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A bruised knee led Rosina Lawrence to a brief but successful acting career with Hal Roach studios during the 1930s. Laurel and Hardy buffs may remember her for playing Mary Roberts in the comic duo's classic Western spoof Way Out West (1937), while those familiar with the Our Gang series of shorts may recognize her playing school teacher Miss Lawrence in the 1930s. Born Rosina Marchiso in Ontario, Canada, she moved to Hollywood with her family in the 1920s. Her father worked as a set builder and he sometimes allowed her to accompany him to work. When she was ten, Lawrence fell and badly bruised her knee. Her parents had her take dance lessons as physical therapy and it was while dancing that she was "discovered." As an actress, Lawrence debuted in Lady of Quality (1924). She subsequently spent a decade honing her performing skills, which included singing, vaudeville, and film roles. She worked with Fox studios for a while, appearing opposite such stars as Will Rogers and Spencer Tracy. She got her first real break, however, when an uncredited role in The Great Ziegfeld (1936) landed her a contract with Hal Roach studios. She first worked in the Our Gang shorts before teaming with Laurel and Hardy in the aforementioned film and in Pick a Star (1937). In 1939 Lawrence appeared in the Italian movie In Campagna è Caduta una Stella (In the Country Fell a Star) (1939) and then retired from acting. Lawrence died of cancer on June 23, 1997, in Mount Sinai Hospital, New York, at the age of 84.