Gina Palerme (born Marie Louise Irène de Maulmont, 18 December 1885 – 26 December 1977) was a French

actress An actor or actress is a person who portrays a Character (arts), character in a performance. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. The analogous Greek ...

and

dancer Dance is a performing art form consisting of sequences of movement, either improvised or purposefully selected. This movement has aesthetic and often symbolic value. Dance can be categorized and described by its choreography, by its repertoi ...

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 World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, and a younger sister, Rose (born 1889). The family were descended from the ancient Limousin nobility and were related to the

House of Borgia The House of Borgia ( , ; Spanish and an, Borja ; ca-valencia, Borja ) was an Italian-Aragonese Spanish noble family, which rose to prominence during the Italian Renaissance. They were from Valencia, the surname being a toponymic from the town ...

. 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 London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

, and debuted as Toinette in ''The Quaker Girl'' at the

Adelphi Theatre The Adelphi Theatre is a West End theatre, located on the Strand in the City of Westminster, central London. The present building is the fourth on the site. The theatre has specialised in comedy and musical theatre, and today it is a receiv ...

, 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).

Cecil Beaton Sir Cecil Walter Hardy Beaton, (14 January 1904 – 18 January 1980) was a British fashion, portrait and war photographer, diarist, painter, and interior designer, as well as an Oscar–winning stage and costume designer for films and the theat ...

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." 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). She appeared in '' The Battle'' (1923) with

Sessue Hayakawa , known professionally as , was a Japanese actor and a matinée idol. He was a popular star in Hollywood during the silent film era of the 1910s and early 1920s. Hayakawa was the first actor of Asian descent to achieve stardom as a leading man i ...

and his wife

Tsuru Aoki was a Japanese stage and screen actress whose career was most prolific in the United States during the silent film era of the 1910s through the 1920s. Aoki may have been the first Asian actress to garner top billing in American motion pictures. ...

. 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 Max or MAX may refer to: Animals * Max (dog) (1983–2013), at one time purported to be the world's oldest living dog * Max (English Springer Spaniel), the first pet dog to win the PDSA Order of Merit (animal equivalent of OBE) * Max (gorilla) (1 ...

Au Secours! is a 1924 short French silent comedy film directed by Abel Gance and starring Max Linder. The French title translates into English as "Help!". The film is also known as ''The Haunted House'' in some reference books. The film was made on a dar ...

. Her final screen appearance was in ''La Clé de voûte'' (1925), directed by

Roger Lion Roger Lion (27 September 1882 – 27 October 1934) was a French film director and screenwriter. Filmographie * 1912 : ''L'Agence Cacahouète'' * 1914 : ''La Petite Bretonne'' * 1915 : ''À qui la femme?'' * 1916 : ''Sacré Joseph'' * 1916 ...

and produced by Palerme herself. After leaving the film industry, Palerme worked in French cabarets such as the

Moulin Rouge Moulin Rouge (, ; ) is a cabaret in Paris, on Boulevard de Clichy, at Place Blanche, the intersection of, and terminus of Rue Blanche. In 1889, the Moulin Rouge was co-founded by Charles Zidler and Joseph Oller, who also owned the Olympia (P ...

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

Selected filmography

*''Margot'' (1922) *''L'idée de Francoise'' (1923) *'' The Battle'' (1923) *''Frou-Frou'' (1924) *'' The Danger Line'' (1924) *''

Help Help is a word meaning to give aid or signal distress. Help may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''Help'' (2010 film), a Bollywood horror film * ''Help'' (2021 theatrical film), a British psychological thriller film * '' ...

! (1924) *short'' *''La Clé de voûte'' (1925)

References

External links

Gina Palerme @ IMDb.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Palerme, Gina 1885 births 1977 deaths French silent film actresses 20th-century French actresses French female dancers French stage actresses French vedettes Place of birth missing