She began working at Vitagraph Studios in Flatbush, Brooklyn as a messenger at the age of 11.[4] At 12, she was holding title cards.[1] In 1915, she became the second female film cutter in cinema history, after Anna McKnight, who also worked at Vitagraph.[4] She married Frank Lawrence, her film cutting teacher at Vitagraph.[4][5]
In 1917, she moved to Hollywood and worked for Universal, First National, Gloria Swanson Productions,[4] and Columbia Pictures at various times.[1] She became Columbia's "head editor"[5] or "supervising editor"[1] in 1925. After director Erich von Stroheim was fired from the production of Queen Kelly (1929), star Gloria Swanson herself directed an alternate ending, with the help of cinematographer Gregg Toland and Lawrence.[6] Lawrence edited Samuel Goldwyn Studio's first sound film, Bulldog Drummond (1929).[2] She rejoined Columbia in 1934[4] and remained at the studio for the rest of her career, ending with Pepe (1960).
Orson Welles biographer Charles Higham wrote that, when Lawrence was assigned to The Lady from Shanghai (1947), she reported to studio boss Harry Cohn that "the footage was a jumbled mess".[7] She also informed Cohn that Welles "had not shot a single close-up"; Welles reluctantly obeyed orders to add some.[8] Following poorly received previews, the studio instructed Lawrence to make drastic cuts, over an hour of footage, shortening the film to 87 minutes.[8]
