Florence Turner

Dear Silent Hall of Fame Users:

You have come to this website, because you like silent films and silent movie stars. There are many places like this. But unlike other sites, here at Silent Hall of Fame you can make a real difference. You can help us show for the first time many films featuring your favorite silent stars that have not been seen in generations. This will bring their names back into the public discourse. But you can do much more than that: you can help your favorite silent stars receive belated recognition and glory.

Until now there has never been an organization with the purpose to place a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for movie personalities from a century ago. Silent Hall of Fame is this historic organization. Silent Hall of Fame is the only organization of its kind. We will make history and we invite you to become a part of history by sponsoring a silent movie star for the Hollywood Walk of Fame. All contributions are tax deductible.

Please use this button for a one-time donation. Use the button on the right-hand side for a recurring donation.

Rare Gems on DVD

Our users have spoken, and we have listened. You want to see rare and hard to find films, and we have created for you the Silent Gems Collection, available on eBay. This DVD collection includes rare and for the first time available films with our stars, as well as other silent masterpieces. These are high quality films that are hard to find anywhere else. Please click on this link to see the collection: Silent Gems Collection

Important Update:

You don't have to leave our website in order to obtain the films from our Silent Gems Collection. These gems are now available to our users as a reward for donation. For details click here.

Out Yonder 1919 The Woman God Forgot 1917 That Model from Paris 1926 For Better for Worse 1919 Dorothy Vernon of Haddon Hall 1924

OUR DOCUMENTARY

We are proud to present to all silent film lovers our multiple award-winning documentary! In March 2015 it won the distinction "Award of Merit" at the San Francisco Film Awards. In May it won the Silver Award at the 2015 International Independent Film Awards. In September 2015 it won the Award of Recognition at the Accolade Global Film Competition. Of equal merit is the inclusion of the documentary in the Official Selection of the San Jose International Short Film Festival in October 2015. In December the documentary won the extremely prestigious Diamond Award at the 2015 California Film Awards. The amazing run of recognition for our documentary continued in 2016. In February it was included in the Official Selection of the Buffalo Niagara International Film Festival.

San Francisco Film Awards new International Independent Film Awards new Accolade Global Film Competition Award new San Jose International Short Film Festival new California Film Awards small new

Florence Turner with a nice hat in "When Persistency and Obstinacy Meet" (1912)

Silent Hall of Fame is looking for contributors to create an original biography for this star.

Florence Turner (January 6, 1885 – August 28, 1946) 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. Turner became a regular performer in a variety of productions.

In 1906, she joined the fledgling motion picture business, signing with the pioneering Vitagraph Studios. Turner made her debut in Cast Up by the Sea (1907).

At the time, there were no stars, unless an already famous stage star made a movie. Performers were not even mentioned by name. Long, drawn out screen credits were not thought of. There was nothing but the name of the company and the picture. As the content of movies evolved from simple incidents, or situations, into definite stories, some of the heroes and heroines were conceded a vague identity, such as the "Edison Girl", etc.

Though she was known only as the "Vitagraph Girl" in the early motion picture shorts, Turner became the most popular American actress to appear on screen (at that time still dominated by French pictures, especially from the Pathe and Gaumont companies). Her worth to the studio, as its biggest box-office draw, was recognised in 1907 when her pay was upped to $22 a week, as proto-star plus part-time seamstress. It was somewhat less than the male leading players, especially those with stage experience, particularly the super-popular Maurice Costello. In March 1910, she and Florence Lawrence became the first screen actors not already famous in another medium to be publicized by name by their studios to the general public.

Later that year, Florence was paired several times opposite heartthrob Wallace Reid, on his way to stardom. But with the rise of more stars such as Gene Gauntier and Marin Sais at Kalem Studios, Marion Leonard and Mary Pickford at Biograph Studios, and Florence Lawrence (Biograph, moving to IMP in 1910), Florence Turner was no longer quite as special. By 1913, she was looking for new pastures and left the United States accompanied by longtime friend Laurence Trimble, who directed her in a number of movies. They moved to England, where she and Larry began performing together in London music halls.

She sometimes wrote screenplays and directed her own movies, including a number of comedies. She also organized her own production company, Turner Films, for which she made more than thirty shorts.

Turner entertained Allied troops during World War I. She returned to the U.S. after the Armistice, but was not as successful as before. In 1920, she again went to England, where she remained until moving to Hollywood, virtually forgotten, in 1924.

By then, she was thirty-nine years of age and her starring days were long behind her. She continued to act in supporting roles into the 1930s.

In 1928, she acted in a minor role on Broadway in Sign of the Leopard, which ran for thirty-nine performances. Turner was placed on the payroll at MGM by Louis B. Mayer in the 1930s, but was limited in the assignments offered. She mostly played bit or small parts and worked as an extra.

She later moved to the Motion Picture Country House, a retirement community for the industry in Woodland Hills, California.

After appearing in more than 160 motion pictures, Florence Turner died at 61 in Woodland Hills.