Laura Sawyer (February 3, 1885 – September 7, 1970) was an American film actress of the silent era.
Sawyer was born in Iron County, some 75 miles or so south of St. Louis, Missouri, the daughter of Alvah Hayden and Laurette Sawyer. 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.
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). Over her tenure with his film studio Thomas Edison was said to have considered Sawyer as his favorite actress. 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. 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. Her daughter Hayden (1920–2014) grew up in Manhattan, New York and Bronxville, New York.
Actress
1915
The Daughter of the People as
Dell Hamilton
1914
In the Name of the Prince of Peace as
Helena von Kraft
1914
A Woman's Triumph as
Jeanie Deans
1913
The Daughter of the Hills (Short) as
Floria
1913
The Port of Doom as
Kate Kirby
1913
An Hour Before Dawn (Short) as
Detective Kate Kirby
1913
Chelsea 7750 (Short) as
Kate - Kirby's daughter
1913
The Green Eye of the Yellow God (Short) as
Alice - the Colonel's Daughter
1913
The Grecian Vase (Short) as
The Goddess of the Vase
1913
The Ghost of Granleigh (Short) as
Amy Newcomb - John's Wife
1913
The Rightful Heir (Short) as
The Hunchback's Wife
1913
The Treasure of Captain Kidd (Short) as
Hannah
1913
The Substitute Stenographer (Short) as
Kate Kirby - Girl Detective
1913
On the Broad Stairway (Short) as
Kate Kirby - Girl Detective
1913
The Diamond Crown (Short) as
Kate Kirby - Girl Detective
1913
Right for Right's Sake (Short) as
Mrs. Stanton
1913
Groundless Suspicion (Short) as
The Wife
1913
The Orphan (Short) as
Betty O'Moore
1913
Hulda of Holland (Short) as
Hulda
1913
The Twelfth Juror (Short) as
Alice Charlton
1913
The Well Sick Man (Short) as
Marion Norwood - His Daughter
1913
The Priest and the Man (Short) as
The Trapper's Wife
1913
In a Japanese Tea Garden (Short) as
The Tourist
1913
The Old Monk's Tale (Short) as
Ramona, The Coquette
1913
A Day That Is Dead (Short) as
The Lost Love
1913
The Lorelei (Short) as
The Artist's Daughter
1913
The Eldorado Lode (Short) as
Mrs. Jim Harris
1913
The Red Man's Burden (Short) as
Silver Fawn
1912
Love Among the Geysers (Short) as
May - the Judge's 1st Daughter
1912
The First Settler's Story (Short) as
John's Wife
1912
A Chase Across the Continent (Short) as
Alice Allen - Gardner's Niece
1912
A Curable Disease (Short) as
The Nurse
1912
'Ostler Joe (Short) as
Annie - the Wife
1912
Believe Me, If All Those Endearing Young Charms (Short) as
Helen Van Worth - The Society Lady
1912
The New Ranch Foreman (Short) as
Mrs. Sawyer - Grace's Mother
1912
In His Father's Steps (Short) as
Young Dr. Morgan's Sweetheart
1912
The Relief of Lucknow (Short) as
Helen
1912
The Necklace of Crushed Rose Leaves (Short) as
Zella
1912
For Valour (Short) as
Rosie Webster
1912
The Passion Flower (Short) as
Mabel - the Passion Flower
1912
Treasure Island (Short) as
Jimmy's Sister
1912
Out of the Deep (Short) as
The Old Mariner's Daughter
1912
The Spanish Cavalier (Short) as
The Cavalier's Sweetheart
1912
The Lighthouse Keeper's Daughter (Short) as
Jeannette - the Lighthouse Keeper's Daughter
1912
The House with the Tall Porch (Short) as
The Chemist's Wife
1912
At the Point of the Sword (Short) as
Edith - the Nobleman's Daughter
1912
His Secretary (Short) as
John Richards' Secretary
1912
For the Cause of the South (Short) as
Aunt Helen
1912
Lead, Kindly Light (Short) as
The Scorned Woman
1911
A Romance of the Cliff Dwellers (Short) as
The Maiden
1911
The Stuff That Dreams Are Made Of (Short) as
The Rich Man's Daughter
1911
An International Heart Breaker (Short) as
Mrs. Vanderfield
1911
Buckskin Jack, the Earl of Glenmore (Short) as
Lady Eleanor
1911
Pull for the Shore, Sailor! (Short) as
Ellen Jane - a Laundress
1911
A Perilous Ride (Short) as
The Colonel's Daughter
1911
Three of a Kind (Short) as
Second Girl
1911
Leaves of a Romance (Short) as
The Merchant's Daughter
1911
The Battle of Trafalgar as
Lt. Prescott's Fiancée
1911
The Sailor's Love Letter (Short) as
Mary
1911
The Lighthouse by the Sea (Short) as
The Lighthouse Keeper's Second Daughter
1911
At Jones Ferry (Short) as
Nellie - Jones' Daughter
1911
The Question Mark (Short) as
Jimmy's Mother
1911
Christian and Moor (Short) as
The King's Daughter
1911
The Younger Brother (Short) as
Abercrombie's Daughter
1911
The Star Spangled Banner (Short)
1911
How Willie Raised Tobacco (Short)
1911
The Crusader (Short) as
Eleanor
1911
A Case of High Treason (Short)
1911
The Quarrel on the Cliff (Short) as
The Sister
1911
The Iron Master (Short) as
Claire de Beaulieu
1911
The Doctor (Short) as
The Mother
1911
The Black Bordered Letter (Short) as
Alice Renshaw
1910
Through the Clouds (Short) as
Judge Grey's Daughter
1910
An Unselfish Love (Short) as
Miss Gray
1909
Where Is My Wandering Boy Tonight? (Short) as
The Boy's Sweetheart
1908
Tale the Autumn Leaves Told (Short)
1908
Cupid's Pranks (Short)
Writer
1917
The Valentine Girl (story)
Self
1912
Personally Conducted: A Trip to Bermuda (Documentary short) as
The Spinster
