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Florence’s father was a successful Montreal lawyer and her upper-middle-class parents sent her to a Catholic convent school to learn the ways of a "proper" young lady. She studied art, painting, sculpture, and learned to play the piano and to sing. Florence also wrote poetry in her spare time. In addition to these intellectual pursuits, she was also a very good athlete.
Completing her studies, Florence La Badie was offered work as a 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 more films under the renowned D.W. Griffith until 19111911 is a common year starting on Sunday (click on link for calendar). Events January-June January 1 Northern Territory is separated from South Australia January 3 In London, a shootout between Russian anarchists and the Scots Guard January 10 Major Jimmi when 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 including her most remembered effort in the 1914Events January 4 77 seal hunters freeze to death on ice near Labrador January 5 Ford Motor Company announces an eight-hour workday and a minimum wage of $5 for a day's labor February 13 Copyright: In New York City the ASCAP (for American Society of Compos - 1915Events January 12 The Rocky Mountain National Park is established by an act of Congress. January 12 United States House of Representatives rejects proposal to give women the right to vote. January 13 An earthquake (6. 8 in Richter scale) in Avezzano, Ital serial, The Million Dollar Mystery . Athletic and daring, in these films she performed all her own stunts.
When World War IWorld War I (also known as the First World War , the Great War the War of the Nations and the "War to End All Wars") was a world conflict occurring from 1914 to 1918. No previous conflict had mobilized so many soldiers, or involved so many in the field of broke out in EuropeFor the band of the same name, see Europe (band . Europe is a continent forming the westermost part of the Eurasian supercontinent. Europe is bounded to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the west by the Atlantic Ocean, to the south by the Mediterranean Se 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 a great 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 FranceThe French Republic or France ( French: Republique francaise or France is a country whose metropolitan territory is located in western Europe, and which is further made up of a collection of overseas islands and territories located in other continents. 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.
At the height of her motion picture success, on August 28August 28 is the 240th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (241st in leap years), with 125 days remaining. Events Wednesday, August 28, 475 The German general Orestes forces western Roman Emperor Julius Nepos to flee his capital of Ravenna and appoi, 1917, while driving near Ossining, New York in the company of her co-worker Daniel Goodman, the brakes on Florence La Badie’s car failed and the vehicle plunged down a hill overturning at the bottom. While Daniel Goodman escaped basically unharmed, Ms. La Badie was thrown from the vehicle and suffered serious injuries. Hospitalized, she clung to life for more than two weeks and seemed to be getting better when she suddenly died from what was described as an infection.
With her passing, Florence La Badie became the first female motion picture personality to die and the movie-going public mourned her passing. After a large funeral, she was interred in the Green-Wood Cemetery in Brooklyn, New York. Obituary notices stated that she was survived by her mother, Amanda La Badie, with no mention of her ever having been adopted as would have been customary at the time.
Following her death, a mechanical inspection of her motor vehicle revealed that the brakes had been tampered with. Despite this, no formal investigation was ever undertaken to find the facts of her accident and death. Certain of Ms. Labadie’s close friends cautiously alluded to her having been involved in an intimate relationship with Woodrow Wilson, the President of the United States. However, in those days, any such scandal was covered up before it could be found out and Thanhouser Film Corporation had already announced that their star was engaged to Daniel Goodman, the man who survived the accident. Allegedly pregnant as a result of her liaison with the President, the truth died with Florence La Badie.
During her shortened career, Ms. La Badie appeared in many films, some of which are:
See also: Other Canadian pioneers in early Film
La Badie, Florence La Badie, Florence La Badie, Florence La Badie, Florence