Death of early star a movie mystery

CENTURY AFTER FATAL CRASH, CONSPIRACY THEORIES ABOUND

B EAUTIFUL Florence LaBadie was one of the first actresses to be identified by name in the advertising for her movies.

Tragically, she would also be billed as the first major moviestar death when her car flipped on a Westchester road in 1917, ending her life at the age of 29.

Nearly a century later, that moment remains shrouded in conspiracy theory, from sinister rumors that her accident was orchestrated by an American president to suspicions surrounding LaBadie’s fiancé and passenger, who would later figure in one of Tinseltown’s biggest scandals.

“It would make one helluva movie!’’ says Bob Evans, a retired New Jersey police detective and second cousin of LaBadie (sometimes spelled La Badie) who has done some sleuthing on the case. “At this point in time, a lot of things do remain a mystery.’’

While studio publicity claimed LaBadie was a Canadian descended from French aristocracy, she was born in modest circumstances to Horace and Marie Russ in New York City on April 27, 1888. Her father died when she was 3 and Florence’s impoverished mother put her up for adoption to Joseph and Amanda LaBadie, well-to-do French Canadians who split their time between New York and Montreal.

Educated in both countries, the classically beautiful LaBadie — who cultivated an enigmatic smile beloved by artists and photographers — began modeling as a teenager. By 1908, she was performing in road productions and had at least one minor Broadway role, before being urged into movies by an actress who would become one of the most famous silent stars.

“Mary Pickford is a dear friend of mine and it was Mary who sug- gested that I try pictures,” LaBadie said in a 1914 magazine interview.

LaBadie appeared in 30 onereelers made at Biograph studios on East 14th Street, often under the direction of D.W. Griffith. By April 1911, she had moved to the Thanhouser Co., where she would work exclusively for the remaining six years of her life, becoming the New Rochelle studio’s top star and making more than 166 films, including a dozen features between 1916 and 1917.

“She didn’t look like any other star of the era,’’ says Fritzi Kramer, a silent-film historian. “Her beauty is very modern and accessible, as opposed to the more kewpie-doll look of some other actresses of the period.’’

At 5-foot-4 and 125 pounds, LaBadie had light-brown hair, bluish-gray eyes and a slim figure that complemented skimpy costumes considered daring for the era. She was a favorite of film-