Florence Lawrence

This popular actress of the early silent era was known as 'the Biograph Girl' due to her affiliation with the studio and its foremost director, D W Griffith. Lawrence was lured away from Biograph in 1910 by Carl Laemmle, of the Independent Motion Picture Company of America, who renamed her the 'The Imp Girl'. Thanks to one of Laemmle's canny publicity stunts, involving a newspaper story claiming that Lawrence was dead, she became the first film star whose real name was known to the public. Lawrence's career was effectively over by the mid-20s, though she remained on the MGM payroll through the 30s.