
Person
Jacqueline Fontaine
Acting · 1927–1995 · Kenosha, Wisconsin, USA
Biography
Joyce Elaine Romeo, the raven-haired daughter of Orlando and Emma Romeo of 5606 34th Avenue in Kenosha, Wisconsin, studied at the nearby McKinley Junior High School and the downtown Mary D. Bradford High School while simultaneously nurturing her dreams of performing before appreciative audiences. She made her first such appearances in Chicago clubs before coming to Los Angeles for George White's Scandals and Billy Gray's Band Box (Dorothy Kilgallen noted her in July, 1946 as a dancer at LaConga) and local television. One such telecast caught the eye of producer Ron Ormond who signed her for "Outlaw Women" (1952) without a screen test. Previously she had appeared with Mickey Rooney as "the other woman" in The Strip. Also in 1952 Jacki (as she was labeled on Crystalette Records songs) worked with Jack Carson at the Sahati's Country Club Casino in Stateline, Nevada. Bing Crosby noticed her at a Pebble Beach golf tournament and cast her in The Country Girl. Later she did live appearances with comic Lenny Kent at the Casino Lounge in the Mapes Hotel and in 1962 with Buddy Lester at New Facks and at the Losers Club in Hollywood. and by 1965 at the Jamaica Room of the West Valley Bowl and at Sunset Boulevard's Key Club. Three years later she worked as a regular in a troupe with singer-comic Duke Mitchell, and by the 1970s she was seen at Aladdin's Funny Farm, the new Nine Thousand and the Fire and Flame in North Hollywood, with billing calling her "The Performer's Performer".
Known for

At Theatre Tonight
Hélène

Les Cinq Dernières Minutes
La réceptionniste

Bilitis
Supervisor

Les Cent Livres des Hommes
1970

Guess Who's Coming to Dinner
Singer (uncredited)

Alvarez Kelly
Bordello Girl

Under the Sign of the Bull
Louise, la domestique des Raynal

The Ladies Man
Working Girl

The Country Girl
Lounge Singer

Murderers' Row
Singer at Wake (uncredited)
Filmography
- 1990Gallant LadiesParente Labadens
- 1982Lorsque l'enfant paraitCharlotte Jacquet
- 1977BilitisSupervisor
- 1975It's Tough for Everybody
- 1974How to Make Good When One Is a Jerk and a CrybabyLa femme de Marcel
- 1972The Egg(uncredited)
- 1971Les Cent livres : À la recherche du temps perdu
- 1971To Die of Love
- 1970Les Cent Livres des Hommes
- 1969Under the Sign of the BullLouise, la domestique des Raynal
- 1967Guess Who's Coming to DinnerSinger (uncredited)
- 1966Murderers' RowSinger at Wake (uncredited)
- 1966Alvarez KellyBordello Girl
- 1966At Theatre TonightHélène
- 1965Le Naïf amoureuxA client
- 1962The Cross and the Banner
- 1961The Ladies ManWorking Girl
- 1959Born to Be LovedDame
- 1958Les Cinq Dernières MinutesLa réceptionniste
- 1956The Lieutenant Wore SkirtsBuxom Blonde at Party
- 1954The Country GirlLounge Singer
- 1952Outlaw WomenEllen Larabee
- 1951The StripFrieda
- 1951Untamed MistressVelda
- 1951Skipalong RosenbloomCaroline Witherspoon
- 1950The Daltons' WomenJacqueline Fontaine
- 1948Impasse of Two Angels(uncredited)
- 1946Back Streets of Paris
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