Jack La Rue (born Gaspare Biondolillo;[1] May 3, 1902 – January 11, 1984) was an American film and stage actor.[1]
Early life and family
Jack La Rue birth certificate
Gaspare Biondolillo was the son of Sicilian immigrants Luigi Biondolillo (1874–1951) and Giuseppa Biondolillo (1879–1970). Gaspare or "Jasper" was the oldest of six children. He was born in Lercara Friddi, Sicily.[citation needed]
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.[citation needed]
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.[citation needed]
Luigi had a brother name 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".[citation needed]
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).[citation needed] 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.[2] 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.[3]
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.[3] 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".[2] 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.[3]
Personal life
He was married three times.[1] La Rue married Los Angeles socialite Constance Deighton Simpson on September 22, 1938, in London.[4] She obtained a divorce on December 17, 1946, charging him with mental cruelty.[4] In 1955, he obtained an annulment from former Baroness Violet Edith von Rosenberg after six years of marriage, claiming she had only married him to obtain American citizenship and that they separated after less than two months.[5] He married Anne Giordano on August 12, 1962; she obtained an annulment in 1967.[6]
