Jack La Rue

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American actor (1902–1984)

title: "Jack La Rue" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["1902-births", "1984-deaths", "male-actors-from-new-york-city", "american-male-film-actors", "american-male-stage-actors", "american-people-of-italian-descent", "burials-at-holy-cross-cemetery,-culver-city", "20th-century-american-male-actors"] description: "American actor (1902–1984)" topic_path: "arts" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_La_Rue" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary American actor (1902–1984) ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox person"]

FieldValue
nameJack La Rue
imageJack La Rue in For Heaven's Sake.jpg
captionJack La Rue in For Heaven's Sake (1950)
birth_nameGaspare Biondolillo
birth_placeLercara Friddi, Italy
birth_date
death_date
death_placeSanta Monica, California, U.S.
occupationActor
yearsactive1923–1977
spouse{{plainlist
* {{marriageConstance Deighton Simpson
* {{marriageViolet Edith von Rosenberg
* {{marriageAnne Giordano
::

| name = Jack La Rue | image = Jack La Rue in For Heaven's Sake.jpg | caption = Jack La Rue in For Heaven's Sake (1950) | birth_name = Gaspare Biondolillo | birth_place = Lercara Friddi, Italy | birth_date = | death_date = | death_place = Santa Monica, California, U.S. | occupation = Actor | yearsactive = 1923–1977 | spouse = {{plainlist|

Jack La Rue (born Gaspare Biondolillo; May 3, 1902 – January 11, 1984) was an American film and stage actor.

Early life and family

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/19/Jack_La_Rue_birth_certificate.jpg" caption="Jack La Rue birth certificate"] ::

Gaspare Biondolillo was the son of Sicilian immigrants Luigi Biondolillo (1874–1951) and Giuseppa lo Bue (1879–1970). Gaspare or "Jasper" was the oldest of six children. He was born in Lercara Friddi, Sicily.

A miner from the town of Lercara Friddi, Luigi married Giuseppa on May 20, 1899. Not long thereafter, Luigi emigrated from Sicily to the port of New York, accompanied by his sister Francesca. Arriving on August 26, 1900, the two siblings joined their brother Pasquale in the "Little Italy" section of Manhattan. Giuseppa emigrated later, arriving in New York on November 26, 1902. She brought along her five-month-old son Gaspare. They joined Luigi in Manhattan.

In the 1930 U.S. Census, Jasper is listed as still living with his parents. However, not long after, he moved to Hollywood to begin his film career.

Luigi had a brother called Gioacchino "Jack" Biondolillo. Gaspare adopted this as his given name for the stage. His surname "La Rue" was derived from his mother's maiden name of LoBue, sometimes written as "Lo Bue".

Jack's sister Emily (born May 16, 1917) relocated to Hollywood while still a teenager to follow in her big brother's footsteps, using the screen name "Emily LaRue". Her screen debut came in College Rhythm (1934) and she went on to appear in films like Gold Diggers of 1935 (1935), It Couldn't Have Happened – But It Did (1936), Zaza (1939), and A New Kind of Love (1963).

Jack's nephew Ronald Cognata also followed in his footsteps, taking the stage name "Jack La Rue, Jr." He married actress Kim Darby on October 8, 1978 (they divorced on June 30, 1981). Jack La Rue, Jr. is known for his roles in Crypt of the Living Dead (1973) and The Young Nurses (1973).

Stage

La Rue 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.

Film

Jack moved to Hollywood sometime after 1930, 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 replaced 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.

Personal life

He was married three times. She obtained a divorce on December 17, 1946, charging him with mental cruelty. He married Anne Giordano on August 12, 1962; she obtained an annulment in 1967.

La Rue died of a heart attack at Saint John's Health Center in Santa Monica, California.

Complete filmography

References

References

  1. (January 13, 1984). "Jack LaRue, Actor, Is Dead; In 200 Films, Often as Villain". [[The New York Times]].
  2. Hubbard Keavy. (April 26, 1933). "Screen Life In Hollywood". [[Altoona Tribune]].
  3. (November 8, 1975). "Yesterday's Stars: La Rue doesn't like gangster stereotypes". [[The Mercury (Pennsylvania).
  4. (December 17, 1946). "Jack La Rue's Wife Is Divorced From Movie's ''[sic]'' Bad Man". [[Reno Gazette-Journal.
  5. (May 13, 1955). "Jack La Rue Marriage to Ex-Baroness Ended". [[Connecticut Post.
  6. (February 16, 1967). "Mrs. Jack La Rue Given Annulment". The Daily Mail.
  7. (January 12, 1984). "Movie bad guy Jack LaRue dies". The Montreal Gazette.
  8. Workman, Christopher; Howarth, Troy (2016). "Tome of Terror: Horror Films of the Silent Era". Midnight Marquee Press. p. 324. {{ISBN. 978-1936168-68-2.

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1902-births1984-deathsmale-actors-from-new-york-cityamerican-male-film-actorsamerican-male-stage-actorsamerican-people-of-italian-descentburials-at-holy-cross-cemetery,-culver-city20th-century-american-male-actors