Jack La Rue

Who was Jack La Rue?

Jack La Rue was an American film and stage actor.

Born as Gaspere Biondolillo, he worked on the New York stage from 1923 to 1931. He moved to Hollywood, where he appeared in numerous films. Sometimes mistaken for Humphrey Bogart, he played mostly thugs and gangsters. For example, in such a role, La Rue tormented the wrongly-accused Richard Cromwell in Universal Pictures's anti-Nazi action drama Enemy Agent, and was savagely beaten with a leather whip by Cary Grant in The Woman Accused. His most noteworthy leading role, however, was as the mobster "Trigger" in the pre-Code film The Story of Temple Drake opposite Miriam Hopkins.