Fontaine La Rue
Born: 1890-07-18 in Hermosillo, Sonora, Mexico
Died: 1964-09-13
Known For: Acting
Biography
Matilda Fernández, stage name Fontaine La Rue (July 18, 1890 in Hermosillo, Mexico – September 13, 1964) was an American silent film actress appearing in films from 1918 to 1929. Her career ended with the advent of talkies. She was one of seven children born to Diego and Carlotta Monreal Fernandez. After immigrating to the United States in 1907, Matilda married Victor Garcia Rojas. The couple had three children, Victor Paul, Matilda Garcia, and Victoria Grace. After the couple divorced, Matilda entered show business. She got her start on stage as a toe dancer and in musical comedy. She toured with the Trimble Musical Comedy Company in 1914 before breaking into films the following year in comedy shorts for Keystone. She first used the name Dora Rodgers, but reinvented herself with the name Fontaine La Rue, tiring of playing vamps. On occasions she would switch between the names. Notably she appeared in the lost film, A Blind Bargain with Lon Chaney. After a lengthy love affair with actor Nelson McDowell, Fontaine married real estate broker Wayne Hancock and retired from the screen. The Keystone Vamp died of Acute Myelogenous Leukemia on September 13, 1964, at UCLA Medical Center.
Filmography
1926
- His New York Wife as Julia Hewitt
1925
- Love on the Rio Grande
- Flyin' Thru as Sybil
1924
- Trigger Fingers as Wetona
- The Torrent as Dancing Girl
- Unseen Hands as Madame Le Quintrec
- Daughters of Today as Mrs. Mantell
1922
- A Blind Bargain as Mrs. Lamb
- The Secret Code
- The Isle of Love
- The Further Adventures of Yorke Norroy
- The Bear Cat as Mary Lang
- Oh, Mabel Behave as The Barmaid
- The Dangerous Little Demon as Helene Westley
1921
- Beyond as Mrs. Langley
- The Faith Healer as Mary Beeler
- Exit the Vamp as Mrs. Willy Strong
- The Lost Romance as Elizabeth Erskine
- The Great Impersonation as Princess Eiderstrom
1920
- An Adventuress
- The Sins of Rosanne as Rachel Bangat
- Two Kinds of Love as Sita
- Human Stuff as Boka
- A Prohibition Monkey
1919
- The Man Beneath as Countess Petite Florence
- Boots as Mme. De Valdee
- The Woman Under Cover as Yvonne Leclaire
1918
- Who Killed Walton? as Elsa Armytage
- Wronged by Mistake
- Did She Do Wrong?
- Borrowed Clothes as Rita Morris (as Fontine La Rue)
1917
- Cactus Nell as The Gent's Accomplice
- His Naughty Thought as Babe Delores
1915
- Peanuts and Bullets as The Maid They All Love
- Fatty and Mabel at the San Diego Exposition as 1st Street Crowd Participant (uncredited)
- The Home Breakers as Mts. Walrus
- Mabel Lost and Won as Mabel's Rival
- Love, Loot and Crash as Mary, The Banker's Daughter
- Droppington's Family Tree as Cabaret Dancer
- Stolen Magic as Secondary Supporting Role