# Shemar Moore
**Shemar Moore** (full name Shemar Franklin Moore, born 1970) is an American actor and former fashion model known for playing [Malcolm Winters](https://www.edgepedia.org/malcolm-winters) on the CBS daytime drama *The Young and the Restless*, FBI agent Derek Morgan on *Criminal Minds*, and Sergeant Daniel "Hondo" Harrelson on *S.W.A.T.* and its spinoff *S.W.A.T. Exiles*.[1](https://www.tvmaze.com/people/12224/shemar-moore) Born in [Oakland, California](https://www.edgepedia.org/oakland-california), he has worked continuously in television since 1994 and also served as the third permanent host of *Soul Train* from 1999 to 2003.[1](https://www.tvmaze.com/people/12224/shemar-moore)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Born | 1970, Oakland, California; moved to Holland with his Dutch mother as a baby and learned English after returning to the United States at age six[1](https://www.tvmaze.com/people/12224/shemar-moore) • [2](https://www.tribute.ca/people/biography/shemar-moore/7374/) |
| Breakthrough role | Malcolm Winters on *The Young and the Restless*, 1994 to 2005, winning a Daytime Emmy during the eleven-year run[1](https://www.tvmaze.com/people/12224/shemar-moore) • [3](https://www.televisionacademy.com/features/emmy-magazine/articles/shemar-moore-swat-cbs-interview) |
| *Criminal Minds* | Derek Morgan for the first 11 seasons, with guest appearances at the end of season 12 and the start of season 13[4](https://www.cinemablend.com/television/glad-shemar-moore-back-swat-universe-what-about-criminal-minds) |
| *S.W.A.T.* | Sergeant Daniel "Hondo" Harrelson, 2017 to 2025, 163 episodes on CBS across eight seasons; the show was canceled three times and revived[5](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0005245/) • [6](https://www.cinemablend.com/television/shemar-moore-swat-spinoff-picked-up-one-thing-bums-me-out) |
| *S.W.A.T. Exiles* | Reprises Hondo in the Starz spinoff; the 10-episode first season premiered in fall 2026 and was renewed for a second season before the first premiered[6](https://www.cinemablend.com/television/shemar-moore-swat-spinoff-picked-up-one-thing-bums-me-out) • [7](https://www.cinemablend.com/television/shemar-moores-announced-swat-exiles-reboot-season-2-before-premiered) |
| Producing | Executive producer of *S.W.A.T.* (139 episodes, 2017 to 2025) and of *S.W.A.T. Exiles*[5](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0005245/) |
## Early life and start in acting
Moore was born in Oakland, California, and moved to Holland with his Dutch mother while still a baby; he had to learn English when the two returned to the United States when he was six years old.[2](https://www.tribute.ca/people/biography/shemar-moore/7374/) His mother, Marilyn Moore, was quoted by *People* magazine saying that convincing her son of something he did not want to do required "a hard hairbrush."[8](https://www.encyclopedia.com/people/literature-and-arts/film-and-television-biographies/shemar-moore)
His path into acting ran through modeling, and his first major role came in 1994, when he was cast as Malcolm Winters on *The Young and the Restless*. He has described the soap as the place he learned the craft: "With Y&R, I got paid to fall on my face. This smile might have gotten me in the door, but I knew I had to work to stay. So I got into class, and I still study."[3](https://www.televisionacademy.com/features/emmy-magazine/articles/shemar-moore-swat-cbs-interview)
## The Young and the Restless and Soul Train
Moore played Malcolm Winters from 1994 to 2005, a run for which he won a Daytime Emmy.[1](https://www.tvmaze.com/people/12224/shemar-moore) • [3](https://www.televisionacademy.com/features/emmy-magazine/articles/shemar-moore-swat-cbs-interview) At the height of the role, more than two million viewers a day tuned in to watch him on the show.[8](https://www.encyclopedia.com/people/literature-and-arts/film-and-television-biographies/shemar-moore) During the same period he became the third permanent host of the music program *Soul Train*, hosting from 1999 to 2003.[1](https://www.tvmaze.com/people/12224/shemar-moore)
## Criminal Minds
In 2005 Moore moved to primetime as FBI Special Agent Derek Morgan on the CBS crime drama *Criminal Minds*, a role he played for the show's first 11 seasons.[4](https://www.cinemablend.com/television/glad-shemar-moore-back-swat-universe-what-about-criminal-minds) On the series his character popularized the term of endearment "Baby Girl," Morgan's pet name for his FBI colleague Penelope Garcia.[9](https://worldscreen.com/tvdrama/shemar-moore/)
After leaving as a series regular, he made brief guest appearances at the end of season 12 and the beginning of season 13, and has not appeared on the show since.[4](https://www.cinemablend.com/television/glad-shemar-moore-back-swat-universe-what-about-criminal-minds) In 2026 he said a return remains possible: "If Criminal Minds was to call, and years ago I went back a couple of times."[4](https://www.cinemablend.com/television/glad-shemar-moore-back-swat-universe-what-about-criminal-minds)
[Academic writing](https://www.edgepedia.org/academic-writing) on the series has treated Morgan as a notable television figure. A 2019 conference paper argued that Derek Morgan offers a representation of Black masculinity rarely seen before on television, made possible in part by the series' focus on social, racial, and gender relations in a law-enforcement setting.[10](https://eudl.eu/pdf/10.4108/eai.6-11-2019.2297273)
## S.W.A.T. and S.W.A.T. Exiles
Moore next headlined *S.W.A.T.*, a CBS reboot of the 1970s series and feature film, playing a locally born LAPD sergeant, Daniel "Hondo" Harrelson, newly tasked to run a specialized tactical unit described as the last stop in law enforcement in Los Angeles.[11](https://static1.squarespace.com/static/53261d9be4b0bea727f6750e/t/59c081d049fc2b2ac8b9e1f4/1505788369474/Fall%2B2017%2BNew%2BSeries%2BRoundup.pdf) The series ran on CBS from 2017 to 2025, totaling 163 episodes across eight seasons, and was repeatedly canceled and revived; Moore was also an executive producer on 139 episodes.[5](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0005245/) • [6](https://www.cinemablend.com/television/shemar-moore-swat-spinoff-picked-up-one-thing-bums-me-out) As Hondo, Moore has been one of the few Black actors to lead a network TV drama, and the show has taken on subjects including school shootings, human trafficking, and [suicide by cop](https://www.edgepedia.org/suicide-by-cop) alongside its action sequences.[3](https://www.televisionacademy.com/features/emmy-magazine/articles/shemar-moore-swat-cbs-interview)
**Fan campaigns and revivals.** After CBS canceled the show, Moore made a video appeal, fans protested, and the show was given another season; when Netflix began streaming five seasons in May 2024, the series soared to the platform's Top 10.[3](https://www.televisionacademy.com/features/emmy-magazine/articles/shemar-moore-swat-cbs-interview) Moore has credited the audience directly, saying the spinoff would not exist without the fans of *S.W.A.T.*[12](https://www.goodhousekeeping.com/entertainment/tv-shows/a74069097/swat-exiles-episodes-shemar-moore-hondo-exclusive-interview/)
**S.W.A.T. Exiles.** Days after the 2025 series finale, [Sony Pictures Television](https://www.edgepedia.org/sony-pictures-television) announced a spinoff starring Moore as Hondo.[6](https://www.cinemablend.com/television/shemar-moore-swat-spinoff-picked-up-one-thing-bums-me-out) Production on the first season ran over the summer and wrapped in early 2026, which Moore celebrated with his cast and crew on Instagram.[13](https://www.cinemablend.com/television/how-shemar-moore-celebrated-after-his-s-w-a-t-spinoff-wrapped-its-first-season) The 10-episode first season was picked up by Starz and premiered in fall 2026 with a mostly new cast alongside Moore; before the premiere, Moore announced on Instagram that the series had already been renewed for a second season, with shooting to begin a couple of months later.[6](https://www.cinemablend.com/television/shemar-moore-swat-spinoff-picked-up-one-thing-bums-me-out) • [7](https://www.cinemablend.com/television/shemar-moores-announced-swat-exiles-reboot-season-2-before-premiered) He has described the spinoff as showing a more layered Hondo and has noted the difference in production pace: the old show ran 19 to 22 episodes over ten and a half months, while *Exiles* shoots 10 episodes.[14](https://www.upi.com/amp/Entertainment_News/TV/2026/09/25/shemar-moore-swat-exiles-hondo-interview/1671790259536/) • [15](https://www.cinemablend.com/television/i-wish-swat-exiles-had-more-episodes-shemar-moore-makes-good-point)
## Film and other work
Moore's film career includes a debut in *Hav' Plenty* (1997) and the lead in *Butter*, an HBO movie, in 1998.[8](https://www.encyclopedia.com/people/literature-and-arts/film-and-television-biographies/shemar-moore) He appeared in [Tyler Perry](https://www.edgepedia.org/tyler-perry)'s *Diary of a Mad Black Woman* (2005) after Perry, having seen him, told Moore he could bring the script's words to life.[16](https://www.blackfilm.com/20050218/features/shemarmoore.shtml) He voiced Victor Stone, also known as [Cyborg](https://www.edgepedia.org/cyborg-dc-comics), in the animated film *[Justice League: Throne of Atlantis](https://www.edgepedia.org/justice-league-throne-of-atlantis)*.[17](https://www.tvinsider.com/people/shemar-moore/) He executive produced and starred in *The Bounce Back* (2016).[5](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0005245/)
In his personal life, Moore and model Jesiree Dizon, with whom he shares a daughter, separated in early 2025 after nearly five years together.[18](https://www.tmz.com/people/shemar-moore/)
## References
1. [Shemar Moore, TVmaze](https://www.tvmaze.com/people/12224/shemar-moore)
2. [Shemar Moore biography and filmography, Tribute.ca](https://www.tribute.ca/people/biography/shemar-moore/7374/)
3. [More, More, More with S.W.A.T.'s Shemar Moore!, Television Academy, emmy magazine](https://www.televisionacademy.com/features/emmy-magazine/articles/shemar-moore-swat-cbs-interview)
4. [I'm Glad Shemar Moore Is Back In The S.W.A.T. Universe, But What About Criminal Minds?, CinemaBlend](https://www.cinemablend.com/television/glad-shemar-moore-back-swat-universe-what-about-criminal-minds)
5. [Shemar Moore, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0005245/)
6. [I'm Glad Shemar Moore's S.W.A.T Spinoff Has Been Picked Up, But One Thing Bums Me Out, CinemaBlend](https://www.cinemablend.com/television/shemar-moore-swat-spinoff-picked-up-one-thing-bums-me-out)
7. [Shemar Moore's Announced S.W.A.T. Reboot Just Got Good News (Before It Even Premiered), CinemaBlend](https://www.cinemablend.com/television/shemar-moores-announced-swat-exiles-reboot-season-2-before-premiered)
8. [Shemar Moore, Encyclopedia.com](https://www.encyclopedia.com/people/literature-and-arts/film-and-television-biographies/shemar-moore)
9. [Shemar Moore, TVDRAMA, Worldscreen](https://worldscreen.com/tvdrama/shemar-moore/)
10. [The police procedural drama narrative and Derek Morgan's representation of Black masculinity, EUDL](https://eudl.eu/pdf/10.4108/eai.6-11-2019.2297273)
11. [Fall 2017 TV Season New Series Roundup](https://static1.squarespace.com/static/53261d9be4b0bea727f6750e/t/59c081d049fc2b2ac8b9e1f4/1505788369474/Fall%2B2017%2BNew%2BSeries%2BRoundup.pdf)
12. [Shemar Moore Says 'S.W.A.T.: Exiles' Wouldn't Exist Without Fans, Good Housekeeping](https://www.goodhousekeeping.com/entertainment/tv-shows/a74069097/swat-exiles-episodes-shemar-moore-hondo-exclusive-interview/)
13. [How Shemar Moore Celebrated After His S.W.A.T. Spinoff Wrapped Its First Season, CinemaBlend](https://www.cinemablend.com/television/how-shemar-moore-celebrated-after-his-s-w-a-t-spinoff-wrapped-its-first-season)
14. [Shemar Moore: 'S.W.A.T.' spin-off 'Exiles' shows a more layered Hondo, UPI](https://www.upi.com/amp/Entertainment_News/TV/2026/09/25/shemar-moore-swat-exiles-hondo-interview/1671790259536/)
15. [I Wish The S.W.A.T Spinoff Had More Episodes, But Shemar Moore Also Makes A Good Point, CinemaBlend](https://www.cinemablend.com/television/i-wish-swat-exiles-had-more-episodes-shemar-moore-makes-good-point)
16. [Diary of a Mad Black Woman: An Interview with Shemar Moore, blackfilm.com](https://www.blackfilm.com/20050218/features/shemarmoore.shtml)
17. [Shemar Moore, TV Insider](https://www.tvinsider.com/people/shemar-moore/)
18. [Shemar Moore, TMZ](https://www.tmz.com/people/shemar-moore/)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Screen people and creators › Screen actors of the Anglosphere and Europe › American actors: 1970s to 1990s › Surnames Mo to N*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 12, 2026; Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license