Adorée, Renée (1898–1933)

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Adorée, Renée (1898–1933)

French actress. Name variations: Renee Adoree. Born Jeanne de la Fonte in Lille, France, on September 30, 1898; died of tuberculosis in 1933; married Tom Moore (an actor), in 1921 (divorced 1924).

Selected filmography:

1500 Reward (1918); The Bandelero (1924); Man and Maid (1925); The Big Parade (1925); Parisian Nights (1925); La Bohème (1926); The Exquisite Sinner (1926); The Flaming Forest (1926); Mr. Wu (1927); On Ze Boulevard (1927); Back to God's Country (1927); The Cossacks (1928); The Michigan Kid (1928); Forbidden Hours (1928); The Mating Call (1928); The Spieler (1928); The Pagan (1929); Tide of Empire (1929); Redemption (1930); Call of the Flesh (1930).

At age five, Renée Adorée began her career as a circus performer. After a stint as a dancer with the Folies-Bergère and a role in an Australian movie (1500 Reward, 1918), she arrived in Hollywood in 1920. Adorée soon found stardom with her 1925 appearance as Melisande, the French peasant, in King Vidor's The Big Parade. In a memorable scene, she pushes her way through the massed army ranks to bid farewell to her American soldier (played by John Gilbert), who is about to go into battle. Adorée died in 1933, at age 35, following a losing battle with tuberculosis.