Florence La Badie
About
Biography
Filmography
Family & Companions
Notes
"If I were to say to her, Miss LaBadie, go and jump out of that window, there'll be someone down below to catch you, she'd do it without even going to the window to look. She's pure steel." --director Howell Hansell, quoted in newspaper article, mid-1910s
On watching her own films: "As silly as it may seem, I really have stage fright. I sit with my hands clenched and watch myself, seeing where I might have done better and longing to walk into the picture again and improve my acting." --Florence LaBadie, quoted in newspaper article, mid-1910s
Biography
This lovely blonde silent picture player appeared in more than 100 films in her ten-year career. A former model and stage actress, LaBadie began her screen career with Biograph in 1909, often directed by D W Griffith (i.e., "Enoch Arden", "Bobby, the Coward", "Her Sacrifice" and about a dozen others). She moved to the Thanhouser Studios in Rochester, NY, in 1911 and became their star attraction, helping to make the 1914 serial "The Million Dollar Mystery" a huge success.
LaBadie stayed on with Thanhouser even after their general manager died in an auto accident in 1914 and other stars jumped ship. She was known as a risk-taker and insisted on doing her own stunts, like Pearl White. LaBadie starred in 35 one- and two-reel films from 1915-17, running the gamut of genres from comedies ("The Five Faults of Flo") to stark dramas ("The Five Cent Loaf", "The Fear of Poverty") to rousing adventure ("Ward of the King") to social dramas ("Divorce and the Daughter"). She was still at the height of her popularity when she died in her late 20s--like Thanhouser's general manager--in an auto accident, in 1917.
Filmography
Cast (Feature Film)
Life Events
Family
Companions
Bibliography
Notes
"If I were to say to her, Miss LaBadie, go and jump out of that window, there'll be someone down below to catch you, she'd do it without even going to the window to look. She's pure steel." --director Howell Hansell, quoted in newspaper article, mid-1910s
On watching her own films: "As silly as it may seem, I really have stage fright. I sit with my hands clenched and watch myself, seeing where I might have done better and longing to walk into the picture again and improve my acting." --Florence LaBadie, quoted in newspaper article, mid-1910s
On her philosophy of life: "I'm an indifferentist. I don't care what happens. Life's too short for that sort of thing." --Florence LaBadie, quoted in newspaper article, mid-1910s
