Florence Lawrence, The Biograph Girl" and first Movie Star- speaks!
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- Опубликовано: 15 окт 2024
- Florence Lawrence is often credited with being the very first Motion Picture Star.
Some film scholars, notably Eileen Bowser, dispute this and suggest that the achievement of this accolade was really a "tie", as, whilst Lawrence, before being named by her employers, was known as "The Biograph Girl" and subsequently "The IMP Girl", contemporary silent film player Florence Turner was similarly known as "The Vitagraph Girl" and it has been suggested that both ladies achieved star billing in their own names at about the same time.
LAwrence commenced her film career with the Vitagraph Company in Brooklyn in 1907, and the following year went to work at the Biograph Studios.
During this period, film actors were not given billing, and their names were unknown. Lawrence became very popular at Biograph, and as her employers were reluctant to release her name (or the names of any of their players, fearing they would demand an exorbitant wage), she became known as "The Biograph Girl".
She was engaged by Carl Laemmle for the IMP Company in 1908, and it was here that she was first billed, rapidly becoming a household name.
Leaving IMP, she worked for Lubin in Philadelphia, and by 1912, backed by Laemmle, she with her husband Harry Solter, started their Victor Company in Fort Lee, New Jersey. This company was ultimately absorbed into Universal by
Her career continued successfully, and she made many films through to 1914, when she was badly injured in an accident.
Her film making from then through the twenties was more sporadic, and her career suffered a sharp decline.
By the 1930s, she was making a few film appearances in bit parts and often undetermined extra roles.
This is a brief scene from Warner Brothers 1932 film of Edna Ferber's "So BIg"in which Florence Lawrence, although uncredited, had a few lines, and we can hear this legendary star of the silent screen speak.
I watched the film specifically to see if I could identify her (it's a good film, by the way!)
IMDB states that she is unbilled, but plays a Townsperson. Despite freezing the frames,I could not see anyone amongst the gatherings of Townspeople who looked anything like her, and it wasn't until almost the end of the film when the small role of Mina popped up, that I saw that this was indeed the former star.
It is quite clear from her eyes and general bone structure. The only thing that slightly made me question it, was her nose seemed a somewhat different shape than in the publicity photos of her in the 1910s.
However, Kelly Brown's excellent book "Florence Lawrence: The Biograph Girl" (NC: McFarland & Company, 1999) states that in 1924, she had plastic surgery on her nose, in the hopes of reviving her career.
Also, this contemporary newspaper report implies that Lawrence's role in "So Big" would be more than that of a mere extra.
From The Chicago Daily Tribune
Thursday February 11th 1932:
Old Time Movie Stars Paid Well for Minor Parts
BY GEORGE SHAFFER.
[Chicago Tribune Press Service.]
Hollywood, Cal., Feb. 10.
Just for old time's sake many a one time star or a famous director is being paid $50 a day for doing bits of acting or supplementary work for which ordinary extras and assistants would receive $7.50 and $10.
Newcomers In films have been finding It increasingly more difficult to get a start toward an acting career. Part of the reason is the number of former celebrities now on the waiting lists about town, eager to get in a day or a week of work where they once commanded four figure salaries and told producers where to get off.
Many one time featured names crop up on the credit sheets of recent pictures, and famous profiles flit on and off the screen so fast one has to be looking for them to pick them out of the supplementary action.
*For Instance, "So Big,'" now being remade, has Florence 'Lawrence, " The Biograph Girl " of twenty odd years ago, and Helene Chadwick In its cast."
I am therefore convinced that the actress in this small scene is indeed Florence Lawrence.
It is wonderful to see her in such a good print, with a pretty good soundtrack, too.
Florence Lawrence latterly suffered considerable ill health. On December 27, 1938, Lawrence was found unconscious in her West Hollywood apartment: she had killed herself by eating ant paste.
This is fantastic, well done for finding her. Like you say, her eyes and bone structure are unique and make her identifiable. I can't believe she didn't get more big parts. She had this presence and comic gait which made you smile whenever you saw her. It's a great shame but that's Hollywood even to this day. She didn't even have a headstone until the 1980's when an actor had a plaque made. It's so sad!
It’s sad how she was treated
it's great being able to see this clip featuring FLORENCE LAWRENCE in a talking role. She seems perfectly capable to act in a talkie. What a pity that she had no major part in the talkie era. Thank you for posting. This is priceless ! God bless.
gallerydreams- I've spent quite some time on the internet looking for a photo of Miss Florence Lawrence in this film, & came up with none. Then I discovered this video that you posted-great job! Thanks so much.
The young blonde is Bette Davis: a wonderful clip of film history!
Thank you for doing this + a public service for us all! I have scoured other studio films from the period looking for Florence with no such luck.
Thank you for a glimpse of a remarkable time in history
Magnificent- I may be young but nothing beats a lovely produced original movie.
Florence might be the first movie star but the first actress was jehanne d, alcy she did short movies from 1896 to 1903 including joan of arc in color in 1900
She deserves all the acting awards that are there! She never got one 😿
Bette Davis should have known that her extra was the legend Florence Lawrence
Her fate was so unfair.
Look at her posture in this. I don't think that is part of her character. In 1915 she suffered a fall on a movie set that left her with a fractured vertebra. She was unable to work for months and returned for only a short time before suffering a relapse of the injury. That effectively ended her career as a leading actress.
In the 1930s, Louis B. Mayer began hiring former silent film actors to play small parts in his films for $50 - $75 a week. That largess kept many of them, Florence included, with a roof over their heads during tough times. In 1938, she was diagnosed with an unspecified bone disease and anemia, which possibly could have been Leukemia. As her health deteriorated, she became more and more despondent and took her own life with ant poison.
If this happens today, she would be Meryl Streep.. 😿😿😿she never got the recognition as the first ever American "Movie Star". I hope she was recognized like Mary Pickford ( also very little recognition )