Home> Facts and Trivia > Stars > Florence Lawrence
Florence Lawrence Facts
| Sign | Capricorn |
| Born |
Jan 2, 1886 Hamilton, Canada |
| Died |
Dec 28, 1938 Beverly Hills, CA |
| Age | Died at 53 |
| Total Facts | 8 |
Committed suicide using ant paste.
Credited with inventing the first automobile turn and brake signals. The signals were operated by the driver pressing a button, and an arm on the back of the car indicating the turn direction or a stop. She did not patent the inventions, and they were superseded by more streamlined systems.
Entered films with Vitagraph in 1907.
Fired from Biograph when she was discovered to be negotiating with Carl Laemmle of Independent Motion Picture Company.
In the early 1900s, she was officially known as the "Biograph Girl" for the 'American Mutoscope & Biograph [us]'.
She is the subject of the novel "The Biograph Girl" (2000) by William J. Mann, who imagines Lawrence didn't die in 1938 from ingesting ant poison and is still alive in the late 1990's.
Silent-screen actress
The birth date on her gravestone is 1890, but many sources say 1886.