Charlotte Bridgwood could see the future clearly before anyone else. This mother of three went from vaudeville actress to inventor, changing the world forever. Her family, like many people in Ireland, left due to the Great Famine. Charlotte’s family emigrated to Canada where she would be born and create a life. She married George Bridgwood, an English carriage builder. Together they had three children, their most well-known being Florence Lawrence who acted in her mother’s company. When her husband died of accidental coal gas in 1898 Charlotte moved her family to Buffalo, New York to live with her mother.