Fifi D'Orsay (born Marie-Rose Angelina Yvonne Lussier; April 16, 1904 – December 2, 1983) was a Canadian-American actress and singer.

Early life

Fifi D'Orsay was born Marie-Rose Angelina Yvonne Lussier in

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

Quebec Quebec is Canada's List of Canadian provinces and territories by area, largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares borders with the provinces of Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, ...

, Canada, to a father who was a postal clerk. The D'Orsays were 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.

Biography

As a young stenographer, she wished to become an actress, and moved to New York City. Once there she found work with the

Greenwich Village Follies ''The Greenwich Village Follies'' was a musical revue that played for eight seasons in New York City from 1919 to 1927. Launched by John Murray Anderson, and opening on July 15, 1919, at the newly constructed Greenwich Village Theatre near Ch ...

, after an audition in which she sang "

Yes! We Have No Bananas "Yes! We Have No Bananas" is an American novelty song by Frank Silver and Irving Cohn published March 23, 1923. It became a major hit that year (placing No. 1 for five weeks) when it was recorded by Billy Jones (singer), Billy Jones, Billy Murra ...

" in French. When asked where she was from, she told the director she was from

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

, and that she had worked in the

Folies Bergère 150px, Stanisław Julian Ignacy Ostroróg">Walery, 1927 The Folies Bergère () is a cabaret music hall in Paris, France. Located at 32 Rue Richer in the 9th Arrondissement, the Folies Bergère was built as an opera house by the arc ...

. 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 Vaudeville (; ) is a theatrical genre of variety entertainment which began in France in the middle of the 19th century. A ''vaudeville'' was originally a comedy without psychological or moral intentions, based on a comical situation: a drama ...

act, and he coached her in the art of show business. After touring in vaudeville, she headed to

Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * 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, and appeared with such stalwarts as

Bing Crosby Harry Lillis "Bing" Crosby Jr. (May 3, 1903 – October 14, 1977) was an American singer, comedian, entertainer and actor. The first multimedia star, he was one of the most popular and influential musical artists of the 20th century worldwi ...

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 CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS (an abbreviation of its original name, Columbia Broadcasting System), is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainme ...

legal drama Legal drama, also called courtroom drama, is a genre of film and television that generally focuses on narratives regarding legal practice and the justice system. The American Film Institute (AFI) defines "courtroom drama" as a genre of film in wh ...

'' Perry Mason'' (in the episodes "The Case of the Grumbling Grandfather" and "The Case of the Bountiful Beauty")—as well as appearing in the CBS

sitcom A sitcom (short for situation comedy or situational comedy) is a genre of comedy produced for radio and television, that centers on a recurring cast of character (arts), characters as they navigate humorous situations within a consistent settin ...

Pete and Gladys ''Pete and Gladys'' is an American television sitcom starring Harry Morgan and Cara Williams that aired on CBS every Monday at 8:00 pm Eastern and Pacific time for two seasons, beginning on September 19, 1960. The last episode was broad ...

''. She was a contestant on

Groucho Marx Julius Henry "Groucho" Marx (; October 2, 1890 – August 19, 1977) was an American comedian, actor, writer, and singer who performed in films and vaudeville on television, radio, and the stage. He is considered one of America's greatest comed ...

's ''

You Bet Your Life ''You Bet Your Life'' is an American comedy quiz series that has aired on both radioTony Award The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Broadway Theatre, more commonly known as a Tony Award, recognizes excellence in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual ce ...

-winning musical, '' Follies''.

Personal life

D'Orsay married twice. Her first husband was Earl Hill (also billed as "Maury Hill" & "Morgan Hill"), the son of a Chicago manufacturer. She divorced Hill in 1939 and married Peter LaRicos in 1947, a restaurateur and agent. D'Orsay died from cancer, aged 79, on December 2, 1983, at the

Motion Picture & Television Country House and Hospital In physics, motion is when an object changes its position with respect to a reference point in a given time. Motion is mathematically described in terms of displacement, distance, velocity, acceleration, speed, and frame of reference to an observ ...

Woodland Hills, Los Angeles Woodland Hills is a neighborhood bordering the Santa Monica Mountains in the San Fernando Valley region of Los Angeles, California, United States. History The area was inhabited for around 8,000 years by Native Americans in the United States, ...

. She was interred in the Forest Lawn Memorial Park Cemetery in

Glendale, California Glendale is a city located primarily in the Verdugo Mountains region, with a small portion in the San Fernando Valley, of Los Angeles County, California, United States. It is located about north of downtown Los Angeles. As of 2024, Glendale ha ...

Legacy

D'Orsay was credited as the girl who made the phrase "Ooh La La" widely known.

Partial filmography

* ''

They Had to See Paris ''They Had to See Paris'' is a 1929 American sound (sound film, All-Talking) Pre-Code comedy film directed by Frank Borzage and starring Will Rogers, Irene Rich, and Marguerite Churchill. The screenplay concerns a wealthy American oil tycoon wh ...

'' (1929) - Fifi * '' Hot for Paris'' (1929) - Fifi Dupre * '' On the Level'' (1930) - Miimi * '' Women Everywhere'' (1930) - Lili La Fleur * '' Those Three French Girls'' (1930) - Charmaine * '' Mr. Lemon of Orange'' (1931) - Julie La Rue * '' The Stolen Jools'' (1931, Short) - Fifi D'Orsay * '' Women of All Nations'' (1931) - Fifi (uncredited) * '' Young as You Feel'' (1931) - Fleurette * ''

The Girl from Calgary ''The Girl from Calgary'' is a 1932 American Pre-Code Hollywood, pre-Code musical comedy film directed by Phil Whitman, and starring Fifi D'Orsay and Paul Kelly (actor), Paul Kelly. Plot summary A French-Canadian girl is a champion bronc rider ...

'' (1932) - Fifi Follette * '' They Just Had to Get Married'' (1932) - Marie * '' The Life of Jimmy Dolan'' (1933) - Budgie * '' Going Hollywood'' (1933) - Lili Yvonne * '' Wonder Bar'' (1934) - Mitzi * ''

The Merry Widow ''The Merry Widow'' ( ) is an operetta by the Austria-Hungary, Austro-Hungarian composer Franz Lehár. The Libretto, librettists, Viktor Léon and Leo Stein (writer), Leo Stein, based the story – concerning a rich widow, and her countrymen's ...

'' (1934) - Marcelle * '' Three Legionnaires'' (1937) - Olga * ''

Submarine Base A submarine base is a military base that shelters submarines and their personnel. Examples of present-day submarine bases include HMNB Clyde, Île Longue (the base for France's Force océanique stratégique), Naval Submarine Base Kings Bay, N ...

'' (1943) - Maria Styx * '' Nabonga'' (1944) - Marie * '' Delinquent Daughters'' (1944) - Mimi * '' Dixie Jamboree'' (1945) - Yvette * '' The Gangster'' (1947) - Mrs. Ostroleng * '' Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse'' (1962) - French Prisoner (uncredited) * '' Wild and Wonderful'' (1964) - Simone * '' What a Way to Go!'' (1964) - Baroness * '' The Art of Love'' (1965) - Fanny * '' Assignment to Kill'' (1968) - Mrs. Hennie

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:D'Orsay, Fifi 1904 births 1983 deaths Actresses from Montreal American film actresses Canadian film actresses American vaudeville performers Canadian vaudeville performers American people of French-Canadian descent Canadian emigrants to the United States Deaths from cancer in California 20th-century American actresses Actresses from California Burials at Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Glendale) 20th-century American singers 20th-century Canadian singers