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Florence Turner

Florence Turner

1885 - 1946

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The actress Florence Turner belonged to the first movie stars at all and she was an ideal for later movie stars. 

She already began her acting career at the age of three when her mother placed her for a stage performance. 
In later years she appeared regularly at the theater and was quite successful, especially with her parodies of theater stars like Marie Dressler and Fay Templeton. 

When she entered the film business in 1906 it was still in its infancy and she signed by Vitagraph. She made her screen debut in 1907 with "Cast Up by the Sea" (07), "How to Cure a Cold" (07) and "The Gipsy's Warning" (07).

In the next years she took part in countless short movies which made her popular in no time - she soon got the nickname "Vitagraph Girl".

As a movie star from the beginning she enchanted her audience in the following years with movies like "Macbeth" (08), "Romeo and Juliet" (08), "Richard III" (08), "Saved by Love" (08), "Miss Sherlock Holmes" (08), "The Merchant of Venice" (08), "Kenilworth" (09), "Launcelot and Elaine" (09), "A Midsummer Night's Dream" (09), "For Her Sister's Sake" (10), "St. Elmo" (10), "Davy Jones and Captain Bragg" (10), "Uncle Tom's Cabin" (10), "Renunciation" (10) and "Francesca da Rimini" (10).

At the beginning of the silent movie era it was usual that the actors were not enlisted by name and it was Florence Turner who was mentioned on the screen by her name for the first time and who was not a former stage star at the same time. With her the movie star did not only acquire a face but also a name. 

The height of her film career followed in the 10s and she acted again in numerous short movies.
She left Hollywood in 1913 and went to England where she was looking for a new challenge and appeared at music halls in London. Beside it she continued to act in front of the camera till 1916. 
To her well-known movies of those years belong "A Tale of Two Cities" (11), "The Show Girl" (11), "The Wrong Patient" (11), "The Path of True Love" (12), "Her Diary" (12), "The Irony of Fate" (12), "The Skull" (13), "The One Good Turn" (13), "The Deerslayer" (13), "The Harper Mystery" (13), "The Murdock Trial" (14), "Through the Valley of Shadows" (14), "Snobs" (14), "My Old Dutch" (15), "A Welsh Singer" (16) and "East Is East" (16).

On the height of her film career Florence Turner founded her own film company and was also active as a producer, writer and director. 

When she left Europe in 1916 because of the wartime and returned to the USA, the film industry had changed completely and the name Florence Turner was nearly forgotten. Long since new stars have conquered the American audience. 
Still she continued her career in the USA but could only take part in few more movies. Disappointed about the situation she went back to England in 1922 where she again was engaged in leading roles till 1924. But a film crisis in England led to the closing of the film studios and she had to go back to the USA again. She even was depending on the financial help of the actress Marion Davies because Florence Turner could not afford the return journey. Marion Davies also organised a role for her in the movie "Janice Meredith" (24).
To Turner's other movies of the 20s belong "Three Men in a Boat" (20), "Blackmail" (20), "The Little Mother" (22), "Sally Bishop" (24), "The Dark Angel" (25), "The Last Alarm" (26), "The Broken Gate" (27), "Sally in Our Alley" (27), "College" (27) with the imcomparable Buster Keaton, "The Chinese Parrot" (27), "The Road to Ruin" (28) and "The Iron Mask" (29) with the legendary Douglas Fairbanks.

With the rise of the sound film she only got smallest roles and the former celebrated star took part in the movies "The Rampant Age" (30), "The Sign of the Cross" (32), "The Animal Kingdom" (32), "One Rainy Afternoon" (36), "Thousands Cheers" (43) and "Whistling in Brooklyn" (43).
 

Other movies with Florence Turner:
Athletic American Girls (07) Bargain Fiend; or, Shopping à la Mode (07) Francesca di Rimini: or, The Two Brothers (08) Love Will Find a Way (08) Romance of a War Nurse (08) Ex-Convict No. 900 (08) The New Stenographer (08) An Unexpected Santa Claus (08) A Daughter of the Sun (09) Fuss and Feathers (09) The Three Kisses (09) His Masterpiece (09) The Heart of a Clown (09) A Gift from Santa Claus (09) A Pair of Schemers; or, My Wife and My Uncle (10) Twelfth Night (10) Ranson's Faolly (10) Sisters (10) Over the Garden Wall (10) Wilson's Wife's Countenance (10) Peg Woffington (10) Her Mother's Wedding Gown (10) Back to Nature: or, The Best Man Wins (10) Rose Leaves (10) Jean, the Matchmaker (10) Brother Man (10) Aulf Robin Gray (10) In the Mountains of Kentucky (10) Jean Goes Fishing (10) Love, Luck and Gasoline (10) The Winning of Miss Langdon (10) A Tin-Type Romance (10) A Dixie Mother (10) Jean Rescues (11) The New Stenographer (11) Captain Barnacle's Courtship (11) For His Sake: or, The Winning of the Stepchildren (11) The Spirit of the Light: or, Love Watches on Through the Years (11) Prejudice of Pierre Marie (11) The Sacrifice (11) Proving His Love: or, The Ruse of a Beautiful Woman (11) The Stumbling Block (11) Intrepid Davy (11) Birds of a Feather (11) Jealousy (11) Cherry Blossoms (11) Forgotten: or, An Answered Prayer (11) The Answer of the Roses (11) Wig Wag (11) Auld Lang Syne (11) Hypnotizing the Hypnotist (11) One Touch of Nature (11) A Red Cross Martyr: or, On the Firing Lines of Tripoli (12) Jean Intervenes (12) Indian Romeo and Juliet (12) Mrs. Carter's Necklace (12) Aunty's Romance (12) Wanted...a Grandmother (12) Flirt or Heroine (12) Two Cinders (12) The Loyalty of Sylvia (12) She Cried (12) When Persistency and Obstinacy Meet (12) The Face or the Voice (12) Una of the Sierras (12) The Servant Problem: or, How Mr. Bullington Ran the House (12) Susie to Susanne (12) The Signal of Distress (12) While She Powdered Her Nose (12) The Wings of a Moth (13) What a Cahnge of Clothes Did (13) Everbodyj's Doing It (13) Cutey and the Twins (13) Stenographer Troubles (13) Under the Make-Up (13) Sisters All (13) The House in Suburbia (13) Checkmated (13) Let 'Em Quarrel (13) A Window on Washington Park (13) Counsellor Bobby (13) Up and Down the Ladder (13) Rose of Surrey (13) Jean's Evidence (13) Pumps (13) The Younger Sister (13) The Lucky Stone (13) Creatures of Habit (14) Flotilla the Flirt (14) Daisy Doodad's Dial (14) For Her People (14) The Shepherd Laddie of Argyle (14) Polly's Progress (14) One Thing After Another (14) Shopgirls: or, The Great Question (14) As Ye Repent (15) Alone in London (15) Lost and Won (15) Far from the Madding Crowd (15) Doorsteps (16) Grim Justice (16) Fools' Gold (19) Oh, It's E.Z. (19) The Ugly Duckling (20) The Brand of Lopez (20) Passion Fruit (21) All Dolled Up (21) The Old Wives' Tale (21) Was She Justified? (22) The Street Tumblers (22) The Lights o' London (22) Homet's Nest (23) The Boatswain's Mate (24) Women and Diamonds (24) The Mad Marriage (25) Never the Twain Shall Meet (25) The Price of Success (25) The Gilded Highway (26) Flame of the Argentine (26) Padlocked (26) The Overland Stage (27) Stranded (27) The Cancelled Debt (27) The Law and the Man (28) Marry the Girl (28) Walking Back (28) Jazzland (28) The Pace That Kills (28) Kid's Clever (29) The Ridin' Fool (31) Taxi! (32) The Trial of Vivienne Ware (32) He Couldn't Take It (33) 

Producer: 
The Younger Sister (13) Rose of Surrey (13) Jean's Evidence (13) The Lucky Stone 813) The Harper Mystery (13) Creatures of Habit (14) The Murdock Trial (14) Flotilla the Flirt (14) Daisy Doodad's Dial (14) For Her People (14) My Old Dutch (15) Castle (15) Far from the Madding Crowd (15) The Great Adventure (15) A Welsh Singer (16) Sally in Our Alley (16) Grim Justice (16) East Is East (16) 

Writer: 
She Cried (12) His Wife's Relatives (13) He Waited (13) The Dog House Builders (13) The Younger Sister (13) The Hero (14) Through the Valley of Shadows (14) Film Favourites (14) As Ye Repent (15) 


 
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