Moaned, now and then, at direction given to Hollywood actress (3,4)
I believe the answer is:
mae west
'hollywood actress' is the definition.
'mae west' can be an answer for 'actress' (I've seen this before). I am not certain of the 'hollywood' bit.
'moaned now and then at direction' is the wordplay.
'now and then' means one should take alternating letters (letters taken on a regular basis, now and then).
'at' is a charade indicator (letters next to each other).
'direction' becomes 'west' (compass direction).
The alternating letters of 'moaned' are 'mae'.
'mae'+'west'='MAE WEST'
'given to' is the link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for mae west that I've seen before include "Ex-player" , "Old safety clothing" , "Actress - life-jacket" , "Film star; WW2 jacket" , "Source of innuendos" .)