Jack La Rue

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Birth name Gaspere Biondollilo
Nationality USA
Birth 3 may 1902 at New York City (USA)
Death 11 january 1984 (at 81 years) at Santa Monica (USA)

Jack La Rue (May 3, 1902, New York City, New York – January 11, 1984, Santa Monica, California) was an American film and stage actor.

Born Gaspere Biondolillo, he went from high school to his first acting job, in Otis Skinner's road company production of Blood and Sand. He performed in Broadway plays from around 1923 to 1931. According to La Rue, while appearing in Mae West's play Diamond Lil, he was spotted by Howard Hawks, who offered him a part in the film Scarface (1932), starring Paul Muni.

He moved to Hollywood, where he appeared in numerous films. However, Scarface was not one of them. La Rue stated in a newspaper article that, after four days, Hawks had to replace him with George Raft because La Rue was taller than Muni and had a more powerful voice. Later, however, Raft turned down the role of the despicable villain in The Story of Temple Drake (1933), fearing it would damage his screen image, so the part went to La Rue. Sometimes mistaken for Humphrey Bogart, he played thugs and gangsters for the most part. However, director Frank Borzage atypically cast him as a priest in the 1932 version of A Farewell to Arms simply because, according to newspaper columnist Hubbard Keavy, he was "tired of seeing conventional characters". La Rue stated he turned down a role in The Godfather (1972) and many parts in the television series The Untouchables because of the way they portrayed Italian-Americans.

He was married three times. La Rue married Los Angeles socialite Constance Deighton Simpson on September 22, 1938, in London. She obtained a divorce on December 17, 1946, charging him with mental cruelty. In 1955, he obtained an annulment from former Baroness Violet Edith von Rosenberg after six years of marriage, claiming she had only married him to obtain American citizenship and that they separated after less than two months. He married Anne Giordano on August 12, 1962; she obtained an annulment in 1967. Actor Jack La Rue, Jr. is his son.

La Rue died of a heart attack at the age of 81. He was buried in Holy Cross Cemetery, Culver City, California.

Biography

Sous le pseudonyme de Jack La Rue, il commence sa carrière d'acteur au théâtre, jouant notamment à Broadway dans sept pièces, de 1923 à 1931. Parmi ses partenaires sur les planches new-yorkaises, citons Sylvia Sidney, Helen Vinson et Mae West.

Au cinéma, il apparaît dès 1925 — dans des petits rôles souvent non crédités à ses débuts — et jusqu'en 1977, participant en tout à cent-vingt six films (américains surtout, plus quelques films britanniques), dont des westerns.

Parmi ses films notables, mentionnons Le Phalène de Dorothy Arzner (1933, avec Katharine Hepburn et Colin Clive), Agent spécial de William Keighley (1935, avec Bette Davis et George Brent), L'Aigle des mers de Michael Curtiz (version de 1940, avec Errol Flynn et Brenda Marshall), et En route vers l'Alaska d'Hal Walker (1946, avec Bing Crosby, Bob Hope et Dorothy Lamour).

Relevons également sa participation à L'Adieu aux armes de Frank Borzage (version de 1932), d'après le roman éponyme d'Ernest Hemingway. Ce film fait suite à la pièce du même titre, mise en scène par Rouben Mamoulian, qu'il joue à Broadway en 1930, aux côtés de Glenn Anders et Elissa Landi (dont les rôles sont repris au cinéma par Gary Cooper et Helen Hayes).

À la télévision enfin, Jack La Rue contribue à treize séries, entre 1948 et 1972.