Jack La Rue

JACK LA RUE d1984. American film and stage actor. He performed in Broadway plays from around 1923 to 1931. Whilst appearing in Mae West's play Diamond Lil, he was spotted by Howard Hawks who offered him a part in the film Scarface (1932), starring Paul Muni. He moved to Hollywood, where he appeared in numerous films. However, Scarface was not one of them. He stated in a newspaper article that after four days he was replaced with George Raft because he was taller than Muni and had a more powerful voice. Later however, Raft turned down the role of the despicable villain in The Story of Temple Drake (1933) fearing it would damage his screen image, so the part went to La Rue. Sometimes mistaken for Humphrey Bogart, he played thugs and gangsters for the most part. However, director Frank Borzage atypically cast him as a priest in the 1932 version of A Farewell to Arms simply because, according to newspaper columnist Hubbard Keavy, he was "tired of seeing conventional characters". La Rue stated he turned down a role in The Godfather (1972) and many parts in the television series The Untouchables because of the way they portrayed Italian-Americans