Florence Lake
Encyclopedia
For the reservoir in the Sierra Nevada Mountains, see Florence Lake (Fresno County, California).
Florence Lake (born Florence Silverlake, January 1, 1904 – April 11, 1980) was an American
actress best known as the leading lady in most of the Edgar Kennedy
comedy shorts.
in an aerial act
known as "The Flying Silverlakes". Her mother, Edith Goodwin, was an actress. Her parents later appeared in vaudeville
in a skit "Family Affair", traveling throughout the South and Southwest United States
. Florence and her younger brother Arthur Silverlake, Jr. became part of the act in 1910. Their mother brought the children to Hollywood
to get into the burgeoning film industry. Arthur changed his professional name to Arthur Lake
and later achieved great success as "Dagwood Bumstead
" in the Blondie
movie series.
. Lake played the role for the entire ten year "farm seasons" of the show (1954–1964), thus becoming the Lassie player with the longest tour of duty on the series. In her later years she played a blind date for the character Lou Grant
on The Mary Tyler Moore Show
episode, "Lou's First Date". Her last roles were in the TV series Emergency!
and Baretta
in 1976.
Florence Lake (born Florence Silverlake, January 1, 1904 – April 11, 1980) was an American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
actress best known as the leading lady in most of the Edgar Kennedy
Edgar Kennedy
Edgar Livingston Kennedy was an American comedic film actor, known as "the king of the slow burn". A slow burn is an exasperated facial expression, performed very deliberately; Kennedy embellished this by rubbing his hand over his bald head and across his face, in an attempt to hold his temper...
comedy shorts.
Early life
In the early 1900s, her father and uncle toured with a circusCircus
A circus is commonly a travelling company of performers that may include clowns, acrobats, trained animals, trapeze acts, musicians, hoopers, tightrope walkers, jugglers, unicyclists and other stunt-oriented artists...
in an aerial act
Aerialist
An aerialist is an acrobat who performs in the air, on a suspended apparatus such as a trapeze, rope, cloud swing, aerial cradle, aerial silk or aerial hoop....
known as "The Flying Silverlakes". Her mother, Edith Goodwin, was an actress. Her parents later appeared in vaudeville
Vaudeville
Vaudeville was a theatrical genre of variety entertainment in the United States and Canada from the early 1880s until the early 1930s. Each performance was made up of a series of separate, unrelated acts grouped together on a common bill...
in a skit "Family Affair", traveling throughout the South and Southwest United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. Florence and her younger brother Arthur Silverlake, Jr. became part of the act in 1910. Their mother brought the children to Hollywood
Hollywood, Los Angeles, California
Hollywood is a famous district in Los Angeles, California, United States situated west-northwest of downtown Los Angeles. Due to its fame and cultural identity as the historical center of movie studios and movie stars, the word Hollywood is often used as a metonym of American cinema...
to get into the burgeoning film industry. Arthur changed his professional name to Arthur Lake
Arthur Lake (actor)
Arthur Lake was an American actor known best for bringing Dagwood Bumstead, the bumbling husband of Blondie, to life in film, radio and television.-Early life and career:...
and later achieved great success as "Dagwood Bumstead
Dagwood Bumstead
Dagwood Bumstead is a main character in comic artist Chic Young's long-running comic strip Blondie. He first appeared sometime prior to 17 February 1933....
" in the Blondie
Blondie (film)
Blondie is a 1938 movie directed by Frank Strayer, based on the comic strip of the same name. The screenplay was written by Chic Young and Richard Flournoy....
movie series.
Comic acting persona
Florence was petite, with a high-pitched speaking voice. She perfected a comical singsong delivery that established her in "dumb" roles. She personified flightiness in the Kennedy shorts, as the scatterbrained Mrs. Kennedy. After the series ended upon Kennedy's death in 1948, she continued to play character roles in films and television. Her best known TV role was Jenny, the Claverton telephone operator in LassieLassie (1954 TV series)
Lassie is an American television series that follows the adventures of a female Rough Collie named Lassie and her companions, human and animal. The show was the creation of producer Robert Maxwell and animal trainer Rudd Weatherwax and was televised from September 12, 1954, to March 24, 1973...
. Lake played the role for the entire ten year "farm seasons" of the show (1954–1964), thus becoming the Lassie player with the longest tour of duty on the series. In her later years she played a blind date for the character Lou Grant
Lou Grant (fictional character)
Lou Grant is a fictional character played by Edward Asner in two television series produced by MTM Enterprises for CBS. The first was Mary Tyler Moore , in which the character was the news director at the fictional television station WJM-TV...
on The Mary Tyler Moore Show
The Mary Tyler Moore Show
The Mary Tyler Moore Show is an American television sitcom created by James L. Brooks and Allan Burns that aired on CBS from 1970 to 1977...
episode, "Lou's First Date". Her last roles were in the TV series Emergency!
Emergency!
Emergency! is an American television series that combines the medical drama and action-adventure genres. It was produced by Mark VII Limited and distributed by Universal Studios...
and Baretta
Baretta
Baretta is an American detective television series which ran on ABC from 1975 to 1978. The show was a milder version of a successful 1973–74 ABC series, Toma, starring Tony Musante as chameleon-like, real-life New Jersey police officer David Toma...
in 1976.