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Fifi D'Orsay‌

Gender

Female

Birthday

calendar1904-04-16

Popularity

star2.3

Fifi D'Orsay

Montreal, Quebec, Canada

Fifi D'Orsay

Montreal, Quebec, Canada

Gender

Female

Birthday

calendar1904-04-16

Popularity

star2.3

Biography

Fifi D'Orsay was born Marie-Rose Angelina Yvonne Lussier in Montreal, Canada, to a father who was a postal clerk. The couple had a large family, with Fifi having 11 siblings. She was educated at the Academy of the Sacred Heart in Montreal before graduating and finding work as a secretary. As a young typist she wished to become an actress, and moved to New York City. Once there she found work with the Greenwich Village Follies, after an audition in which she sang "Yes! We Have No Bananas" in French. When asked where she was from, she told the director she was from Paris, France, and that she had worked in the Folies Bergère. The impressed director hired her, billing her as "Mademoiselle Fifi". While working in the Follies, she became involved with Ed Gallagher, a veteran actor who was half of the successful Broadway comedy team of Gallagher and Shean. Gallagher and D'Orsay put together a vaudeville act, and he coached her in the art of show business. After touring in vaudeville, she headed to Hollywood and adopted the surname "D'Orsay" (after a favorite perfume). Soon after she began working in films, often cast as the "naughty French girl" from "gay Paris". She became a U.S. citizen in 1936, just as her career as a film star came to a sharp halt when she walked out on her contract at Fox Studios and was blacklisted. While never becoming a major top-billing name, she found steady work - appearing with such stalwarts as Bing Crosby and Buster Crabbe. For years she worked in both film and vaudeville; pacing her appearances in film with continued performances in vaudeville. When age put an end to the glamour roles, she took jobs in television; including 2 appearances each on ABC's Adventures in Paradise (as a mother superior in the episode "Castaways"), and the CBS legal drama Perry Mason (in the episode "The Case of the Grumbling Grandfather" and in the episode “The Case of the Bountiful Beauty”)- as well appearing in the CBS sitcom Pete and Gladys. She was a contestant on Groucho Marx's You Bet Your Life, and at the age of sixty-seven she bookended her career with a return to the Broadway stage in the Tony Award-winning musical, Follies.

Movie Credits

Nabonga

Nabonga‌
star3.9
calendar 1944

The Gangster

The Gangster‌
star4.7
calendar 1947

Going Hollywood

Going Hollywood‌
star5.5
calendar 1933

On the Level

On the Level‌
star0.0
calendar 1930

Delinquent Daughters

Delinquent Daughters‌
star4.0
calendar 1944

Mr. Lemon Of Orange

Mr. Lemon Of Orange‌
star6.0
calendar 1931

Wonder Bar

Wonder Bar‌
star6.2
calendar 1934

They Had to See Paris

They Had to See Paris‌
star5.6
calendar 1929

Women Everywhere

Women Everywhere‌
star3.0
calendar 1930

The Life of Jimmy Dolan

The Life of Jimmy Dolan‌
star6.1
calendar 1933

The Girl from Calgary

The Girl from Calgary‌
star5.0
calendar 1932

Hot for Paris

Hot for Paris‌
star0.0
calendar 1929

What a Way to Go!

What a Way to Go!‌
star6.9
calendar 1964

Those Three French Girls

Those Three French Girls‌
star4.0
calendar 1930

Dixie Jamboree

Dixie Jamboree‌
star4.5
calendar 1944

Three Legionnaires

Three Legionnaires‌
star0.0
calendar 1937

Wild and Wonderful

Wild and Wonderful‌
star6.3
calendar 1964

The Stolen Jools

The Stolen Jools‌
star5.6
calendar 1931

Women of All Nations

Women of All Nations‌
star2.6
calendar 1931

Piano Mooner

Piano Mooner‌
star0.0
calendar 1942

Young as You Feel

Young as You Feel‌
star0.0
calendar 1931

That's Entertainment, Part II

That's Entertainment, Part II‌
star6.8
calendar 1976

Submarine Base

Submarine Base‌
star4.3
calendar 1943

The Art of Love

The Art of Love‌
star5.3
calendar 1965

Assignment to Kill

Assignment to Kill‌
star6.0
calendar 1968

Tv Credits

Perry Mason

Perry Mason‌
star7.6
calendar 1957

Combat!

Combat!‌
star7.6
calendar 1962

Bewitched

Bewitched‌
star7.9
calendar 1964

General Electric Theater

General Electric Theater‌
star5.5
calendar 1953

Thriller

Thriller‌
star6.2
calendar 1960

Adventures in Paradise

Adventures in Paradise‌
star5.7
calendar 1959

Pete and Gladys

Pete and Gladys‌
star6.5
calendar 1960

Mr. & Mrs. North

Mr. & Mrs. North‌
star4.8
calendar 1952

The Mike Douglas Show

The Mike Douglas Show‌
star4.8
calendar 1961

Adventures in Paradise

Adventures in Paradise‌
star5.7
calendar 1959

This Is Your Life

This Is Your Life‌
star6.4
calendar 1952

The Lucy Show

The Lucy Show‌
star7.1
calendar 1962

Perry Mason

Perry Mason‌
star7.6
calendar 1957