Florence Auer was an American theater and motion picture actress whose career spanned more than five decades.

Life and career

Born in Albany, New York

Albany, New York

Albany is the capital city of the U.S. state of New York, the seat of Albany County, and the central city of New York's Capital District. Roughly north of New York City, Albany sits on the west bank of the Hudson River, about south of its confluence with the Mohawk River...

, Florence Auer began her career on East Coast stages at the turn of the 20th century. She began appearing in films shortly thereafter; her first film appearance was in the 1908 Wallace McCutcheon Jr directed comedy short The Sculptor's Nightmare opposite director D.W. Griffith. One of the original "Biograph

American Mutoscope and Biograph Company

The American Mutoscope and Biograph Company, was a motion picture company founded in 1895 and active until 1928. It was the first company in the United States devoted entirely to film production and exhibition, and for two decades was one of the most prolific, releasing over three thousand short...

 Girls" (along with actress Marion Leonard

Marion Leonard

Marion Leonard was an American stage actress who became one of first motion picture celebrities in the early years of the silent film era. -Early career:...

), Auer would appear alongside such notable future directors as Griffith, Thomas H. Ince

Thomas H. Ince

Thomas Harper Ince was an American silent film actor, director, screenwriter and producer of more than 100 films and pioneering studio mogul. Known as the "Father of the Western", he invented many mechanisms of professional movie production, introducing early Hollywood to the "assembly line"...

, Robert G. Vignola

Robert G. Vignola

Robert G. Vignola Robert G. Vignola Robert G. Vignola (August 5, 1882 - October 25, 1953 was an Italian-born American actor, screenwriter and film director in American cinema. He made a handful of sound films in the early years of talkies but his career essentially ended in the silent era...

, Harry Solter

Harry Solter

Henry Lewis "Harry" Solter was an American silent film actor, screenwriter and director.-Career:Solter began his career as an actor in 1908 with Biograph Studios. That same year he met actress Florence Lawrence while making the film Romeo and Juliet for Vitagraph Studios and married on August 30...

 and 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"...

 in their early careers as actors. These early associations would help ensure Auer's longevity in films when the former actors became notable directors and often cast Auer in their later films.

During her early years as a motion picture actress, Florence Auer would appear opposite such publicly popular actors of the early 20th century as: Florence Lawrence

Florence Lawrence

Florence Lawrence was a Canadian inventor and silent film actress. She is often referred to as "The First Movie Star." When she was popular, she was known as "The Biograph Girl," "The Imp Girl," and "The Girl of a Thousand Faces." Lawrence appeared in more than 270 films for various motion...

, Florence Turner

Florence Turner

Florence Turner was an American actress, who became known as the "Vitagraph Girl" in early silent films.Born in New York City, she was pushed into appearing on the stage at age three by her ambitious mother...

, Maurice Costello

Maurice Costello

Maurice Costello was a prominent vaudeville actor of the late 1890s and early 1900s, who later played a principal role in early American films, as both a leading man, supporting player and a director....

, Owen Moore

Owen Moore

Owen Moore was an Irish-born actor in American films, appearing in more than 279 movies spanning from 1908 to 1937.-Life and career:...

, Robert "Bobby" Harron

Robert Harron

Robert "Bobby" Harron was an American motion picture actor of the early silent film era. Although he acted in scores of films, he is possibly best remembered for his roles in the D.W. Griffith directed films Intolerance and The Birth of a Nation...

 and Julia Swayne Gordon

Julia Swayne Gordon

Julia Swayne Gordon , was an American actress. She appeared in 228 films between 1908 to 1933.Born in Columbus, Ohio, she starred in the first film version of the Lady Godiva legend in 1911...

.

Florence Auer would appear in motion pictures until the 1950s, then transitioning to television before retiring. One of her last film appearances was in the 1951 comedy Love Nest

Love Nest

Love Nest is a 1951 comedy-drama film, directed by Joseph Newman, and starring June Haver, William Lundigan, Frank Fay, Marilyn Monroe, and Jack Paar.The post-World War II comedy features an early supporting role for Monroe...

, which starred a young Marilyn Monroe

Marilyn Monroe

Marilyn Monroe was an American actress, singer, model and showgirl who became a major sex symbol, starring in a number of commercially successful motion pictures during the 1950s....

. Aside from acting, she also was a screenwriter for three early silent film

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...

s: 1916's Edwin Carewe

Edwin Carewe

Edwin Carewe was an American motion picture director, actor, producer, and screenwriter. He was born in Gainesville, Texas, as Jay Fox.-Career:...

 directed drama Her Great Price starring Mabel Taliaferro

Mabel Taliaferro

Mabel "Nell" Taliaferro was an American stage, and a silent screen actress, known as the Sweetheart of American Movies...

, 1917's John G. Adolfi

John G. Adolfi

John G. Adolfi was an American silent film director, actor, and screenwriter who was involved in more than 100 productions throughout his career.-Biography:...

 directed drama A Modern Cinderella starring June Caprice

June Caprice

-Early life and career:Born Helen Elizabeth Lawson in Arlington, Massachusetts, she began her acting career in live theatre and in 1916 signed with the Fox Film Corporation....

 and 1921's Her Mad Bargain, directed by Edwin Carewe and starring Anita Stewart

Anita Stewart

Anita Stewart was an American actress and film producer of the early silent film era.-Early life and career:...

 and Arthur Edmund Carewe

Arthur Edmund Carewe

Arthur Edmund Carewe , was an Armenian-American actor in the silent and early sound film era.-Early life:Born Hovsep Hovsepian in Trabzon , Ottoman Empire, Carewe was from a prosperous family in his native country...

.

She died in New York City, New York in 1962 at the age of 82.

External links

• Image Archive at NYPL Digital Gallery