Gertrude Chorre, from the 1938 film, Flaming Frontiers
Born
Gertrude Martinez
April 30, 1885
La Jolla Indian Reservation, California
Died
September 3, 1972
Riverside, California
Occupation(s)
Actress, talent scout
Gertrude Chorre (April 30, 1885 – September 3, 1972) was an American film actress and talent scout based in southern California.
Early life
Gertrude Martinez was born in southern California, to Estefano Martinez (1824–1902) and Regina Guassac (1858–1905). She was an enrolled member of the La Jolla Band of Luiseno Indians,[1][2] and a fluent speaker of Luiseño.[3] The Guassac family was described as a "pioneering cattle raising family"; artist Fritz Scholder was her great-nephew.[4]
Chorre was said to be "a capable scout", rounding up other Native American actors for background work on Hollywood productions, sometimes with Jim Thorpe.[9] "Between them these two know the addresses of all the Indians hereabout who work from time to time in pictures," noted a 1936 report.[10] She sometimes worked with her children in films.[8][13][14] Late in life, she assisted French linguist André Malécot with language studies.[3] "She loved to regale you with stories of her people," he recalled. "She and her sister and a few others were the few who still spoke the language fluently back then."[15] She was also active in the American Indian Woman's Club in Los Angeles.[16]
Personal life
Gertrude Martinez married Andres Moro (or Morrow); her second husband was butcher Joseph C. Chorre (1890–1958), an alumnus of the Sherman Institute.[17] She had several children, including Marie (1919–1989), who appeared in White Fang (1936), Bennie, who appeared in Boys Town, and Joseph, known as "Sonny" (1914–1987), who was later known as wrestler Suni War Cloud.[13][14] Gertrude Chorre died in 1972, in Riverside, California, aged 87 years.[5][18] Her gravesite is in Woodlawn Memorial Cemetery in Santa Monica.