Laura Sawyer

Sawyer was born in Iron County, some 75 miles or so south of St. Louis, Missouri,[1] the daughter of Alvah Hayden and Laurette Sawyer.[2] Little is known here about the early life of Sawyer except that her father was a doctor and that by 1900 she was a boarder at the Ursuline Academy in St. Louis.[3]

Sawyer began her career with the Otis Skinner theatrical company before joining Edison Studios while still in her early twenties. She almost immediately found stardom at Edison and remained with the studio until 1913. Her most memorable performance during the period was probably playing the title role in The Lighthouse Keeper's Daughter (1912).[2] Over her tenure with his film studio Thomas Edison was said to have considered Sawyer as his favorite actress.[2] She later joined the Famous Players Film Company where she played Kate Kirby in the detective films Chelsea 7750, An Hour Before Dawn and The Port of Doom, all released in 1913, and was praised for her performance in The Daughter of the Hills, also produced in 1913.[4][5] Sawyer’s last known film appearance was in The Daughter of the People, produced by the Dyreda Art Film Corporation in 1915. Afterwards Laura Sawyer disappeared from the public eye until her death in 1970. At some point she married Charles Frederick Wolff and spent time living in Florida and New Jersey.[2] Her daughter Hayden (1920–2014) grew up in Manhattan, New York and Bronxville, New York.[6]

The Moving Picture World, 1913

• The Rajah (1911)
• The Battle of Trafalgar (1911)
• The Lighthouse by the Sea (1911)
• For the Cause of the South (1912)
• In His Father's Steps (1912)
• Hulda of Holland (1913)
• The Twelfth Juror (1913)
• The Old Monk's Tale (1913)
• On The Broad Stairway (1913)
• Chelsea 7750 (1913)
• An Hour Before Dawn (1913)
• The Port of Doom (1913)
• The Daughter of the Hills (1913)
• A Woman's Triumph (1914)
• The Valentine Girl (1917) (*as writer)

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Laura Sawyer.

• Laura Sawyer on IMDb
• Laura Sawyer at Find a Grave