With his picture perfect looks and charming nature, Shemar Moore, or actually Shemar Franklin Moore, has been melting hearts from the moment he burst on the scene in 1994. Shemar Moore was born on April 20, 1970 to Sherrod an African-American and Marilyn Moore who is Irish-French Canadian in Oakland, California. Soon after moving to Denmark to shelter the infant Shemar Moore from racism, his parents split up. According to Shemar, he says that his father "drifted in and out of the picture", while he grew extremely close to his mother.

After living in a number of European nations, the three year old Shemar Moore and his mother moved to Bahrain in the Persian Gulf where she was a teacher. When he turned six years old, Marilyn relocated again to her hometown of Boston, where her fears of racism were quickly realized. "It was a complete culture shock for me," Moore says. "It was the first time in my life I heard the words 'n----r' and 'chocolate'. Shemar Moore and his mother finally settled in Palo Alto, California in 1984, however, Shemar Moore's father remarried and now lives in Japan. Shemar Moore attended Nueva School for 5th and 6th grade from October of 1980 to June of 1982. It was a private elementary school in Hillsborough, California which requires an IQ test for admission. After elementary school, Shemar Moore moved on to Menlo Junior high school, another private school in located Atherton, California which was not far from Palo Alto.

Shemar Moore attended Gunn High School where he was active in many sports such as baseball, football and soccer. In 1988 he attended Santa Clara University on a partial althletic scholorship and majored in communications and minored in theater arts. During University, Shemar Moore hooked up with the City Modelling Agency to help pay for his education. With this good looks, Shemar was aproached to be a model years prior to college but he dismissed the notion. "At 16, I thought it was for sissies," he recalls. "But at 19, when tutition was a reality, I was like, okay, well maybe it's not for sissies. So I tried it and ended up doing it for five years." These modelling endeavors helped allowed Shemar to pose for ads in issues of Gentleman's Quarterly (GQ), Mademoiselle, and fashion layouts for major department stores. He also appeared in commercials for Levi's Jeans, MacDonalds, Miller Beer, and Colter Clothes. It was Shemar Moore's modelling work that caught the attention of top executives at The Young and Restless

Life for Shemar Moore completely changed after he was discovered in the pages of GQ by Y&R, when they offered him the role of Malcolm Winters. Shemar Moore took this opportunity very seriously and even spent $1100 the weekend before his audition on an acting coach to prepare himself. Even after Shemar Moore got the role, he still continues to work with his coach to improve his ability. Shemar Moore hit it off with the viewers right away and even received two Daytime Emmy Nominations in 1996 and 1997. Aside from his obvious physical beauty, Shemar emits a special energy that leaves viewers mesmerized. Even though Shemar is constantly being typecast as nothing more than a sex symbol, he has proven himself to be a good actor and is not cocky or arrogant person. Shemar Moore is a sweet and generous person that takes the time to meet with fans at personal appearances and charity events.