Rod La Rocque (November 29, 1896 - October 15, 1969) was an American
actorAn actor or actress is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity...
.
He was born
Rodrique la Rocque de la Rour in Chicago, Illinois of French and Irish descent. He began appearing in stock theater at the age of seven and eventually ended up at the
Essanay StudiosThe Essanay Film Manufacturing Company was an American motion picture studio founded in 1907 in the neighborhood of Uptown, Chicago, Illinois by George K. Spoor and Gilbert M. Anderson, originally as the Peerless Film Manufacturing Company, but on August 10, 1907 changing the name to Essanay...
in Chicago where he found steady work until the studios closed. He then moved to
New York CityNew York is the most populous city in the United States, and the center of the New York metropolitan area, which is among the most populous urban areas in the world. A leading global city, New York exerts a powerful influence over worldwide commerce, finance, culture, fashion and entertainment...
and worked on the stage until he was noticed by
Samuel GoldwynSamuel Goldwyn was an American film producer, and founding contributor executive of several motion picture studios.-Biography:...
who took him to Hollywood.
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Rod La Rocque (November 29, 1896 - October 15, 1969) was an American
actorAn actor or actress is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity...
.
He was born
Rodrique la Rocque de la Rour in Chicago, Illinois of French and Irish descent. He began appearing in stock theater at the age of seven and eventually ended up at the
Essanay StudiosThe Essanay Film Manufacturing Company was an American motion picture studio founded in 1907 in the neighborhood of Uptown, Chicago, Illinois by George K. Spoor and Gilbert M. Anderson, originally as the Peerless Film Manufacturing Company, but on August 10, 1907 changing the name to Essanay...
in Chicago where he found steady work until the studios closed. He then moved to
New York CityNew York is the most populous city in the United States, and the center of the New York metropolitan area, which is among the most populous urban areas in the world. A leading global city, New York exerts a powerful influence over worldwide commerce, finance, culture, fashion and entertainment...
and worked on the stage until he was noticed by
Samuel GoldwynSamuel Goldwyn was an American film producer, and founding contributor executive of several motion picture studios.-Biography:...
who took him to Hollywood. Over the next two decades, he appeared in films and made the transition to sound films with ease.
In 1927, he married Hungarian actress
Vilma BánkyVilma Bánky was a Hungarian-born American silent film actress, although the early part of her acting career began in Budapest, spreading to France, Austria, and Germany.-Early life:...
in a lavish and highly publicized wedding. They were married until his death in 1969, and seemed to have a loving compatible relationship.
La Rocque retired from movies in 1941 and became a
real estateReal estate is a legal term that encompasses land along with anything permanently affixed to the land, such as buildings, specifically property that is fixed in location.
"Real estate" The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition. Houghton Mifflin...
broker.
He and his wife created an educational foundation for children called The Banky La Rocque Foundation.
For his contribution to the film industry, La Rocque was awarded a star on the
Hollywood Walk of FameThe Hollywood Walk of Fame is a sidewalk along Hollywood Boulevard and Vine Street in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA, that serves as an entertainment museum...
.
Selected filmography
- Meet John Doe
Meet John Doe is a 1941 comedy drama film directed and produced by Frank Capra and starring Gary Cooper and Barbara Stanwyck. The film, about a "grassroots" political campaign, created unwittingly by a newspaper columnist and pursued by a wealthy businessman, became a box office hit and was...
(1941The year 1941 in film involved some significant events.-Events:Citizen Kane, consistently rated as one of the greatest films of all time, was released in 1941.-Top grossing films :-Academy Awards:...
) with Barbara StanwyckBarbara Stanwyck was an American actress, a star of film and television, known during her 60-year career as a consummate and versatile professional with a strong screen presence, and a favorite of directors such as Cecil B. DeMille, Fritz Lang and Frank Capra...
and Gary CooperFrank James “Gary” Cooper was an American film actor. He was renowned for his quiet, understated acting style and his stoic, individualistic, emotionally restrained, but at times intense screen persona, which was particularly well suited to the many Westerns he made...
- SOS Iceberg (1933) English-language version of SOS Eisberg with Leni Riefenstahl
Helene Bertha Amalie "Leni" Riefenstahl was a German film director, actress and dancer widely noted for her aesthetics and innovations as a filmmaker. Her most famous film was Triumph des Willens , a propaganda film made at the 1934 Nuremberg congress of the Nazi Party...
- One Romantic Night
One Romantic Night is the title given to the first sound film version of Ferenc Molnar's play The Swan, and was silent screen star Lillian Gish's talking film debut. She starred as Princess Alexandra, with Conrad Nagel as the tutor who falls in love with her, and Rod La Rocque as Crown Prince...
(1930-Top grossing films:-Academy Awards:*Best Picture: All Quiet on the Western Front - Universal Studios*Best Actress: Norma Shearer - The Divorcee*Best Actor: George Arliss - Disraeli...
) with Lillian GishLillian Diana Gish was an American stage, screen and television actress whose film acting career spanned 75 years, from 1912 to 1987. She was a prominent film star of the 1910s and 1920s, particularly associated with the films of director D.W. Griffith, including her leading role in Griffith's...
- Resurrection
The resurrection of dead humans is a central doctrine of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. It may refer either to the resurrection of particular individuals, or a general resurrection of humanity....
(1927-Events:*January 10 - Fritz Lang's science-fiction fantasy Metropolis premieres in Germany.*April 12 - The Marx Brothers' Zeppo Marx marries Marion Benda....
) with Dolores del RíoDolores del Río was a Mexican film actress. She was a star of Hollywood films during the silent era and in the Golden Age of Hollywood, becoming an important actress in Mexican films later in her life....
- Cruise of the Jasper B
Cruise of the Jasper B is a 1926 American silent action/adventure comedy film produced by Cecil B. DeMille and directed by James W. Horne. The film is loosely based on the 1916 novel of the same name by American poet Don Marquis, although the film adaptation and novel share little in common.-Plot...
(1926-Events:*August - Warner Brothers debuts the first Vitaphone film, Don Juan. The Vitaphone system used multiple 33⅓ rpm disc records developed by Bell Telephone Laboratories and Western Electric to play back audio synchronized with film....
) with Mildred HarrisMildred Harris was an American actress of the silent film era.-Early life:Born in Cheyenne, Wyoming, Mildred Harris made her first screen appearances at the age of eleven in the Francis Ford and Thomas H...
- The Golden Bed
The Golden Bed is a 1925 drama film directed by Cecil B. DeMille. Prints of the film survive in the film archive at George Eastman House. -Cast:* Lillian Rich - Flora Lee Peake* Henry B...
(1925-Top grossing films :-Films released in 1925:*El Húsar de la muerte, starring and directed by Pedro Sienna.*The Battleship Potemkin*Ben-Hur, starring Ramon Novarro....
) with Lillian RichLillian Rich , was an English actress of the silent era. She appeared in 66 films between 1919 and 1940.She was born in Herne Hill, London and died in Woodland Hills, Los Angeles.-Selected filmography:...
- Forbidden Paradise
Forbidden Paradise is a 1924 American silent drama film directed by German film director Ernst Lubitsch. The film is based on a play by Lajos Biró about Catherine the Great starring Pola Negri in that role. The film marked only Clark Gable's second film....
(1924-Events:* Entertainment entrepreneur Marcus Loew gained control of Metro Pictures, Goldwyn Pictures Corporation and Louis B. Mayer Pictures to create Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer...
) with Pola NegriPola Negri was a Polish film actress who achieved notoriety as a femme fatale in silent films between 1910s and 1930s.-Personal life:...
- Feet of Clay
Feet of Clay is a 1924 drama film directed by Cecil B. DeMille. The film is now considered to be lost. -Cast:* Vera Reynolds - Amy Loring* Rod La Rocque - Kerry Harlan* Julia Faye - Bertha Lansell* Ricardo Cortez - Tony Channing...
(1924) with Vera ReynoldsVera Reynolds was an American silent film actress. She was born in Richmond, Virginia on November 25, 1899. She started out as a dancer, worked as a Mack Sennett bathing beauty, and became a leading lady in silent motion pictures. Vera appeared in many of the earliest films produced by Cecil B....
- Triumph
-Cast:* Leatrice Joy - Ann Land* Rod La Rocque - King Garnet* Victor Varconi - William Silver* Charles Ogle - James Martin* Theodore Kosloff - Varinoff* Robert Edeson - Smauel Overton* Julia Faye - Countess Rika* George Fawcett - David Garnet...
(1924) with Leatrice JoyLeatrice Joy was an American actress most prolific during the early silent film era.-Early life and career:...
- The Ten Commandments
The Ten Commandments is a 1923 epic silent film directed by Cecil B. DeMille, starring Theodore Roberts as Moses, Charles de Rochefort as Pharaoh Ramesses, Estelle Taylor as Miriam the sister of Moses, and James Neill as Aaron, the brother of Moses. The cast also included notable silent film actors...
(1923-Events:*April 15 - Lee De Forest demonstrates the Phonofilm sound-on-film system at the Rivoli Theater in New York with a series of short musical films featuring vaudeville performers.-Top grossing films :-Films released in 1923:...
)
- A Perfect 36
A Perfect 36 is a 1918 movie starring Mabel Normand, written by Tex Charwate, and directed by Charles Giblyn.-Cast:Mabel Normand ... Mabel
Rod La Rocque ... O.P. Dildock
Flora Zabelle ... Lena
Leila Romer ... Landlady
...
(1918) with Mabel NormandMabel Normand was an American silent film comedienne and actress. She was a popular star of Mack Sennett's Keystone Studios and is noted as one of the film industry's first female screenwriters, producers and directors...
- The Venus Model
The Venus Model is a 1918 film starring Mabel Normand and directed by Clarence G. Badger.-Cast:Mabel Normand ... Kitty O'Brien
Rod La Rocque ... Paul Braddock
Alec B. Francis ... John Braddock
Alfred Hickman ... Nathan Bergman
...
(1918) with Mabel Normand
External links