Florence La Badie
Encyclopedia
Florence La Badie was an American actress in the early days of the silent film
era. Though little known today, she was a major star between 1911 and 1917, her career was at its height and climbing when she died unexpectedly due to injuries sustained during an automobile accident.
, Quebec
. However, it has also been said that she was born in Austin, Texas
and adopted by the La Badie family. Yet another source, The Internet Movie Database, lists her as having been born in New York City
, with the birth name of Florence Russ. The latter is typically upheld as being the most likely.
While there is much evidence of her having been raised in Montreal, in an alleged sworn deposition on October 8, 1917, a New York woman named Marie C. Russ did claim to be Florence's biological mother and referred to a Russ family burial plot in Brooklyn's Green-Wood Cemetery, with lot number 17187 being reserved for Florence Russ, aka Florence La Badie. This supposed legal deposition was dated five days before Florence's death. There was evidence to support that she was the granddaughter of a Louisa Russ, who had purchased the family plot in Green-Wood. There were also indications that she was legally adopted by Joseph La Badie as a child, and her name changed. However, although it is likely that she was adopted, it might be noted that at the time of her deposition, Marie C. Russ was residing in the "Home for Incurables" mental institution, in New York City. Although indications are somewhat overwhelming that La Badie probably in fact was adopted, Marie C. Russ stated herself in the deposition that the adoption was "legal".
Having completed her studies, Florence La Badie was offered work as a fashion model in New York City. Once there, in early 1908 she obtained a small part in a stage play
. Following this, she signed to tour with one of the road companies and for the next two years appeared on stage in various places in the eastern part of the United States
. During this period she met a fellow Canadian, the young actress Mary Pickford
, who in 1909
invited Florence to watch the making of a motion picture at the Biograph
studio in Manhattan
. Given an impromptu bit part, Florence was invited back to Biograph’s studios to participate in another film later that year. She would go on to make several films under the renowned D. W. Griffith
, with her first credited film being in the 1909 film The Politician's Love Story, starring Mack Sennett
and Kathlyn Williams
.
In 1911
, her career took a leap when Edwin Thanhouser
of the Thanhouser Film Corporation hired her. With her sophistication and beauty, Florence La Badie soon became Thanhouser Film’s most prominent actress, appearing in dozens of films over the next two years. Her most remembered films of that period were The Tempest
(1911), and Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
(1912), a film adaptation of the Robert Louis Stevenson
story. Her most well known work was in the 1914
- 1915
serial, The Million Dollar Mystery
. Athletic and daring, in these films she performed all her own stunts. In 1915, she was featured in the magazine
Reel Life, which described her as "the Beautiful and talented Florence La Badie, of the Thanhouser Studios, conceded one of the foremost of American screen players". Over a course of six years La Badie's career had taken her to top-billing as a film actress.
broke out in Europe
in 1914, Canada immediately joined the war and as a result, several of Florence La Badie’s young male friends and relatives back home in Montreal were immediately shipped overseas. She had many movie fans in Canada and according to one New York newspaper, in 1915 a young soldier fighting in the trenches at the Front in Northern France
wrote to her, sending dozens of photographs that graphically depicted the horrors of the war. Deeply affected, Florence La Badie became a vigorous advocate for peace, traveling the United States with a stereopticon
slide show of the soldier’s photographs, warning about the terrible dangers of going to war.
In August 1917, La Badie was at the height of her motion picture success. She had appeared in an astonishing 185 films since 1909, just 32 shy of Mary Pickford's 217 by that same time period. Her film The Woman in White had just been released in July 1917. Her latest two films, The Man Without a Country
, a film adaptation of Edward Everett Hale
's The Man Without a Country
, and War and the Woman, would also soon be released, both on September 9, 1917. Although the Thanhouser Corporation had been struggling since the 1914 automobile accident death of Charles J. Hite
, La Badie's career was thriving and had been their saving grace. Less than a month earlier, she had announced that she was leaving Thanhouser, and she had several other film corporations willing to pick her up on contract immediately.
On August 28, 1917, while driving near Ossining, New York
in the company of her co-worker and fiance, screenwriter Daniel Carson Goodman
, the brakes on La Badie’s car failed and the vehicle plunged down a hill overturning at the bottom. While Goodman escaped with only a broken leg, La Badie was thrown from the vehicle and suffered serious injuries, including a compound fracture of the pelvis. Hospitalized, she clung to life for more than six weeks and seemed to be improving, but suddenly died on October 13, from what was described as an infection, more specifically septicemia.
With her passing, Florence La Badie became the first major female film star to die while her career was at its peak, and the movie-going public mourned her passing. After a large funeral, she was interred in the Green-Wood Cemetery
in Brooklyn, New York, the same cemetery included by Marie C. Russ in her legal proceedings days before La Badie's death, with Marie Russ claiming to have been her actual birth mother in sworn deposition. Obituary notices stated that she was survived by her mother, Amanda La Badie, with no mention of her having been adopted. This omission would have been customary at the time.
Because of her death, it is unknown as to what her prolonged impact on the film industry would have been and, though she is little known today, at the time she was a top billed star. Under New York laws the property of her estate was divided between her parents, Mr. and Mrs. Joseph La Badie.
Silent film
A silent film is a film with no synchronized recorded sound, especially with no spoken dialogue. In silent films for entertainment the dialogue is transmitted through muted gestures, pantomime and title cards...
era. Though little known today, she was a major star between 1911 and 1917, her career was at its height and climbing when she died unexpectedly due to injuries sustained during an automobile accident.
Early life
While her film career is well documented, her early life is somewhat clouded in mystery, from who her real parents were to what her birth name actually was. She was said to be the daughter of Joseph E. La Badie and his wife Amanda from MontrealMontreal
Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...
, Quebec
Quebec
Quebec or is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking population and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....
. However, it has also been said that she was born in Austin, Texas
Austin, Texas
Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of :Texas and the seat of Travis County. Located in Central Texas on the eastern edge of the American Southwest, it is the fourth-largest city in Texas and the 14th most populous city in the United States. It was the third-fastest-growing large city in...
and adopted by the La Badie family. Yet another source, The Internet Movie Database, lists her as having been born in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, with the birth name of Florence Russ. The latter is typically upheld as being the most likely.
While there is much evidence of her having been raised in Montreal, in an alleged sworn deposition on October 8, 1917, a New York woman named Marie C. Russ did claim to be Florence's biological mother and referred to a Russ family burial plot in Brooklyn's Green-Wood Cemetery, with lot number 17187 being reserved for Florence Russ, aka Florence La Badie. This supposed legal deposition was dated five days before Florence's death. There was evidence to support that she was the granddaughter of a Louisa Russ, who had purchased the family plot in Green-Wood. There were also indications that she was legally adopted by Joseph La Badie as a child, and her name changed. However, although it is likely that she was adopted, it might be noted that at the time of her deposition, Marie C. Russ was residing in the "Home for Incurables" mental institution, in New York City. Although indications are somewhat overwhelming that La Badie probably in fact was adopted, Marie C. Russ stated herself in the deposition that the adoption was "legal".
Career success
Play (theatre)
A play is a form of literature written by a playwright, usually consisting of scripted dialogue between characters, intended for theatrical performance rather than just reading. There are rare dramatists, notably George Bernard Shaw, who have had little preference whether their plays were performed...
. Following this, she signed to tour with one of the road companies and for the next two years appeared on stage in various places in the eastern part of the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. During this period she met a fellow Canadian, the young actress Mary Pickford
Mary Pickford
Mary Pickford was a Canadian-born motion picture actress, co-founder of the film studio United Artists and one of the original 36 founders of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences...
, who in 1909
1909 in film
The year 1909 in film involved some significant events.-Events:*Matsunosuke Onoe, who would become the first superstar of Japanese cinema, appears in his first film, Goban Tadanobu.*James Joyce opens the Volta, the first cinema in Dublin....
invited Florence to watch the making of a motion picture at the Biograph
Biograph Studios
Biograph Studios was a studio facility and film laboratory complex built in 1912 by the Biograph Company, formerly American Mutoscope and Biograph Company, at 807 E. 175th Street, in the Bronx, New York....
studio in Manhattan
Manhattan
Manhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...
. Given an impromptu bit part, Florence was invited back to Biograph’s studios to participate in another film later that year. She would go on to make several films under the renowned D. W. Griffith
D. W. Griffith
David Llewelyn Wark Griffith was a premier pioneering American film director. He is best known as the director of the controversial and groundbreaking 1915 film The Birth of a Nation and the subsequent film Intolerance .Griffith's film The Birth of a Nation made pioneering use of advanced camera...
, with her first credited film being in the 1909 film The Politician's Love Story, starring Mack Sennett
Mack Sennett
Mack Sennett was a Canadian-born American director and was known as the innovator of slapstick comedy in film. During his lifetime he was known at times as the "King of Comedy"...
and Kathlyn Williams
Kathlyn Williams
Kathlyn Williams was an American actress, known for her blonde beauty and daring antics, who performed on stage as well as in early silent film.-Early life and career:...
.
In 1911
1911 in film
The year 1911 in film involved some significant events.-Events:*March 23: D.W Griffith shows the first major close-up shot on film with the successful release of The Lonedale Operator proving his ever growing mastery of how to utilise film....
, her career took a leap when Edwin Thanhouser
Edwin Thanhouser
Edwin Thanhouser was an actor, businessman, and film producer, most notable as a founder of the Thanhouser Company, along with his wife Gertrude Thanhouser and brother-in-law Lloyd Lonergan.-Biography:...
of the Thanhouser Film Corporation hired her. With her sophistication and beauty, Florence La Badie soon became Thanhouser Film’s most prominent actress, appearing in dozens of films over the next two years. Her most remembered films of that period were The Tempest
The Tempest (1911 film)
The Tempest is an American silent film adaptation of the William Shakespeare play The Tempest. It was directed by Edwin Thanhouser, and starred Ed Genung and Florence La Badie, and released by Thanhouser Film Corporation...
(1911), and Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1912 film)
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is a 1912 horror film based on both Robert Louis Stevenson's novella The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde and on the play version of Thomas Russell Sullivan. Directed by Lucius Henderson, the film stars actor James Cruze as the dual role of Jekyll/Hyde.-Plot...
(1912), a film adaptation of the Robert Louis Stevenson
Robert Louis Stevenson
Robert Louis Balfour Stevenson was a Scottish novelist, poet, essayist and travel writer. His best-known books include Treasure Island, Kidnapped, and Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde....
story. Her most well known work was in the 1914
1914 in film
The year 1914 in film involved some significant events, including the debut of Cecil B. DeMille as a director.-Events:*The 3,300-seat Mark Strand Theatre opens in New York City....
- 1915
1915 in film
The year 1915 in film involved some significant events.-Events:* February 8 : D.W Griffith's The Birth of a Nation premieres at Clune's Auditorium Los Angeles and breaks box office and film length records, running at a total length of 3 hrs 10 minutes.* June 18 : The Motion Picture Directors...
serial, The Million Dollar Mystery
The Million Dollar Mystery
The Million Dollar Mystery is a twenty three chapter film serial. It was directed by Howell Hansel, and starred Florence La Badie. It was produced by Thanhouser Film Corporation, and was their biggest success, largely due to the popularity of La Badie. During the filming, La Badie performed her...
. Athletic and daring, in these films she performed all her own stunts. In 1915, she was featured in the magazine
Magazine
Magazines, periodicals, glossies or serials are publications, generally published on a regular schedule, containing a variety of articles. They are generally financed by advertising, by a purchase price, by pre-paid magazine subscriptions, or all three...
Reel Life, which described her as "the Beautiful and talented Florence La Badie, of the Thanhouser Studios, conceded one of the foremost of American screen players". Over a course of six years La Badie's career had taken her to top-billing as a film actress.
World War I
When World War IWorld War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
broke out in Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
in 1914, Canada immediately joined the war and as a result, several of Florence La Badie’s young male friends and relatives back home in Montreal were immediately shipped overseas. She had many movie fans in Canada and according to one New York newspaper, in 1915 a young soldier fighting in the trenches at the Front in Northern France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
wrote to her, sending dozens of photographs that graphically depicted the horrors of the war. Deeply affected, Florence La Badie became a vigorous advocate for peace, traveling the United States with a stereopticon
Stereopticon
A stereopticon is a slide projector or "magic lantern", which has two lenses, usually one above the other.These devices date back to the mid 19th century, and were a popular form of entertainment and education before the advent of moving pictures...
slide show of the soldier’s photographs, warning about the terrible dangers of going to war.
Death
In August 1917, La Badie was at the height of her motion picture success. She had appeared in an astonishing 185 films since 1909, just 32 shy of Mary Pickford's 217 by that same time period. Her film The Woman in White had just been released in July 1917. Her latest two films, The Man Without a Country
The Man Without a Country (1917 film)
The Man Without a Country is an American silent film adaptation of Edward Everett Hale's The Man Without a Country. It was directed by Ernest C. Warde, and starred Florence La Badie, Holmes Herbert, and J. H. Gilmour, and released by Thanhouser Film Corporation...
, a film adaptation of Edward Everett Hale
Edward Everett Hale
Edward Everett Hale was an American author, historian and Unitarian clergyman. He was a child prodigy who exhibited extraordinary literary skills and at age thirteen was enrolled at Harvard University where he graduated second in his class...
's The Man Without a Country
The Man Without a Country
"The Man Without a Country" is a short story by American writer Edward Everett Hale, first published anonymously in The Atlantic in December 1863. It is the story of American Army lieutenant Philip Nolan, who renounces his country during a trial for treason and is consequently sentenced to spend...
, and War and the Woman, would also soon be released, both on September 9, 1917. Although the Thanhouser Corporation had been struggling since the 1914 automobile accident death of Charles J. Hite
Charles J. Hite
Charles Jackson Hite was an American businessman and film producer of the early 20th century, most importantly the president and chief executive officer of the Thanhouser Film Corporation from 1912 to 1914....
, La Badie's career was thriving and had been their saving grace. Less than a month earlier, she had announced that she was leaving Thanhouser, and she had several other film corporations willing to pick her up on contract immediately.
On August 28, 1917, while driving near Ossining, New York
Ossining (village), New York
Ossining is a village in Westchester County, New York, United States. The population was 25,060 at the 2010 census. As a village, it is located in the Town of Ossining.-Geography:Ossining borders the eastern shores of the widest part of the Hudson River....
in the company of her co-worker and fiance, screenwriter Daniel Carson Goodman
Daniel Carson Goodman
Daniel Carson Goodman was an American screenwriter, who wrote the storyline for 28 silent films – the first of them was Sapho . He worked as miscellaneous crew in three films, produced two films and directed one film, Thoughtless Women .He was engaged to marry the actress Florence La Badie...
, the brakes on La Badie’s car failed and the vehicle plunged down a hill overturning at the bottom. While Goodman escaped with only a broken leg, La Badie was thrown from the vehicle and suffered serious injuries, including a compound fracture of the pelvis. Hospitalized, she clung to life for more than six weeks and seemed to be improving, but suddenly died on October 13, from what was described as an infection, more specifically septicemia.
With her passing, Florence La Badie became the first major female film star to die while her career was at its peak, and the movie-going public mourned her passing. After a large funeral, she was interred in the Green-Wood Cemetery
Green-Wood Cemetery
Green-Wood Cemetery was founded in 1838 as a rural cemetery in Brooklyn, Kings County , New York. It was granted National Historic Landmark status in 2006 by the U.S. Department of the Interior.-History:...
in Brooklyn, New York, the same cemetery included by Marie C. Russ in her legal proceedings days before La Badie's death, with Marie Russ claiming to have been her actual birth mother in sworn deposition. Obituary notices stated that she was survived by her mother, Amanda La Badie, with no mention of her having been adopted. This omission would have been customary at the time.
Because of her death, it is unknown as to what her prolonged impact on the film industry would have been and, though she is little known today, at the time she was a top billed star. Under New York laws the property of her estate was divided between her parents, Mr. and Mrs. Joseph La Badie.
Selected filmography
- Getting EvenGetting EvenGetting Even was a 1993 rock album released by guitarist Greg Ginn on Cruz Records, his first full-length solo album. Ginn had taken time to establish his solo career after the breakup of Black Flag. Very different from his work with other bands such as Gone, Getting Even consists of jam-oriented,...
- (1909) - In the Window Recess - (1909)
- Bobby, the Coward - (1910)
- The Broken CrossThe Broken Cross (1911 film)The Broken Cross is a 1911 short silent drama film directed by D. W. Griffith, starring Charles West and featuring Blanche Sweet.-Cast:* Charles West - Tom* Florence La Badie - Kate* Grace Henderson - The Landlady* Dorothy West - The Manicurist...
- (1911) - How She TriumphedHow She TriumphedHow She Triumphed is a 1911 short silent drama film directed by D. W. Griffith and starring Blanche Sweet.-Cast:* Blanche Sweet - Mary* Vivian Prescott - Mary's Cousin* Joseph Graybill - The Sweetheart* Kate Bruce* Florence La Badie* Charles West...
- (1911) - David CopperfieldDavid Copperfield (1911 film)David Copperfield is a 1911 American black-and-white silent film based on the novel David Copperfield by Charles Dickens. It is the oldest known film adaptation of the novel....
- (1911) - Enoch ArdenEnoch Arden (1911 film)Enoch Arden is a two-part 1911 short silent drama film, based on the Tennyson poem of the same name. It was directed by D. W. Griffith, starred Wilfred Lucas and featured Blanche Sweet. A print of the film survives in the film archive of the Library of Congress.-Cast:* Wilfred Lucas - Enoch Arden*...
- (1911) - The TempestThe Tempest (1911 film)The Tempest is an American silent film adaptation of the William Shakespeare play The Tempest. It was directed by Edwin Thanhouser, and starred Ed Genung and Florence La Badie, and released by Thanhouser Film Corporation...
- (1911) - The Indian BrothersThe Indian BrothersThe Indian Brothers is a 1911 short silent drama film directed by D. W. Griffith, starring Frank Opperman and featuring Blanche Sweet.-Cast:* Frank Opperman - The Indian Chief* Wilfred Lucas - The Indian Chief's Brother* Guy Hedlund - The Renegade...
- (1911) - The Blind Princess and the PoetThe Blind Princess and the PoetThe Blind Princess and the Poet is a 1911 short silent drama film directed by D. W. Griffith and starring Blanche Sweet.-Cast:* Blanche Sweet - The Princess* Charles West - The Poet* Charles Gorman* Francis J. Grandon* Guy Hedlund* Grace Henderson...
- (1911) - Paradise Lost - (1911)
- Cinderella - (1911)
- Dr. Jekyll and Mr. HydeDr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1912 film)Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is a 1912 horror film based on both Robert Louis Stevenson's novella The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde and on the play version of Thomas Russell Sullivan. Directed by Lucius Henderson, the film stars actor James Cruze as the dual role of Jekyll/Hyde.-Plot...
(1912) - The Merchant of Venice - (1912)
- Undine - (1913)
- The Million Dollar MysteryThe Million Dollar MysteryThe Million Dollar Mystery is a twenty three chapter film serial. It was directed by Howell Hansel, and starred Florence La Badie. It was produced by Thanhouser Film Corporation, and was their biggest success, largely due to the popularity of La Badie. During the filming, La Badie performed her...
- (1914-1915 serial) - The Adventures of Florence - (1915)
- The Country GirlThe Country Girl (1915 film)The Country Girl is a silent film, starring Florence La Badie, based on David Garrick's 18th century play of the same name. Garrick's play was a version of William Wycherley's Restoration-era comedy, The Country Wife, itself based on works by the French playwright Molière. It was directed by...
- (1915) - Monsieur LecoqMonsieur LecoqMonsieur Lecoq is the creation of Émile Gaboriau, a 19th-century French writer and journalist. Monsieur Lecoq is a fictional detective employed by the French Sûreté...
- (1915) - The Fear of Poverty - (1915)
- The Return of Draw EganThe Return of Draw EganThe Return of Draw Egan is a 1916 silent era western drama motion picture starring William S. Hart, Louise Glaum, Margery Wilson, Robert McKim, and J.P. Lockney....
- (1916) - Ward of the King - (1916)
- Divorce and the DaughterDivorce and the DaughterDivorce and the Daughter is a silent film released by Thanhouser Film Corporation. It was directed by Frederic Richard Sullivan, and starred Florence La Badie, Edwin Stanley, Ethelmary Oakland and Kathryn Adams.-Plot:...
- (1916) - The Woman in White - (1917)
- War and the Woman (1917)
See also
- Other Canadian pioneers in early FilmCanadian pioneers in early HollywoodMotion pictures have been a part of the culture of Canada since the beginning.-History:Around 1910, the East Coast filmmakers began to take advantage of California winters and after Nestor Studios, run by Canadian Al Christie, built the first permanent movie studio in Hollywood a number of the...
External links
- Florence La Badie silent ladies
- Florence La Badie, Thanhouser
- Florence La Badie portrait helping out the war effort (World War I) New York Public Library (Billy Rose Collection)