THE FIRST MOVIE STAR: FLORENCE LAWRENCE

While many people would think that Charlie Chaplin was the first “movie star,” that title actually belongs to a long-forgotten actress named Florence Lawrence.

Born in 1886 in Hamilton, Ontario, Lawrence entered show business when she was very young: her mother, a travelling actress named Lotta Lawrence, brought baby Florence on the road with her. Lawrence got her first movie role in 1907 (“Daniel Boone”). She made the first of her 38 films for the film company Vitagraph in 1907 and then moved on to another film company Biograph where she got the nickname “The Biograph Girl.”

Because she was such a successful actress, Lawrence was able to buy her own car – a rarity in the early 20th century, when cars were still luxury items. She adored driving and loved learning all she could about the way automobiles worked. “A car to me is something that is almost human,” she said, “something that responds to kindness and understanding and care, just as people do.” In 1914 she invented the first turn signal, which she called an “auto-signaling arm.” This was the main concept behind today’s brake lights. But unlucky Lawrence didn’t properly patent her inventions and soon other, better versions were invented and brought to the automobile market. With her mother, however, she did patent a system of electrical windshield wipers in 1917, but it made no money. By the time the first electrical turn signals became standard equipment on the 1939 Buick, her contributions were long forgotten.

After Lawrence was badly burned while rescuing another actor from a studio fire, she had a hard time finding work. She also had a bone disease that caused her a great deal of pain. Lawrence made nearly 300 films but only some of her films have been kept safe since then. Although Lawrence’s life came to an early end in 1938 when she was 52 years old and long forgotten by an industry she helped establish, she has inspired many female artists with her efforts and influence.