Musidora is also an invalid name for the fly genus Lonchoptera.
Musidora (23 February 1889 – 11 December 1957) was the stage name of
Jeanne Roques, a popular French
silent film actress. She became famous for her
vamp roles in such film serials as
Les Vampires and
Judex, in which she developed a persona comparable to that of
Theda Bara.
[www.chicagoreader.com/movies/archives/0697/06137.html] In addition to acting she
directed and
wrote many of her films.
Early life
Born
Jeanne Roques in
Paris, France and raised by a feminist mother and socialist father, Musidora began her career in the arts at an early age, writing her first novel at the age of fifteen and acting on the stage with the likes of
Colette, one of her life-long friends. During the very early years of
French cinema Musidora began a professional collaboration with the highly successful French film director
Louis Feuillade. But her first movie was
Les miseres de l'aiguille , directed by
Raphael Clamour in January 1914.