Gina Palerme

Gina Palerme (born Marie Louise Irène de Maulmont,[1] 18 December 1885 – 26 December 1977) was a French actress and dancer.

Gina Palerme
Gina Palerme and Roy Royston in Bric-a-Brac, 1915
Born
Marie Louise Irène de Maulmont

18 December 1885
Bussière-Galant, French Third Republic
Died26 December 1977 (aged 92)
Les Pavillons-sous-Bois, France
OccupationActress
Years active1909–1929
Spouse
Pierre Palette
​
(m. 1932)​

Biography

Gina Palerme was born Marie Louise Irène de Maulmont (also spelled Maumont) on 18 December 1885, the daughter of Baron Marie Antoine Aymard Hubert de Maulmont (1850–1891) and Antoinette Gazenaud (born 1853). She had an older brother, Marie Jean Baptiste Marcel (1882–1914), who died in World War I,[2] and a younger sister, Rose (born 1889). The family were descended from the ancient Limousin nobility and were related to the House of Borgia.[3]

Palerme's father died in 1891, and she and her two siblings were raised by their widowed mother.

Palerme began her stage career in France in 1909 before being discovered by an English impresario in 1910. Palerme left for London, and debuted as Toinette in The Quaker Girl at the Adelphi Theatre, followed by appearances in West-end productions such as The Dancing Mistress (1912), Betty (1914), Platons Les Capucines (1914), Bric-a-Brac (1915), Vanity Fair (1916), La Petite Chocolatière (1917), Finsbury (1917), and The Girl for the Boy (1919).[4][5]

Cecil Beaton enthusiastically wrote, "Gina Palerme brought the glamour of the French cocotte to London. Her off-stage appearances were as sensational as her stage escapades...sometimes she wore a velvet tam-o'-shanter and men's riding breeches while relaxing in the richly ornate gilt of her Maida Vale drawing-room."[6]

Palerme returned to France in 1919, and acted in various silent films, such as L’éternel féminin (1921), Margot (1922), L’idée de Françoise (1923), in which she played the title role, and Frou-Frou (1923).[7]

She appeared in The Battle (1923) with Sessue Hayakawa and his wife Tsuru Aoki. She also appeared with Hayakawa and Aoki in the American version of The Battle, The Danger Line (1924).

In 1924, she co-starred with Max Linder in Au Secours!.[8] Her final screen appearance was in La Clé de voûte (1925), directed by Roger Lion and produced by Palerme herself.

After leaving the film industry, Palerme worked in French cabarets such as the Moulin Rouge and the Concert Mayol.[9]

Palerme retired in 1929. On 6 February 1932, she married Pierre Palette, a commercial employee. Palerme died on 26 December 1977.

Selected filmography

References
  1. "Family tree of Irène Gina Palerme".
  2. "Family tree of Marie Jean Baptiste Marcel de MAULMONT".
  3. Rolley, Katrina; Aish, Caroline (1992). Fashion in Photographs, 1900-1920. ISBN 9780713461190.
  4. Who Was Who in the Theatre: 1912-76, volume 3 I-P page 1866 ; compiled from annual editions by John Parker, this 1976 edition by Gale Research..Retrieved June 18, 2015
  5. "Tatler: An Illustrated Journal of Society, the Drama, and Sport". 1917.
  6. "Gina Palerme - National Portrait Gallery".
  7. Goble, Alan (8 September 2011). The Complete Index to Literary Sources in Film. ISBN 9783110951943.
  8. Abel, Richard (January 1996). Silent Film. ISBN 9780485300765.
  9. "FRENCH ACTRESS ARRIVES.; Gina Palerme of the Moulin Rouge Engaged by Shuberts". The New York Times. 12 November 1929.
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