Florence Lawrence (b.January 2, 1886 in Hamilton, Ontario – d.December 28, 1938 at West Hollywood, California) was an inventor and silent film actress, who is often referred to as "The First Movie Star." She was also known as "The Biograph Girl" and "The Girl of a Thousand Faces". During her lifetime, Lawrence appeared in more than 270 films for various motion picture companies. January 2 is the second day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1886 (MDCCCLXXXVI) is a common year starting on Friday (click on link to calendar) // Events January 18 - Modern field hockey is born with the formation of The Hockey Association in England. ... Nickname: Ambitious City, Steeltown, The Hammer Motto: Together Aspire - Together Achieve Location in the province of Ontario, Canada Coordinates: Country  Province Canada  Ontario Incorporated June 9, 1846 [1] Mayor Fred Eisenberger City Council Hamilton City Council Representatives MPs and MPPs Area    - City 1,138. ... December 28 is the 362nd day of the year (363rd in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 3 days remaining. ... Year 1938 (MCMXXXVIII) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will take you to calendar). ... January 2 is the second day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1886 (MDCCCLXXXVI) is a common year starting on Friday (click on link to calendar) // Events January 18 - Modern field hockey is born with the formation of The Hockey Association in England. ... Nickname: Ambitious City, Steeltown, The Hammer Motto: Together Aspire - Together Achieve Location in the province of Ontario, Canada Coordinates: Country  Province Canada  Ontario Incorporated June 9, 1846 [1] Mayor Fred Eisenberger City Council Hamilton City Council Representatives MPs and MPPs Area    - City 1,138. ... December 28 is the 362nd day of the year (363rd in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 3 days remaining. ... Year 1938 (MCMXXXVIII) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will take you to calendar). ... ... Official language(s) English Capital Sacramento Largest city Los Angeles Area  Ranked 3rd  - Total 158,302 sq mi (410,000 km²)  - Width 250 miles (400 km)  - Length 770 miles (1,240 km)  - % water 4. ... A silent film is a film which has no accompanying soundtrack. ... A movie star is a celebrity who is well known for his or her starring, or leading, roles in motion pictures. ...

Married three times: (1) Harry Solter, 1908, divorced 1913 (2) Charles Woodring, 12 May 1921, divorced 1931 (3) Henry Bolton, 1932, divorced 5 months later. Harry Solter, 1908 Henry Lewis Harry Solter (1874 - March 2, 1920) was a pioneer silent film actor, screenwriter, and director. ...

Early life and career

Born Florence Annie Bridgwood in Hamilton, Ontario, she was the child of Charlotte A. Bridgwood, a vaudeville actress who went by the name Lotta Lawrence, was the leading lady and director of the Lawrence Dramatic Company. Nothing is known of her father. Florence's surname was changed at age four to her mother's stage name. While she was still a small child, Florence, her mother and two older brothers moved from Hamilton, Ontario to Buffalo, New York. She attended local schools and developed her athletic skills, in particular horseback riding and ice-skating. Nickname: Ambitious City, Steeltown, The Hammer Motto: Together Aspire - Together Achieve Location in the province of Ontario, Canada Coordinates: Country  Province Canada  Ontario Incorporated June 9, 1846 [1] Mayor Fred Eisenberger City Council Hamilton City Council Representatives MPs and MPPs Area    - City 1,138. ... Vaudeville is a style of multi-act theatre which flourished in North America from the 1880s through the 1920s. ... Nickname: Ambitious City, Steeltown, The Hammer Motto: Together Aspire - Together Achieve Location in the province of Ontario, Canada Coordinates: Country  Province Canada  Ontario Incorporated June 9, 1846 [1] Mayor Fred Eisenberger City Council Hamilton City Council Representatives MPs and MPPs Area    - City 1,138. ... Nickname: City of Good Neighbors, Queen City, City of Light Location of Buffalo in New York State County Erie County  - Mayor Byron Brown Area    - City 136. ...

After graduating from school, Lawrence joined her mother's dramatic company. However, the company soon disbanded after a series of disputes had made it impossible for the members to continue working together. Lawrence and her mother moved to New York City around 1906.

She was one of several Canadian pioneers in the film industry who were attracted by the rapid growth of the fledgling motion picture business. In 1906, at twenty years of age, she made her first motion picture. The next year, she appeared in 38 movies for the Vitagraph film company. Motion pictures have been a part of the Canadians. ... 1906 (MCMVI) was a common year starting on Monday (see link for calendar). ... American Vitagraph was a United States movie studio, founded by J. Stuart Blackton and Albert E. Smith in 1897 and bought by Warner Brothers in 1925. ...

Broadway bound

During the spring and summer of 1906, Lawrence auditioned for a number of Broadway productions, with no success. However, on 27 December 1906, she got a part in a film Daniel Boone, or, Pioneer days in America when she was able to answer 'yes' when asked if she could ride a horse. Both she and her mother received parts in the film, and were paid five dollars a day. After two weeks of outdoor shooting in extremely cold weather, Lawrence voted never to work as a film actress again. Lawrence, however, wanted full-time employment. Broadway theatre[1] is often considered the highest professional form of theatre in the United States. ...

Vitagraph film company

She went to work for the Vitagraph film company in Brooklyn, New York acting as Moya, an Irish peasant-girl in a one reel version of Dion Boucicault's The Shaughraun. She returned briefly to stage acting, playing the leading role in a road show production of Melville B. Raymond's Seminary Girls. Her mother played her last role in this production. American Vitagraph was a United States movie studio, founded by J. Stuart Blackton and Albert E. Smith in 1897 and bought by Warner Brothers in 1925. ... For other meanings, see Brooklyn (disambiguation). ... Poster for a production of Boucicaults farce Contempt of Court, c. ... The Shaughraun is a melodramatic play written by Irish playwright Dion Boucicault. ...

Biograph Studios

After touring with the road show for a year, Lawrence resolved that she would 'never again lead that gypsy life.' In the spring of 1908 she returned to Vitagraph where she played the lead role in The Dispatch Beare. Largely as a result of her equestrian skills, she received parts in eleven films in the next five months. Also at Vitagraph was a young actor, Harry Solter, who was looking for 'a young, beautiful equestrian girl' to star in a film to be produced by the Biograph Studios under the direction of D.W. Griffith. Griffith, the head of Biograph Studios, saw one of Vitagraph's films with a beautiful blonde-haired woman whose screen presence captured his interest but he wanted to give the part to Biograph's leading lady, Florence Turner, but Lawrence managed to convince Solter and Griffith that she was the best suited for the starring role in The Girl and the Outlaw. Because the film's actors received no mention, Griffith had to make discreet enquiries to learn she was Florence Lawrence and to arranged a meeting. With the Vitagraph Company, she had been earning $20 a week but over and above acting, she was required to work as a costume seamstress. Griffith offered her a job acting only and with a raise to $25 a week that Florence jumped at. Harry Solter, 1908 Henry Lewis Harry Solter (1874 - March 2, 1920) was a pioneer silent film actor, screenwriter, and director. ... The American Mutoscope and Biograph Company (also known as the Biograph Company) was founded in 1895 and is the oldest movie production company in the United States. ... David Lewelyn Wark Griffith (January 22, 1875 - July 23, 1948) was an American film director (commonly known as D. W. Griffith) probably best known for his film The Birth of a Nation. ... Florence Turner Florence Turner, (January 6, 1885–August 28, 1946) was an American stage and film actress. ...

After her success in this role, she appeared as a society belle in Betrayed by a Handprint and as an Indian in The Red Girl. In total, she had parts in most of the sixty films directed by Griffith in 1908. Toward the end of 1908 Lawrence married Harry Solter. Harry Solter, 1908 Henry Lewis Harry Solter (1874 - March 2, 1920) was a pioneer silent film actor, screenwriter, and director. ...

Lawrence quickly gained much popularity but because her name was never publicized, fans began writing the studio asking for it. But, even when her "anonymous" face had gained wide recognition, particularly after starring in the highly successful Resurrection, Biograph Studios only labeled her as "The Biograph Girl." Resurrection is the name of a number of motion pictures, both silent and in various languages, based on the Leo Tolstoy novel of the same title. ...

She continued to work for Biograph in 1909, and demanded to be paid by the week, rather than on a daily basis. Her demands were met, and she received double the normal rate of pay. She achieved great popularity in the Jones series, film's first comedy series. She played Mrs Jones in about twelve films, and became known as "The Biograph girl" because, at the time, the names of film actresses were not revealed. (During the cinema's formative years, silent screen actors were just faces without names, because studio owners refused to identify cast members, fearing that fame might lead to demands for higher wages. However, Lawrence soon became a much sought-after actress.) Even more popular than the Jones series were the dramatic love stories in which she co-starred with Arthur Johnson. The two played husband and wife in The Ingrate, and the adulterous lovers in Resurrection. Arthur V. Johnson (February 2, 1876 - January 17, 1916) was a pioneer actor and director of American silent films. ... Resurrection is the name of a number of motion pictures, both silent and in various languages, based on the Leo Tolstoy novel of the same title. ...

Lawrence and Solter began to look elsewhere for work, writing to the Essanay Company to offer their services as leading lady and director. Rather than accepting this offer, however, Essanay reported the offer to Biograph's head office, and they were promptly fired.

Independent Motion Picture Company (IMP)

Carl Laemmle's promotion of a film starring Lawrence.

Finding themselves 'at liberty,' Lawrence and Solter in 1910 were able to join the Independent Motion Picture Company of America (IMP). The company, founded by Carl Laemmle, the owner of a film exchange (who later founded Universal Pictures, started his own motion picture company), was looking for experienced filmmakers and actors. Needing a star, he lured Lawrence away from Biograph by promising to give her a marquee, making her the first performer to be identified by name on screen and in film advertising. First though, Carl Laemmle organized a publicity stunt by starting a rumor that Lawrence had been killed by a street car in New York City. Image File history File links IMPstarpromotion. ... Image File history File links IMPstarpromotion. ... Carl Laemmle Carl Laemmle (January 17, 1867 – September 24, 1939) born in Laupheim, Württemberg, Germany, was a pioneer in American film making and a founder of one of the original major Hollywood movie studios. ... An imp is a mythological being similar to a fairy, frequently described in folklore and superstition. ... Carl Laemmle Carl Laemmle (January 17, 1867 – September 24, 1939) born in Laupheim, Württemberg, Germany, was a pioneer in American film making and a founder of one of the original major Hollywood movie studios. ... The current Universal Studios logo Universal Studios (sometimes called Universal Pictures or, officially, Universal City Studios), a subsidiary of NBC Universal, is one of the major American film studios that has production studios and offices located at 100 Universal City Plaza Drive in Universal City, California, an unincorporated area of... Nickname: Big Apple, Gotham, NYC, City That Never Sleeps, The Concrete Jungle, The City So Nice They Named It Twice Location in the state of New York Coordinates: Country United States State New York Boroughs The Bronx Brooklyn Manhattan Queens Staten Island Settled 1613  - Mayor Michael Bloomberg (R) Area    - City...

Then, after gaining much media attention, he placed ads in the newspapers that announced, "We nail a lie," and included a photo of Lawrence. The ad declared she is alive and well and making The Broken Oath, a new movie for his IMP Film Company to be directed by Harry Solter.

Laemmle then had Lawrence make a personal appearance in St. Louis, Missouri with her leading man to show her fans that she was very much alive. Partially as a result of Laemmle's ingenuity, the "star system" was born and before long, Florence Lawrence became a household name. However, her fame was such that the studio executives who had concerns over wage demands soon had their fears proved correct. This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ...

Laemmie managed to lure William Ranous (William H. Ranous), one of Vitagraph's best directors, over to IMP. Ranous introduced Laemmle to Lawrence and Solter, and they began to work together. Lawrence and Solter worked for IMP for eleven months, making fifty films. After this, they went on vacation in Europe. When they returned to the United States, they joined a film company headed by Siegmund Lubin (Siegmund "Pop" Lubin), described as the 'wisest and most democratic film producer in history.' Lawrence was once again teamed with Arthur Johnson, and the pair made 48 films together under Lubin's direction. Siegmund Lubin Siegmund Lubin (April 20, 1851 - September 11, 1923) was an American businessman and motion picture pioneer. ... Arthur V. Johnson (February 2, 1876 - January 17, 1916) was a pioneer actor and director of American silent films. ...

At the time, the film industry was controlled by a powerful Patent Group, which had the sole legal authority to make and distribute films. IMP, whose trademark was a little red devil, was not a member of the Patent Group, and hence operated outside the law. Cinemas found showing IMP films lost the right to screen Patent Group films. IMP, therefore, had powerful enemies in the film industry. It managed to survive, however, largely because of the popularity of Lawrence. She appeared in a film called Love's Stratagem. IMP tried to revive the Jones series, starring Lawrence and John Compson (instead of Arthur Johnson). Arthur V. Johnson (February 2, 1876 - January 17, 1916) was a pioneer actor and director of American silent films. ...

Lubin Studios

By late 1910, Lawrence left IMP to work for Lubin Studios, advising her fellow young Canadian, the 16-year-old Mary Pickford, to take her place as IMP's star. 1910 (MCMX) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will display calendar) of the Gregorian calendar or a common year starting on Sunday of the 13-day slower Julian calendar. ... Lubin Studios, Philadelphia (c. ... Mary Pickford (April 8, 1892 – May 29, 1979) was an Oscar-winning Canadian motion picture star and co-founder of United Artists. ...

Victor Film Company

In 1912, Lawrence and Solter made a deal with Carl Laemmle, forming their own company. Laemmle gave them complete artistic freedom in the company, called Victor Film Company, and paid Lawrence five hundred dollars a week as the leading lady, and Solter two hundred dollars a week as director. They established a film studio in Fort Lee, New Jersey and made a number of films starring Lawrence and Owen Moore before selling out to the new Universal Pictures in 1913. With this new prosperity, Florence was able to realize a 'lifelong dream,' buying a fifty acre estate in River Vale, New Jersey.^[1] There she was able to garden and grow roses, 'her greatest joy.' In August 1912, she had a fight with her husband, in which he 'made cruel remarks about his mother-in-law.' He left and went to Europe. However, he wrote 'sad' letters to her everyday, telling her of his plans to commit suicide. His letters 'softened her feelings' and they were re-united in November 1912. Lawrence announced her intention to retire. In 1912 the Victor Film Company was formed by movie star Florence Lawrence and her husband, Harry Solter. ... Map highlighting Fort Lees location within Bergen County. ... Owen Moore (December 12, 1886 - June 9, 1939) was born in Fordstown Crossroads, County Meath, Ireland. ... River Vale Township is a township located in Bergen County, New Jersey. ...

However, she was induced to return to work in 1915 for her company (Victor Film Company), which was later acquired by Universal Studios. During one of the films, Pawns of Destiny, a staged fire got out of control. Lawrence was burned, her hair singed, and she suffered a serious fall. She went into shock for months. She returned to work, but collapsed after its completion. Blaming Solter for making her do the stunt in which she was injured, the two were divorced. To add to her problems, Universal refused to pay her medical expenses. Lawrence felt betrayed. In 1912 the Victor Film Company was formed by movie star Florence Lawrence and her husband, Harry Solter. ... The current Universal Studios logo Universal Studios (sometimes called Universal Pictures or, officially, Universal City Studios), a subsidiary of NBC Universal, is one of the major American film studios that has production studios and offices located at 100 Universal City Plaza Drive in Universal City, California, an unincorporated area of...

Injury, Crash of '29, and Suicide

In 1915, she was badly burned in a studio fire after an attempt to rescue someone from the flames. Although still only 29 years old, after her recovery, she never regained her stature as a leading film star. In 1920, her husband died. The following year she married Charles Byrne Woodring (an automobile salesman), but he died in 1930, and in 1933 she married for the third time to Henry Bolton but this union lasted 5 months, as Bolton was abusive and beat Lawrence severely.

In the spring of 1916, she returned to work for Universal, and completed her first long feature film. However, the strain of working took its toll on her, and she suffered a serious relapse. She was completely paralysed for four months. By the time she returned to the screen in 1921, few people remembered her.

In 1921 she travelled to Hollywood to attempt a comeback. However, she had little success, and received only small parts, mostly from sympathetic directors who remembered her early films. During the 1920s she began to manufacture a line of cosmetics, but the venture soon failed.

When Lawrence's mother died in 1929, she had an expensive bust sculpted for her mother's tomb. By then, in her mid-forties, demand for her in films had long since disappeared and the stock market crash and the ensuing Great Depression saw Lawrence's fortune decline. The New York Stock Exchange A stock market is a market for the trading of company stock, and derivatives of same; both of these are securities listed on a stock exchange as well as those only traded privately. ... The Great Depression was a worldwide economic downturn which started in October of 1929 and lasted through most of the 1930s. ...

Lawrence returned to the screen in 1936, when MGM began giving small parts to old stars for seventy-five dollars a week. MGM logo Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer or MGM, is a large media company, involved primarily in the production and distribution of cinema and television programs. ...

Alone, discouraged, and suffering with chronic pain from myelofibrosis, a rare bone marrow disease, she was found unconscious in bed in her West Hollywood apartment on 27 December 1938 after she had attempted suicide by eating ant paste. She was rushed to a hospital, but died a few hours later. Myelofibrosis, one of the myeloproliferative diseases, is the gradual replacement of the bone marrow by connective tissue. ... Grays Anatomy illustration of cells in bone marrow. ...

Just nine years after she had paid for an expensive memorial for her mother, Lawrence was interred in an unmarked grave not far from her mother in the Hollywood Cemetery, which is now Hollywood Forever Cemetery, in Hollywood, California. Hollywood Forever Cemetery is located at 6000 Santa Monica Boulevard in the Hollywood district of the City of Los Angeles, California. ... Greetings from Hollywood Hollywood is a district of the city of Los Angeles, California, U.S.A., that extends from Vermont Avenue on the east to just beyond Laurel Canyon Boulevard above Sunset and Crescent Heights Boulevards on the west; the north to south boundary east of La Brea Avenue...

She remained forgotten until 1991, when an unnamed benefactor (presumed to be actor Roddy McDowall) donated the funds for a proper gravestone that reads: "'The Biograph Girl'. The First Movie Star."[1] 1991 (MCMXCI) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... McDowall as a child actor Roderick Andrew Anthony Jude McDowall (September 17, 1928 – October 3, 1998) was a British actor. ...

In Willaim J. Mann's 2000 novel The Biograph Girl, Mann asks the question "What if Lawrence didn't die in 1939 from eating ant poison, but is 106 and living in a nursing home in Buffalo, New York?". The novel faithfully covers Lawrence's life up to 1939 and takes it beyond, after her "supposed" suicide.

Partial filmography

The Shaughraun is a melodramatic play written by Irish playwright Dion Boucicault. ... For other meanings see Romeo (disambiguation) and Juliet (disambiguation). ... For other uses, see Julius Caesar (disambiguation). ... Antony and Cleopatra is a historical tragedy by William Shakespeare, originally printed in the First Folio of 1623. ... The Call of the Wild book cover The Call of the Wild is a novella by American writer Jack London. ...

Inventions

Lawrence invented the first turn signal, a device attached to a motor vehicle's rear fender. Dubbed as the "auto signaling arm", when a driver pressed a button, an arm raised or lowered, with a sign attached indicating the direction of the intended turn. Following this, she developed a brake signal based on the same concept where an arm with a sign reading "STOP" was raised whenever the driver stepped on the brake pedal. However, Lawrence's inventions were not patented, and others in the rapidly expanding auto industry developed their own versions. A patent is a set of exclusive rights granted by a state to a patentee (the inventor or assignee) for a fixed period of time in exchange for the regulated, public disclosure of certain details of a device, method, process or composition of matter (substance) (known as an invention) which...

See also

• Other Canadian pioneers in early Hollywood

Motion pictures have been a part of the Canadians. ...

References

• Brown, Kelly R., Florence Lawrence, the Biograph Girl: America's First Movie Star (1991). ISBN 0-7864-0627-5.
• Dictionary of Hamilton Biography (Vol III, 1925-1939): Thomas Melville Bailey (W.L. Griffin Ltd), 1992; Pg 106-108

1991 (MCMXCI) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the Anno Domini (common) era. ... February 14 is the 45th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ...

External links

• Florence Lawrence at the Internet Movie Database
• Florence Lawrence's Gravesite