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
1927
- Gold from Weepah as Pearl
1926
- His New York Wife as Julia Hewitt
1925
- Flyin' Thru as Sybil
- Love on the Rio Grande
1924
- The Torrent as Dancing Girl
- Trigger Fingers as Wetona
- Daughters of Today as Mrs. Mantell
- Unseen Hands as Madame Le Quintrec
1922
- The Dangerous Little Demon as Helene Westley
- The Bear Cat as Mary Lang
- The Isle of Love
- A Blind Bargain as Mrs. Lamb
- The Further Adventures of Yorke Norroy
- Oh, Mabel Behave as The Barmaid
- The Secret Code
1921
- The Great Impersonation as Princess Eiderstrom
- The Lost Romance as Elizabeth Erskine
- The Faith Healer as Mary Beeler
- Exit the Vamp as Mrs. Willy Strong
- Beyond as Mrs. Langley
1920
- The Sins of Rosanne as Rachel Bangat
- Human Stuff as Boka
- A Prohibition Monkey
- Two Kinds of Love as Sita
- An Adventuress
1919
- The Woman Under Cover as Yvonne Leclaire
- Boots as Mme. De Valdee
- The Man Beneath as Countess Petite Florence
1918
- Cleopatsy as Cleopatsy (as Dora Rogers)
- Borrowed Clothes as Rita Morris (as Fontine La Rue)
- Who Killed Walton? as Elsa Armytage
- Wronged by Mistake
- Did She Do Wrong?
1917
- Cactus Nell as The Gent's Accomplice
- His Naughty Thought as Babe Delores
1915
- Peanuts and Bullets as The Maid They All Love
- Mabel Lost and Won as Mabel's Rival
- Fatty and Mabel at the San Diego Exposition as 1st Street Crowd Participant (uncredited)
- Droppington's Family Tree as Cabaret Dancer
- Love, Loot and Crash as Mary, The Banker's Daughter
- Stolen Magic as Secondary Supporting Role
- The Home Breakers as Mts. Walrus