1853-1931
Prominent late 19th century stage actor, turned 20th century film actor Lawrence (or variously Lawrance--this is the spelling he used in autographs) D'Orsay was born Dorset William Lawrance in Peterborough, England (which is located in Cambridgeshire/East Anglia--the important ancient settlement of Flag Fen located not far from his birthplace). Like so many artistic types that ended up in the theater in one form or another, his family had intended him to study law. He became an actor instead. The lion's share of his career was spent on the stage, where he was noted as a highly entertaining actor of comedy. His type-casting from plays as the "upper crust" type carried over into many of his film roles as an older gentleman of means. He first appeared on the silver screen at the age of 59 in 1912 in the American Film Manufacturing Co.'s The Border Detective. His next film appearance came in a role for which he was already famous from the stage, that of Lord Cardington in Universal's The Earl of Pawtucket in 1915; the film was based on the Augustus Thomas play of the same name that D'Orsay had starred in on Broadway. His last film appearance came in 1926 in one of D. W. Griffith's forgotten efforts of the mid to late twenties The Sorrow of Satan as Lord Elton. In all, he is credited with appearing in 8 films, most of them in the 1920's; but first and foremost: he was a man of the stage. D'Orsay died in London on the 13 of September in 1931, not long after his 78th birthday. There is no information on his burial.
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