A gifted 1920s silent film star, Moira Brandon lives for the limelight, playing heroic historical figures, and when the opportunity to be a hero in real life presents itself, she takes it.
Break a Leg
A major silent film star in the 1920s, Moira Brandon finds herself often cast as famous historical figures, notably Anne Boleyn, Joan of Arc, and Cleopatra. She plays the latter part in Black Sands (a Norman B. Sedgewick production), a silent film adaptation of William Shakespeare’s Antony and Cleopatra, which Brandon considers her greatest triumph. Brandon uses her film fortune to build herself a lavish 15-acre estate in Palos Verdes, where she stores the original set, props and costumes from Black Sands, fearing these materials might be lost or destroyed if she did not preserve them.
When her voice proves unsuited to early microphones, Moira gradually sinks into obscurity as silent movies start to give way to talking pictures. Largely a recluse for decades, Brandon regrets never having been truly heroic like the women she played in her movies.
Life in the Limelight
A beautiful and gifted silent film actress in her heyday, Moira Brandon was physically frail in later years, but retained a capacity for courage under pressure and a steady aim.
Sell Outs
When William Cross, AKA Crossfire comes calling and threatens to kill Moira and her servant, Moira complies with his demand to ambush the Avengers, who were about to arrive at her home. Though, she ends up stealing the show and turning on her captor.
Star-Studded Avengers
Moira first met Clint Barton, AKA Hawkeye, and Bobbi Morse, AKA Mockingbird, at her home, and though under duress, she sides with them in the end.
The Show Must Go On
When the Avengers arranged to buy Brandon’s Palos Verdes estate as a headquarters for their new west coast roster, newlywed Avengers Hawkeye and Mockingbird came to inspect the property. However, their old foe Crossfire had secretly taken Brandon’s butler hostage, threatening to kill Brandon and her servant unless she helped ambush the heroes.
A terrified Moira complied, but when Crossfire held the heroes at gunpoint, Moira surprised herself with her own bravery by using one of Crossfire’s own weapons to wound the criminal, enabling the heroes to capture him.
A grateful Hawkeye declared Brandon the first new West Coast Avenger, and a delighted Moira replied it would be her greatest role. Her sense of self-worth restored, Moira died happy a few years later.
