Volume III: Biographies

LAWRENCE, Paul T. *

Actor (1915)

Thanhouser Career Synopsis: Paul T. Lawrence appeared in the Thanhouser film, The Road to Fame.

Biographical Notes: Born in Cleveland, Ohio, Paul T. Lawrence was the son of M.J. Lawrence, one of Cleveland's wealthiest citizens, and owner of the Lawrence Publishing Company, which published Ohio Farmer, Michigan Farmer, Pennsylvania Farmer, and other agricultural periodicals. He was educated at Cleveland University and later became treasurer at the New York City advertising office of his father's company.

An article in The Cleveland Plain Dealer, September 9, 1915, told of Paul Lawrence's unusual entry into films: "For the past four months, unknown to all save his most intimate friends, Mr. Lawrence has been acting in various motion picture studios in and about New York. At the present time he is playing 'juvenile leads' with Ethel Barrymore in a big feature film which is being made at the Metro studios. He has just finished playing Count de Varille in a film version of Camille, made at the Thanhouser studios at New Rochelle, and he is engaged for the leading part in a new feature film which will be made in the Metro studios as soon as his present engagement is completed.

"The meteoric rise of this young Clevelander, whose stage experience was limited to Hermit Club productions, is as surprising as the manner in which he became a movie actor. One day about four months ago Mr. Lawrence accompanied Mlle. Yona Landowska, a Russian actress, to the Universal studio in New York City. While he was standing on the studio floor, one of the directors shouted to him: 'Hi, you, why aren't you made up? Don't you know you are in the next scene?' Without waiting to reply to the director, Lawrence hurried from the floor to Mlle. Landowska's dressing room, where he told her what happened. 'Why don't you go on?' she asked. 'I'll make you up. It will be a lot of fun for you.'

"For a lark, Lawrence decided to do it. Mlle. Landowska made up his eyes, powdered his face, and in less time than it takes to tell it instructed him how to deport himself when he reached the studio floor. When the scene was called, Lawrence descended to the studio floor and took his place with several other 'extras,' as actors who are engaged for mob scenes, etc. are called. He was rehearsed with them, and eventually filmed when the scene was taken. The work was so interesting for him that he decided to return the following day. As luck would have it, he was seen by the director, who needed an actor of the college type for a scene which was about to be taken. Thinking Lawrence had had experience in the movies he gave him the part. The Clevelander pretended that he was an old hand at the game, and thus almost overnight he found himself playing a fairly important role in a feature film.... Events move rapidly in the motion picture business. Before a month had passed directors of other companies sent for him. He was given parts at the Famous Players studio, where he acted in pictures with Mary Pickford and Marguerite Clark; at the Fox studio, where he played with Theda Bara; and at the Thanhouser studio in New Rochelle, where he played one of the important roles in Camille.

"Today he is in demand both as a juvenile and a 'heavy' at a dozen different studios in and about New York. And he is earning more money than he has ever earned in his life. At the New York office of the Lawrence Publishing Company, at 41 Park Row, Mr. Lawrence is supposed to be on a vacation. His official duties in the summer are always rather light, and his long absence has not yet occasioned suspicion. When Twisted Paths, with Mary Pickford as its star, is shown in the Forest City next month, Clevelanders will have an opportunity to see Paul T. Lawrence in the film. Later on they will have an opportunity to see him in Fumes of the Orient, the Ethel Barrymore film play which is being made at the present time."

For Thanhouser he appeared in The Road to Fame, which had Camille as a play-within-a-film. No separate Thanhouser film titled Camille was ever released, although biographical listings in the Motion Picture News Studio Directory, 1916 and 1918 editions, state that he began his film career with a role in the Thanhouser production of Camille. The Camille segment of The Road to Fame was staged and photographed at the Stamford Theatre, Stamford, Connecticut.

Paul Lawrence's early screen career seems to have centered around Metro, where by the autumn of 1916 he had played in The Woman Pays, The Upheaval, The Final Judgment, and other pictures. At the time a directory noted that he was 6' tall, weighed 155 pounds, and had dark hair and brown eyes. His spare time interests included horseback riding and swimming. The 1917 and 1918 editions of the Motion Picture News Studio Directory reported that he was with Metro-Rolfe at that time.

Thanhouser Filmography:

1915: The Road to Fame (9-28-1915)

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