Grace La Rue
Encyclopedia
Grace La Rue was an American actress, singer, and Vaudeville
headliner.
. In 1909, she married Byron (The Millionaire Kid) Chandler in London. The marriage broke up in 1914 when La Rue left the relationship, alleging that Chandler was unfaithful and that he beat her.
La Rue made her debut as a Vaudeville single act in November 1912 at Poli's in Springfield, Missouri. As part of the act she sang an aria from Madame Butterfly, and a duet with a phonograph recording of Enrico Caruso. Variety
gave her a good review commenting that the act gave La Rue the "opportunity to display her Parisian cultivated voice."
La Rue made her debut at the Palace Theatre on August 4, 1913. Her act featured the song "You Made Me Love You (I Didn't Want to Do It)
", from the show Honeymoon Express, a musical she had appeared in with Al Jolson
. Later that year, she brought her Vaudeville act to Britain, appearing at the London Palace on August 4, 1913.
In 1919, La Rue made her screen debut opposite American stage and film actor Hale Hamilton in the melodrama That's Good. She married Hamilton on May 29, 1920, amid a whirl of controversy surrounding a lawsuit filed by Hamilton's first wife.
In 1922-23, La Rue appeared in Irving Berlin's second Music Box Revue at the Music Box in New York. In 1924, she appeared at the Coliseum in London with Hamilton. For the rest of the decade she worked mainly in the United States alternating between Vaudeville and in musical comedies and revues. One of her last big time appearances was in the 1928 Greenwich Village Follies at the Winter Garden in New York. She appeared in a 1929 Vitaphone
short called Grace La Rue: The International Star of Song. By the early 1930s, she had retired to California, where she made a brief appearance in the 1933 Mae West film She Done Him Wrong
. Grace La Rue died in San Francisco on March 13, 1956.
Vaudeville
Vaudeville was a theatrical genre of variety entertainment in the United States and Canada from the early 1880s until the early 1930s. Each performance was made up of a series of separate, unrelated acts grouped together on a common bill...
headliner.
Early life
Grace La Rue was born in Kansas City, Missouri, in 1882 to Mrs. Lucy L. Parsons. La Rue was a stage name, more exotic than her original surname of Parsons. She began her career as part of the team Burke and La Rue, with her first husband Charles Burke. One of their numbers was a minstrel piece entitled "Grace La Rue and her Inky Dinks". She soon broke away from the act - and Burke - to appear in musical comedy.Career
La Rue performed in a number of productions on Broadway debuting in The Tourists in 1906. She also appeared in The Blue Moon (1906), Molly May (1910), Betsy (1911), and the 1907 and 1908 Ziegfeld FolliesZiegfeld Follies
The Ziegfeld Follies were a series of elaborate theatrical productions on Broadway in New York City from 1907 through 1931. They became a radio program in 1932 and 1936 as The Ziegfeld Follies of the Air....
. In 1909, she married Byron (The Millionaire Kid) Chandler in London. The marriage broke up in 1914 when La Rue left the relationship, alleging that Chandler was unfaithful and that he beat her.
La Rue made her debut as a Vaudeville single act in November 1912 at Poli's in Springfield, Missouri. As part of the act she sang an aria from Madame Butterfly, and a duet with a phonograph recording of Enrico Caruso. Variety
Variety (magazine)
Variety is an American weekly entertainment-trade magazine founded in New York City, New York, in 1905 by Sime Silverman. With the rise of the importance of the motion-picture industry, Daily Variety, a daily edition based in Los Angeles, California, was founded by Silverman in 1933. In 1998, the...
gave her a good review commenting that the act gave La Rue the "opportunity to display her Parisian cultivated voice."
La Rue made her debut at the Palace Theatre on August 4, 1913. Her act featured the song "You Made Me Love You (I Didn't Want to Do It)
You Made Me Love You (I Didn't Want to Do It)
"You Made Me Love You " is a popular song.The music was written by James V. Monaco, the lyrics by Joseph McCarthy. The song was published in 1913. It was introduced in the Broadway revue The Honeymoon Express....
", from the show Honeymoon Express, a musical she had appeared in with Al Jolson
Al Jolson
Al Jolson was an American singer, comedian and actor. In his heyday, he was dubbed "The World's Greatest Entertainer"....
. Later that year, she brought her Vaudeville act to Britain, appearing at the London Palace on August 4, 1913.
In 1919, La Rue made her screen debut opposite American stage and film actor Hale Hamilton in the melodrama That's Good. She married Hamilton on May 29, 1920, amid a whirl of controversy surrounding a lawsuit filed by Hamilton's first wife.
In 1922-23, La Rue appeared in Irving Berlin's second Music Box Revue at the Music Box in New York. In 1924, she appeared at the Coliseum in London with Hamilton. For the rest of the decade she worked mainly in the United States alternating between Vaudeville and in musical comedies and revues. One of her last big time appearances was in the 1928 Greenwich Village Follies at the Winter Garden in New York. She appeared in a 1929 Vitaphone
Vitaphone
Vitaphone was a sound film process used on feature films and nearly 1,000 short subjects produced by Warner Bros. and its sister studio First National from 1926 to 1930. Vitaphone was the last, but most successful, of the sound-on-disc processes...
short called Grace La Rue: The International Star of Song. By the early 1930s, she had retired to California, where she made a brief appearance in the 1933 Mae West film She Done Him Wrong
She Done Him Wrong
She Done Him Wrong is a Pre-Code 1933 Paramount Pictures comedy romance film starring Mae West and Cary Grant. Others in the cast include Owen Moore, Gilbert Roland, Noah Beery, Sr., Louise Beavers and Rochelle Hudson....
. Grace La Rue died in San Francisco on March 13, 1956.
External links
- Grace La Rue at IBDb.com
- Grace LaRue New York Public Library Digital Gallery photo
- Grace La Rue in recording from 1910 singing Does Anybody Here Know Nancy
- 1920 passport photo Grace La Rue and Hale Hamilton