Mary Pickford

Lore & Background

Mary Pickford was born Gladys Louise Smith in Toronto in 1892. Her father died when she was five, a traumatic event that prevented her from attending school or learning to read as a child. She began acting on stage at age seven, and by 1901 her family moved to the United States to pursue theatre. In 1907, producer David Belasco gave her the stage name Mary Pickford. She began film work in 1909 at Biograph Company under D. W. Griffith, quickly becoming a popular figure known as 'The Biograph Girl.' She appeared in approximately 51 films for Biograph in 1909 alone, and even more when combined with her 1910 work.

Reader's Guide

Mary Pickford's significance lies in her unprecedented popularity and business acumen during the silent film era. She was Hollywood's first millionaire by 1916 and had complete creative control of her films at the height of her career. She co-founded United Artists in 1919 with Charlie Chaplin, Douglas Fairbanks, and D. W. Griffith, and was among the 36 founders of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in 1927. She won the second Academy Award for Best Actress for her first sound film, Coquette (1929), and received an Academy Honorary Award in 1976. The American Film Institute ranked her the 24th-greatest female star of Classical Hollywood Cinema in 1999. Her legacy includes defining the ingénue type in cinema and shaping the early film industry.

Did You Know?

• Mary Pickford was baptized as Gladys Marie Smith by a Roman Catholic priest at her grandmother's request.
• She was Hollywood's first millionaire by 1916.
• She co-founded United Artists in 1919 with Charlie Chaplin, Douglas Fairbanks, and D. W. Griffith.
• She won the Academy Award for Best Actress for her first sound film, Coquette (1929).

Notable Quotes (Wikiquote)

"Gladys Marie Smith (April 8, 1892 – May 29, 1979), known professionally as Mary Pickford, was a Canadian-born film star and co-founder of United Artists, known as "America's Sweetheart" and "the girl with the curls." — Mary Pickford "I was forced to live far beyond my years when just a child, now I have reversed the order and I intend to remain young indefinitely." — Mary Pickford "[Talking pictures are] like putting lip rouge on the Venus de Milo." — Mary Pickford "Associated Press, "Mary Pickford Sees Talkies as Lipstick on Milo", Los Angeles Times, 18 March 1934, p. 1. Cf. "Los Angeles Times", 20 March 1934, p. A4: "Talking pictures are like lip rouge on the Venus de Milo." — Mary Pickford