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Mommy, Where Do Celebrities Come From?
Back in the Victorian era, a young country girl named Lillie Langtry decided she wanted to be known by all, so she had her portrait painted by noted artists so that she could be seen on all the penny postcards sold around London. Langtry achieved her wish, and as time went on, more and more people decided to follow her lead. In the Wild West, famous gunfighters were followed by writers and artists who would share their exploits with publishers for mass consumption. Centuries before that, wandering minstrels would tell stories of great warriors and beautiful princesses in return for food, lodging and the occasional glass of ale. People have always enjoyed hearing stories about famous people, but it was Florence Annie Bridgwood, a Canadian girl from Hamilton, Ontario who was really responsible for the elevation of the cult of celebrity from a hobby to an international obsession. Lawrence was the child of a vaudeville actress who made her way to Hollywood, attracted by the rapid growth of the fledgling motion picture industry. In 1907, at the ripe age of 21, Lawrence made her first starring role. In those days, however, silent screen stars were largely unknown to the public. The people who appeared in movies were mostly anonymous faces; the studios kept them that way to ensure that wage demands didn't get out of control. That is, until D.W. Griffith, the head of Biograph Studios, saw one of Lawrence's Vitagraph films and was smitten by the beautiful blonde girl on the screen. He made some inquiries, learned who she was, and set up a meeting where he offered 'The Vitagraph Girl' a five dollar raise (to a whopping $25 a week) if she'd come make movies for him. It was the first ever case of a studio paying a lot of money to someone the public might recognize, and soon that money was paying off big time.
Lawrence quickly gained popularity, but because her name was never announced, love-struck fans began writing to the studio for the girl's name. Biograph Studios, her employer at the time, refused to reveal who she was. Instead, they referred to her only as "The Biograph Girl." But others had bigger plans. Carl Laemmle, who would later found Universal Studios, entered the motion picture business and lured Lawrence away from Biograph with a promise to give her name a spot on the marquee. But Laemlee was no stranger to the art of public relations, so before he'd allow Lawrence to work for the new company, he started a rumor that Lawrence had been killed in a collision with a New York streetcar. Once the media storm had erupted and her improbable fate was on everyone's lips across the country, he then placed a newspaper ad that declared she was alive and well, and was making a new movie for IMP. Celebrity, as we know it, had arrived. |
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