Florence Smythe

Florence Smythe (April 19, 1878 – August 29, 1925) was a stage actress and silent film performer born in Santa Barbara, California. Her career spanned theater and motion pictures before she withdrew from both prior to her marriage.

Smythe began her theatrical work in 1909 as a member of the Belasco Stock Company. It was through her involvement with the Theodore Roberts theatrical company that she met silent film actor Theodore Roberts, whom she later married. The couple resided in Los Angeles, California, at 1915 North Vine Street. Earlier, in 1909, Smythe had been engaged to John Marshall, a state senator in South Carolina.

Her film career ran from 1915 to 1917 and comprised six pictures: The Wild Goose Chase (1915), The Fighting Hope (1915), The Voice in the Fog (1915), Common Ground (1916), The Winning of Sally Temple (1917), and The Silent Partner (1917). Following her work in silent pictures, Smythe returned to the stage and appeared on Broadway in 1920 in the comedy Twelfth Night.

Smythe was drawn into a legal dispute that reached the New York Supreme Court in February 1913. Theodore Roberts' first wife, Lucy Roberts, had obtained a separation decree awarding her $50 per week in alimony following their marriage in Portland, Oregon in 1890 and their separation in New York on February 13, 1910. When Roberts failed to pay the alimony, he was confined to Ludlow Street jail. Lucy Roberts subsequently filed a $50,000 suit against Smythe, alleging alienation of affections. Smythe responded with a countersuit seeking $100,000, contending that the former Mrs. Roberts had damaged her reputation by claiming she had furnished apartments for Roberts and provided him with money. The case was never tried, as the statute of limitations had expired.

Smythe died on August 29, 1925, from a heart ailment at her home, at the age of 47.