Fifi D'Orsay
Encyclopedia
Biography
Born Marie-Rose Angelina Yvonne Lussier in MontrealMontreal
Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...
, Quebec
Quebec
Quebec or is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking population and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....
, as a young typist, filled with the desire to become an actress, she went to New York City. There, she found work in The Greenwich Village Follies after an audition in which she sang the song "Yes, We Have No Bananas
Yes, We Have No Bananas
"Yes! We Have No Bananas" is the title of a novelty song by Frank Silver and Irving Cohn from the 1922 Broadway revue Make It Snappy. Sung by Eddie Cantor in the revue, the song became a major hit in 1923 when it was recorded by Billy Jones, Arthur Hall, Irving Kaufman, and others...
' in French. In a burst of creativity, she told the play's director she was from Paris, France where she had worked in the Folies Bergères
Folies Bergères
The Folies Bergère established in 1869 in Paris, France, is a music hall which was at the height of its fame and popularity from the 1890s through the 1920s. the institution is still in business.-History:...
. The show's impressed director hired her, billing her as "Mademoiselle Fifi".
While working in the show, she became involved with Ed Gallagher
Edward Gallagher
Edward Gallagher was a vaudeville actor and half of the act Gallagher and Shean. Their story was told in an animated movie Mr. Gallagher and Mr. Shean by Max Fleischer and Dave Fleischer who also created Koko the Clown and Betty Boop...
, a veteran actor who joined her in putting together a vaudeville
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...
act. Gallagher was half of the successful Broadway comedy team of Gallagher and Shean
Gallagher and Shean
Gallagher & Shean was a highly successful double act on vaudeville and Broadway in the 1910s and 1920s, consisting of Edward Gallagher and Al Shean .-Career:...
, and coached his protegee in the ways of show business.
After touring in vaudeville, she headed west to Hollywood, California. There, she adopted the surname "D'Orsay" (after a favorite perfume) and began a career in movies, often cast as the naughty French girl from "gay Paris."
While never a superstar, she worked hard at her craft, headlining with the likes of Bing Crosby
Bing Crosby
Harry Lillis "Bing" Crosby was an American singer and actor. Crosby's trademark bass-baritone voice made him one of the best-selling recording artists of the 20th century, with over half a billion records in circulation....
and Buster Crabbe
Buster Crabbe
Clarence Linden "Buster" Crabbe was an American athlete and actor, who starred in a number of popular serials in the 1930s and 1940s.-Birth:...
. For years, she kept alternating her appearances in film with continued performances in vaudeville and when age put an end to the glamour roles, she readily took jobs in television. She can be seen as a contestant in the 23rd February 1956 TV edition of You Bet Your Life
You Bet Your Life
You Bet Your Life is an American quiz show that aired on both radio and television. The original and best-known version was hosted by Groucho Marx of the Marx Brothers, with announcer and assistant George Fenneman. The show debuted on ABC Radio in October 1947, then moved to CBS Radio in September...
. At the age of sixty-seven, she appeared back on stage in the Tony Award
Tony Award
The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Theatre, more commonly known as a Tony Award, recognizes achievement in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual ceremony in New York City. The awards are given for Broadway...
winning Broadway musical, Follies
Follies
Follies is a musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and a book by James Goldman. The story concerns a reunion in a crumbling Broadway theatre, scheduled for demolition, of the past performers of the "Weismann's Follies," a musical revue , that played in that theatre between the World Wars...
.
Fifi D'Orsay died from cancer at the age of 79 in Woodland Hills, California and was interred in the Forest Lawn Memorial Park Cemetery in Glendale, California
Glendale, California
Glendale is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. As of the 2010 Census, the city population is 191,719, down from 194,973 at the 2000 census. making it the third largest city in Los Angeles County and the 22nd largest city in the state of California...
.
Partial filmography
- Assignment to KillAssignment to KillAssignment to Kill is a 1968 American drama film directed by Sheldon Reynolds and starring Patrick O'Neal, Joan Hackett, John Gielgud, Herbert Lom and Oskar Homolka. A private detective is hired by an insurance company to investigate a shipping tycoon who is suspected of deliberately sinking his...
- (1968) - The Art of Love - (1965)
- What a Way to Go!What a Way to Go!What a Way to Go! is a 1964 American comedy film directed by J. Lee Thompson and starring Shirley MacLaine, Paul Newman, Robert Mitchum, Dean Martin, Gene Kelly, Margaret Dumont, Bob Cummings and Dick Van Dyke.-Plot:...
- (1964) - Wild And Wonderful - (1964)
- The GangsterThe GangsterThe Gangster is an American crime film noir directed by Gordon Wiles. The drama features Barry Sullivan, Belita, Joan Lorring and Akim Tamiroff...
- (1947) - Dixie JamboreeDixie Jamboree-Cast:*Frances Langford as Susan Jackson*Guy Kibbee as Capt. Jackson of the 'Ellabella'*Eddie Quillan as Jeff Calhoun*Charles Butterworth as Professor*Fifi D'Orsay as Yvette*Lyle Talbot as Anthony 'Tony' Sardell*Frank Jenks as Jack 'Curly' Berger...
- (1945) - Delinquent DaughtersDelinquent DaughtersDelinquent Daughters, or Accent on Crime is a 1944 exploitation film. Directed by Albert Herman and starring June Carlson, the film was about a police investigation into the suicide death of a high school girl, and the hard-partying teenagers at a party prior to the incident.-References:* IMDb: .*...
- (1944) - NabongaNabongaNabonga is a PRC film made in 1943 starring Buster Crabbe and in her debut, Julie London. It was retitled Jungle Woman in the British Empire.- Plot :...
- (1944) - Submarine BaseSubmarine baseA submarine base is a military base that shelters submarines and their personnel.Examples of present-day submarine bases include HMNB Clyde, Île Longue , Naval Submarine Base Kings Bay, Naval Submarine Base New London, and Rybachiy Nuclear Submarine Base .The Israeli navy bases its growing submarine...
- (1943) - Three Legionnaires - (1937)
- Wonder BarWonder BarWonder Bar is a 1934 pre-code movie adaptation of a Broadway musical of the same name directed by Lloyd Bacon with musical numbers created by Busby Berkeley...
- (1934) - The Life of Jimmy DolanThe Life of Jimmy DolanThe Life of Jimmy Dolan is a 1933 starring Douglas Fairbanks Jr. and Loretta Young. It features John Wayne in a small supporting role as a frightened boxer. It was remade in 1939 as They Made Me a Criminal.-Cast:* Douglas Fairbanks Jr. as Jimmy Dolan* Loretta Young as Peggy* Aline MacMahon as...
- (1933) - They Just Had to Get MarriedThey Just Had to Get MarriedThey Just Had to Get Married is a comedy film directed by Edward Ludwig and starring Slim Summerville, Zasu Pitts, Roland Young, and Verree Teasdale....
- (1933) - Going HollywoodGoing HollywoodGoing Hollywood is an American black-and-white musical film directed by Raoul Walsh, starring Marion Davies and Bing Crosby, written by Donald Ogden Stewart, and released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. The film tells the story of Sylvia , a French teacher at an all-girl school, who wants to find love...
- (1933) - The Girl From CalgaryThe Girl from CalgaryThe Girl from Calgary is a 1932 American musical comedy film directed by Phil Whitman.- Cast :*Fifi D'Orsay as Fifi Follette*Paul Kelly as Larry Boyd*Robert Warwick as Bill Webster*Edwin Maxwell as Earl Darrell*Astrid Allwyn as Mazie Williams...
- (1932) - Mr. Lemon of OrangeMr. Lemon of OrangeMr. Lemon of Orange is a comedy film starring El Brendel and Fifi D'Orsay, directed by John G. Blystone, and released by Fox Film Corporation.-Cast :*El Brendel as Mr. Lemon/Silent McGee*Fifi D'Orsay as Julie LaRue...
- (1931) - Young as You Feel - (1931)
- The Stolen JoolsThe Stolen JoolsThe Stolen Jools is a short comedy film produced by the Masquers Club of Hollywood, featuring many cameo appearances by the film stars of the day...
- (1931) - Women of All Nations - (1931)
- On the Level - (1930)
- Those Three French GirlsThose Three French GirlsThose Three French Girls is a 1930 American comedy film directed by Harry Beaumont and starring Fifi D'Orsay, Reginald Denny and Cliff Edwards. While on holiday in a small French town, an Englishman encounters three French girls and two American men. The dialogue was written by P.G....
- (1930) - Hot for ParisHot for ParisHot for Paris is a 1929 American black-and-white romantic adventure musical film. This film is believed to be lost. The film is also known as Fifì dimmi di sì in Italy and Un marido afortunado in Spain...
- (1930) - Women Everywhere - (1930)
- They Had to See ParisThey Had to See ParisThey Had to See Paris is a 1929 American comedy film directed by Frank Borzage and starring Will Rogers, Irene Rich and Marguerite Churchill. A wealthy American oil tycoon travels to Paris with his family at his wife's request, despite the fact he hates the French.Rogers starred in a similar film...
- (1929)
See also
- Other Canadian pioneers in early HollywoodCanadian pioneers in early HollywoodMotion pictures have been a part of the culture of Canada since the beginning.-History:Around 1910, the East Coast filmmakers began to take advantage of California winters and after Nestor Studios, run by Canadian Al Christie, built the first permanent movie studio in Hollywood a number of the...