Fontaine La Rue
Actor
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
Love, Loot and Crash
as Mary, The Banker's Daughter 1915
Droppington's Family Tree
as Cabaret Dancer 1915
The Man Beneath
as Countess Petite Florence 1919
Mabel Lost and Won
as Mabel's Rival 1915
An Adventuress
1920
Boots
as Mme. De Valdee 1919
A Blind Bargain
as Mrs. Lamb 1922
Peanuts and Bullets
as The Maid They All Love 1915
Borrowed Clothes
as Rita Morris (as Fontine La Rue) 1918
Cactus Nell
as The Gent's Accomplice 1917
Unseen Hands
as Madame Le Quintrec 1924
Human Stuff
as Boka 1920
Flyin' Thru
as Sybil 1925
The Bear Cat
as Mary Lang 1922
Stolen Magic
as Secondary Supporting Role 1915
The Faith Healer
as Mary Beeler 1921