Frederic De Belleville

Frederic De Belleville was a Belgian-born American stage actor whose Broadway career spanned from 1890 to 1923. Born on February 17, 1855, in Liège, he died on February 25, 1923, in New York City.

De Belleville launched his professional career in London in 1873 and relocated to the United States in 1880. Among his early American engagements, a newspaper account places him starring in the play False Friend for producer A. M. Palmer. He became a long-standing leading man opposite several prominent actresses of the era, including Clara Morris, Rose Coghlan, Mrs. Fiske, and Viola Allen.

His stage work spanned several decades and encompassed a wide range of productions. Early credits included Hoodman Blind in 1887 alongside Viola Allen, Men and Women in 1890, and Honour in 1895. He continued with Love Finds the Way in 1898, Little Italy in 1899, and Monte Cristo in 1900. The year 1902 saw De Belleville appear in multiple productions: Tess of the D'Urbervilles, Divorcons, and The Eternal City. Later credits included Susan in Search of a Husband and A Tenement Tragedy in 1906, A Marriage of Reason in 1907, Samson in 1908, and Everywoman in 1911. His verified Broadway credits include Where Ignorance Is Bliss in 1913, Secret Strings in 1914, Caesar's Wife in 1919, The Guest of Honor in 1920, and The Humming Bird in 1923. De Belleville died during the run of The Humming Bird.

In addition to his stage work, De Belleville appeared in three silent films, all in 1915: The Daughter of the People, A Trade Secret, and The New Adventures of J. Rufus Wallingford.

In his personal life, De Belleville married multiple times. One early wife, Maude Stuart, died in childbirth in 1886. Their newborn son, also named Frederic De Belleville, did not survive infancy. De Belleville is buried beside Stuart.