American actor of French descent who was previously a school teacher and principal in his native Illinois. He arrived in California sometime during the 1910s, running a grocery with his brother Frank by 1916, then serving as a salesman and branch manager for several businesses.
His parents were Francoise Eugenie (née Perrot, 1837-1913) and Francois "Frank" Porcheur (1835-1909), who married in 1871 in LaSalle, Illinois. Gene had two brothers, Frank Jean Porcheur (1877-1925) and Peter Porcheur (b. 1879; d. before 1900), plus one other sibling who died before 1900. On 28 June 1909, Frank Sr. mysteriously disappeared from his Ottawa, Illinois, home and went missing. For about eight months, searching proved futile, with a $200 reward being offered (equivalent to over $7,000 in 2025). The search ended in March 1910, when it was discovered that his body had been taken from Lake Michigan at Chicago on 1 July 1909 and was previously buried as unidentified after being kept at a morgue for several days. After positive identification, the remains were returned to Ottawa and Frank Sr. was given a proper burial at Ottawa Avenue Cemetery.
On 21 November 1910, Gene married Anna C. McDowell (1882-1955) in Elgin, Illinois. Anna would also act in motion pictures, with her obituary (Evening Vanguard, 27 Sep 1955) referring to her as a "retired MGM character actress." Said obituary further mentions, "She was the widow of Gene Porcheur, a Frenchman who was prominent here as an interpreter in the early days of the motion picture industry."
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