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