You know, I don't play the race card a lot. I'm half-black, half-white, and I'm proud of - my skin is brown. The world sees me as a black man, but my mother didn't raise me as a black man. She didn't raise me as a white guy.

Moore cites civil unrest interracial relationships being taboo and racism in the US in the 1970s as part of the reason his mother moved abroad with him. In one episode he was shown watching 'The Young and the Restless' after breaking into fellow agent Dr. Returning to California in 1977 the family moved to Chico California where his mother worked at a clinic before later moving to Palo Alto.

His most notable roles are that of Malcolm Winters on The Young and the Restless from 1994 to 2005 Derek Morgan on CBS's Criminal Minds from 2005 to present and as the third permanent host of Soul Train from 1999 to 2003. Shemar Franklin Moore (US /ʃəˌmɑːr ˈmuːr/; born 20 April 1970) is an American actor and former fashion model.