Commonly referred to as “America’s Sweetheart” in her heyday, Mary Pickford was a legendary film actress with a career that spanned 50 years. She is one of the pioneers of early Hollywood. Mary is considered the cornerstone of the many improvements that were seen during her screen time.
She was one of the founders of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Mary has remained relevant throughout her career which has spanned a period of constant change. We take a closer look at some of the lesser known facts about him.
Quick biography
The “curly girl” was born on April 8, 1892 at 211 University Avenue, Toronto, Canada. The fame she subsequently gained allowed her birthplace to be marked with a historical marker – a bust of the actress is carved and displayed not far from her birthplace.
Her birth name was Gladys Louise Smith; Marie Pickford was the name she had chosen for her profession. She was born the eldest of three children to parents, John Charles Smith and Charlotte Hennessey. His younger siblings, Charlotte “Lottie” Smith and John Charles Smith also became successful actors. Unfortunately, her father was an alcoholic and abandoned his young family. He died on February 11, 1898 of a fatal blood clot caused by a work accident.
Gladys started acting before she was even ten years old, in small boy and girl roles. She also performed melodramas with Toronto’s Valentine Company. Her career in her native Canada was crowned with the lead role of Little Eva in Uncle Tom’s Cabin.
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Gladys and her mother, along with her younger siblings, constantly toured the United States for many painstaking years before deciding to try her luck on Broadway with a do it or give it up mentality. It was there that she took on the stage name of Mary Pickford and the name stuck with her. Her Broadway debut came in The Virginia Garous. She soon joined DW Griffith, administrator and head of the American Biography Company.
Mary became involved in films; in the era of shorts, she managed to appear in 40 films by 1909. She moved to California when Griffith moved her job that way. Some of her silent film hits include Sunnybrook Farm and Poor Little Rich Girl both in 1917. Alongside DW Griffith, Charlie Chaplin and Douglas Fairbanks Sr., Mary founded the film company United Artists in 1919.
In 1927, Mary Pickford helped found the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. When Mary starred in her first walkie-talkie, Coquette in 1929, she won an Academy Award for Best Actress for the role she played. His last film was Secrets in 1933.
7 Lesser Known Facts About Mary Pickford
1. Mary Pickford had over 40 career before her first television appearance. Mary was at her peak in an era of shorts and she had appeared in hundreds of films, but her first television appearance came in the early 1950s. Cecil B. DeMille the Best Picture Oscar for The Greatest Show on Earth
2. Mary and her second husband, Douglas Fairbank hosted legendary dinner parties at their huge mansion nicknamed Pickfair. Some foreign dignitaries even asked for invitations when they visited. Some of these impressive dinners have had guests like F. Scott Fitzgerald, Amelia Earhart, HG Wells, Albert Einstein, and even the Crown Prince of Japan, among others. Pickfair sat on an 18-acre tract of real estate in the city of Beverly Hills, California. Mary Pickford here for most of her life.
3. She was the first person alongside her husband, Fairbanks, to leave her handprints at Grauman’s Chinese Theatre. It was April 30, 1927.
4. Mary Pickford’s siblings who were actors as well both predeceased her. Her baby brother Jack died when he was just 36 and Lottie, who was just a year younger, died of an unexpected heart attack aged 43.
5. Mary had wanted all of her films destroyed when she died, fearing no one would care. However, his opinion has changed on the subject.
6. She was Joan Crawford’s stepmother. Joan was married to her son, Douglas Fairbanks, Jr.
7. Fairbanks and Pickford were friends with Edsel Ford, son of Henry Ford. A picture of Mary hung in their home. It was signed by her saying “Mary Pick-A-Ford”, c. 1932.