Fontaine La Rue
Acting • Born 1890-07-18 – Died 1964-09-13
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
43 credits
Borrowed Clothes
Movie • 1918
Rita Morris (as Fontine La Rue)
Cactus Nell
Movie • 1917
The Gent's Accomplice
Unseen Hands
Movie • 1924
Madame Le Quintrec
Human Stuff
Movie • 1920
Boka
Flyin' Thru
Movie • 1925
Sybil
The Bear Cat
Movie • 1922
Mary Lang
Stolen Magic
Movie • 1915
Secondary Supporting Role
An Adventuress
Movie • 1920
Droppington's Family Tree
Movie • 1915
Cabaret Dancer
The Faith Healer
Movie • 1921
Mary Beeler
Boots
Movie • 1919
Mme. De Valdee
The Great Impersonation
Movie • 1921
Princess Eiderstrom
The Lost Romance
Movie • 1921
Elizabeth Erskine
A Blind Bargain
Movie • 1922
Mrs. Lamb
Fatty and Mabel at the San Diego Exposition
Movie • 1915
1st Street Crowd Participant (uncredited)
Love, Loot and Crash
Movie • 1915
Mary, The Banker's Daughter
The Man Beneath
Movie • 1919
Countess Petite Florence
The Torrent
Movie • 1924
Dancing Girl
A Prohibition Monkey
Movie • 1920
Peanuts and Bullets
Movie • 1915
The Maid They All Love
The Home Breakers
Movie • 1915
Mts. Walrus
His Naughty Thought
Movie • 1917
Babe Delores
The Sins of Rosanne
Movie • 1920
Rachel Bangat
Beyond
Movie • 1921
Mrs. Langley
Love on the Rio Grande
Movie • 1925
Oh, Mabel Behave
Movie • 1922
The Barmaid
The Love Letter
Movie • 1923
Did She Do Wrong?
Movie • 1918
The Secret Code
Movie • 1922
The Further Adventures of Yorke Norroy
Movie • 1922
Who Killed Walton?
Movie • 1918
Elsa Armytage
The Showdown
Movie • 1923
Mabel Lost and Won
Movie • 1915
Mabel's Rival
Wronged by Mistake
Movie • 1918
Trigger Fingers
Movie • 1924
Wetona
The Dangerous Little Demon
Movie • 1922
Helene Westley
The Woman Under Cover
Movie • 1919
Yvonne Leclaire
The Isle of Love
Movie • 1922
Daughters of Today
Movie • 1924
Mrs. Mantell
His New York Wife
Movie • 1926
Julia Hewitt
Exit the Vamp
Movie • 1921
Mrs. Willy Strong
Two Kinds of Love
Movie • 1920
Sita
Gold from Weepah
Movie • 1927
Pearl