CineScope
Fifi D'Orsay picture

Fifi D'Orsay

Acting
Known For

79 Years Old

Fifi D'Orsay was born Marie-Rose Angelina Yvonne Lussier in Montreal, Canada, to a father who was a postal clerk. The couple had 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. As a young typist she wished to become an actress, and moved to New York City. Once there she found work with the Greenwich Village Follies, after an audition in which she sang "Yes! We Have No Bananas" in French. When asked where she was from, she told the director she was from Paris, France, and that she had worked in the Folies Bergère. 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 act, and he coached her in the art of show business. After touring in vaudeville, she headed to 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 - appearing with such stalwarts as Bing Crosby 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 legal drama Perry Mason (in the episode "The Case of the Grumbling Grandfather" and in the episode “The Case of the Bountiful Beauty”)- as well appearing in the CBS sitcom Pete and Gladys. She was a contestant on Groucho Marx's You Bet Your Life, and at the age of sixty-seven she bookended her career with a return to the Broadway stage in the Tony Award-winning musical, Follies.

Born

Montreal, Quebec, Canada on 16th April 1904

Died

2nd December 1983

All Credits

Combat! Image
Combat!
Mrs. Fouquet
Perry Mason Image
Perry Mason
Mrs. Davis
Perry Mason Image
Perry Mason
Woman Witness
Pete and Gladys Image
Pete and Gladys
This Is Your Life Image
This Is Your Life
Self
Adventures in Paradise Image
Adventures in Paradise
Wanda
Adventures in Paradise Image
Adventures in Paradise
Mother Superior
The Mike Douglas Show Image
The Mike Douglas Show
Self
Mr. & Mrs. North Image
Mr. & Mrs. North
Thriller Image
Thriller
Toinette
The Lucy Show Image
The Lucy Show
Madame Fifi
Bewitched Image
Bewitched
General Electric Theater Image
General Electric Theater
Simone
The Art of Love Image
The Art of Love
Fanny
What a Way to Go! Image
What a Way to Go!
Baroness
That's Entertainment, Part II Image
That's Entertainment, Part II
(archive footage)
Delinquent Daughters Image
Delinquent Daughters
Mimi
The Gangster Image
The Gangster
Mrs. Ostroleng
Wonder Bar Image
Wonder Bar
Mitzi
The Stolen Jools Image
The Stolen Jools
Fifi D'Orsay
The Life of Jimmy Dolan Image
The Life of Jimmy Dolan
Budgie
Dixie Jamboree Image
Dixie Jamboree
Yvette
Submarine Base Image
Submarine Base
Maria Styx
Going Hollywood Image
Going Hollywood
Lili Yvonne
Assignment to Kill Image
Assignment to Kill
Mrs. Hennie
Hot for Paris Image
Hot for Paris
Fifi Dupre
Wild and Wonderful Image
Wild and Wonderful
Simone
Nabonga Image
Nabonga
Marie
The Girl from Calgary Image
The Girl from Calgary
Fifi Follette
On the Level Image
On the Level
Mimi
Mr. Lemon Of Orange Image
Mr. Lemon Of Orange
Julie La Rue
Young as You Feel Image
Young as You Feel
Fleurette
Those Three French Girls Image
Those Three French Girls
Charmaine (as Fifi Dorsay)
Piano Mooner Image
Piano Mooner
Maid
They Had to See Paris Image
They Had to See Paris
Fifi
Women of All Nations Image
Women of All Nations
Fifi
No Image
Three Legionnaires
Olga
Women Everywhere Image
Women Everywhere
Lili La Fleur