits as a result of her increasing
substance abuse.
Multiple drunk-driving arrests resulted in Joanna losing custody of her children in 1970,
which prompted her to check into rehab.
Sadly, both of Joanna’s children would go on to have substance abuse issues of their
own during their lifetimes.
In 1975, Joanna Moore entered into her fourth and final marriage, this time tying the knot
to a man by the name of Gary Reeves.
The marriage only lasted until 1977, after which point Joanna stayed unmarried until
her ultimate demise.
By the time of her third divorce, Joanna was taking work wherever she could get it.
She appeared in a variety of B pictures and also continued to be seen on television.
By the late 1970s, Joanna found herself barely able to function as a result of her years
of substance abuse.
Her daughter Tatum had become a child star thanks to her role alongside her father in
the 1973 film Paper Moon.
As a result of her performance in the film, nine-year-old Tatum O’Neal became the youngest
actress ever to take home the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress.
Given Tatum’s early success, she found herself financially providing for her mother as the
latter’s situation worsened.
Over the course of the 1980s and 1990s, not much was heard from Joanna Moore.
The actress apparently continued to exercise her acting talents when she could by taking
part in small theater productions around the Palm Springs area, where she resided for most
of the time.
The actress’s final role on the screen was in a 1986 action film by the name of Run Chrissie
Run!
In 1996, with her last screen role being a decade behind her, Joanna was diagnosed with
lung cancer.
The actress had been a lifetime smoker and quickly succumbed to the disease after her
diagnosis.
Joanna Moore passed away on the 22nd of November, 1997, only a year after being diagnosed with
cancer.
The film and television actress was 63 years old at the time.
Although Joanna Moore arguably remains best known for her four-episode-long stint on The
Andy Griffith Show, the actress had a prolific career otherwise, appearing in both other
television series and even some notable films.
Now it’s time to hear from you: did you know that Joanna Moore had an affair with
Andy Griffith while filming The Andy Griffith Show and that she later became the mother
of Academy Award-winning actress Tatum O’Neal?
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