William R. Moses Bio
William Remington Moses, born on November 17, 1959, is an American actor with a long and varied career across television and film. He first gained widespread recognition as Cole Gioberti on the prime-time soap opera Falcon Crest, a role he played for six seasons and later reprised in guest appearances. Over the decades, Moses has built a steady presence on screen, working in network soap operas, mystery TV movies, feature films, and guest spots across many series.
Early Life and Background
William Remington Moses was born in Los Angeles, California, to a family with deep ties to both the entertainment industry and American public life. His mother, Marian McCargo, was an actress whose career kept the world of performance close to home, while his father, Richard Cantrell Moses Sr., worked as an advertising executive. His parents married in 1951 and later divorced in 1963, when William was still a young boy.
In 1970, Marian McCargo remarried, wedding Republican Congressman Alphonzo E. Bell Jr., who adopted William and his brothers Rick and Harry. Growing up in Los Angeles, Moses was exposed early on to film and television through his mother’s work, and the broader cultural environment of Southern California shaped his interest in acting. He later attended Wesleyan University, where he continued to develop his path toward a professional career in entertainment.
Path to Acting
After his university studies, Moses committed to acting as a profession, taking advantage of the creative environment he had grown up around. His earliest professional work led him directly into television, where he landed a role that would define his early public image. By the time he entered the industry in 1981, he was prepared to take on a long-running prime-time role.
His casting on Falcon Crest in 1981 marked his real entry into the larger entertainment world. The series, a major prime-time soap opera on CBS, gave him a steady platform to develop his screen presence and connect with a wide national audience. This early foothold in television set the tone for a career that would balance continuing series work with film and made-for-television projects.
William R. Moses Career
Early Career (1981–1986)
William R. Moses began his professional acting career in 1981 when he was cast as Cole Gioberti on the CBS prime-time soap opera Falcon Crest. The role placed him at the center of one of the most popular family dramas of the era, and he remained with the series for six seasons, from 1981 to 1986. His performance as Cole helped establish him as a recognizable face in American television and gave him experience working on a long-running, high-profile production.
During this early period, Moses also made appearances on several well-known variety and drama series, including Fantasy Island and The Love Boat. These guest spots allowed him to broaden his range beyond the soap opera format and introduced him to lighter and more comedic material. By the end of his run on Falcon Crest, he had built a strong foundation for the next phase of his career.
Breakthrough (1987–1995)
Moses’s career expanded significantly after Falcon Crest. In 1987, he returned to the show for two guest appearances during its seventh season, providing a brief but meaningful bookend to his original run. The following year, in 1988, he co-starred in the feature film Mystic Pizza alongside a young Julia Roberts, a film that has since become a touchstone of late-1980s American cinema. The role helped him transition from television star to film actor and exposed him to a new generation of moviegoers.
From 1989 to 1993, Moses joined legendary actor Raymond Burr in seventeen Perry Mason television movies, playing attorney Ken Malansky, who worked closely with the title character as a private investigator. The role gave him the chance to develop a character over many installments and to work within the classic mystery genre. After Burr’s death in 1993, Moses continued the role of Malansky in four additional TV films produced under the subtitle A Perry Mason Mystery, which aired through 1995 and starred Paul Sorvino and Hal Holbrook.
Continued Work (1992–2008)
In 1992, Moses returned to weekly television with a recurring role as Keith Gray on the popular prime-time drama Melrose Place, appearing in eleven episodes. In 1997, he took on the role of David Graysmark in Fame L.A., a short-lived series continuation of the original Fame franchise. He also appeared in a number of films and television movies during this period, including Double Exposure and Trial by Jury in 1994, Hangman’s Curse in 2003, Christmas Child in 2004, and A Lover’s Revenge in 2005, the last of which co-starred his former Perry Mason colleague Alexandra Paul.
From 2005 to 2008, Moses played Jack Davis in nine films of the Jane Doe television movie series, a long-running mystery franchise that kept him visible to fans of the genre. He also made guest appearances on several well-known crime and drama series throughout the 2000s and 2010s, including Murder, She Wrote, CSI: Miami, Homeland, and Major Crimes.
Notable Works and Milestones
Among William R. Moses’s most recognized works are his six seasons on Falcon Crest, his role in Mystic Pizza, his long stint as Ken Malansky in the Perry Mason television movie franchise, and his recurring parts on Melrose Place, Fame L.A., and the Jane Doe film series. His career, which has remained active from 1981 to the present, reflects a steady and durable presence in American television.
William R. Moses Recent Work
In November 2022, William R. Moses was cast in the role of Jeff Webber on the long-running ABC soap opera General Hospital, returning him to a major daytime drama. He has also continued to take on a variety of projects in television and film, maintaining an active career that now spans more than four decades.
William R. Moses Family
William R. Moses was raised in a blended and notable family. His mother, Marian McCargo, was an actress, and his father, Richard Cantrell Moses Sr., was an advertising executive. After his parents divorced, his mother married Republican Congressman Alphonzo E. Bell Jr. in 1970, and Congressman Bell adopted William and his brothers Rick and Harry.
Personal Life
William R. Moses has been married twice. His first marriage was to actress Tracy Nelson in 1987, and the couple divorced in 1997. Together they have a daughter, Remington Elizabeth Moses, born in 1992, who has also pursued a career as an actress. In 2000, Moses married Sarah Moses; the two later divorced.