Ginger Moro

Ginger Moro

Aug. 15, 1930 - March 27, 2023

NAPA - Ginger Moro - actress, chanteuse, author, and early 20th century design collector and dealer - has exited the stage and moved on to her next engagement.

Born Virginia Hall in Larchmont, NY, Ginger arrived in LA in the late 1940s. Part of Paramount's 1951 Golden Circle "Stars of Tomorrow" campaign, she acted in a number of productions, including "Four Star Playhouse" alongside Charles Boyer, who famously suggested she change her name to Ginger. She sang at the Sands Hotel in Vegas and SF's Hungry I in 1957 (inspiring a Herb Caen mention) and on one of "Tenderly" composer Walter Gross's albums. She also joined Bob Hope's Korean War-era USO tours, entertaining the troops in Korea and Tokyo. It was after a European USO tour that she jumped ship in Paris, where she would live for 16 years. Ginger appeared in French films, including "Two Men in Manhattan" (1959), and dubbed the English version of hundreds of foreign films. A founding member of the Studio Theater of Paris with Lee Breuer and Ruth Maleczech, she appeared in a dozen plays.

In London, Berlin, Munich, Vienna, Venice, Turin, Beirut, and Cairo, Ginger worked as a cabaret singer, actress, and writer, collecting jewelry and "objets" along the way. In Paris, she studied art history at the Ecole du Louvre. She was co-owner of an antiques shop, Aux Trois Graces, in Montparnasse for six years.

After marrying actor-director Russ Moro and the birth of their son, she returned to California in the 1970s. Over the next four decades, Ginger would research, collect, and deal in early 20th century artworks and vintage costume jewelry. In 1995, she published her book, "European Designer Jewelry."

Ginger is survived by her son, Sandro (Heather); grandchildren: Sophia and Rocco; brother, Gerard Hall (Clare); beloved cousin, Judie; and numerous nieces, nephews, cousins, and admirers.

A private ceremony will be held in her honor in Los Angeles in summer 2023.