Mary Pickford (1892–1979) was a Canadian-American motion picture actress, producer, and writer. During the silent film era she became one of the first great celebrities of the cinema and a popular icon known to the public as "America's Sweetheart".[1]
Pickford was born Gladys Louise Smith in Toronto and began acting on stage in 1900. She started her film career in the United States in 1909.[2] Initially with the Biograph film company, she moved to the Independent Motion Picture Company (IMP) in 1911, then briefly to the Majestic Film Company later that same year, followed by a return to Biograph in 1912.[3] After appearing in over 150 short films during her years with these studios she began working in features with Zukor's Famous Players Film Company, a studio which eventually became part of Paramount Pictures. By 1916 Pickford's popularity had climbed to the point that she was awarded a contract that made her a partner with Zukor and allowed her to produce her own films.[4] In 1919 Pickford teamed with D.W. Griffith, Charlie Chaplin, and Douglas Fairbanks to create United Artists, an organization designed to distribute their own films.[5] Following the release of Secrets (1933) Pickford retired from acting in motion pictures. However, she remained active as a producer for several years afterwards.[6] She sold her stock in United Artists in 1956.[7]
Pickford won two Academy Awards in her lifetime. The first was in 1929 when she won the award for Best Actress for her performance in Coquette.[8] The second was in 1975 when she was presented with an Honorary Academy Award "in recognition of her unique contributions to the film industry and the development of film as an artistic medium".[8] As of 2009 two of Pickford's films have been added to the National Film Registry: Tess of the Storm Country (1914) and The Poor Little Rich Girl (1917).[9] For her work in motion pictures Pickford received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame located at 6280 Hollywood Boulevard.[10]
Unless otherwise referenced, the information presented here is derived from the web site of the American Film Institute, the filmography prepared by Library of Congress historian Christel Schmidt, and the books Mary Pickford Rediscovered by Kevin Brownlow, Mary Pickford: From Here to Hollywood by Scott Eyman, and Pickford: The Woman Who Made Hollywood by Eileen Whitfield.
"The best known woman who has ever lived, the woman who was known to more people and loved by more people than any other woman that has been in all history."
Adela Rogers St. Johns, 1981[11]
^Sources:
Whitfield 1997, p. 133 "Calling Mary 'America's Sweetheart' was not exactly a stroke of genius. I was simply putting down in two words what everyone in America seemed to be thinking about her." — B.P. Schulberg, publicist for Famous Players and scenario writer for In the Bishop's Carriage (1913) and Tess of the Storm Country (1914)
"Mary Pickford — America's Sweetheart". Amazon.com, Inc. 2006–2009. Retrieved December 7, 2009. (Cover of Scott Eyman's biography)
^Whitfield 1997, pp. 8, 62–80
^Whitfield 1997, pp. 416–419
^Neely 2008, p. 3
^Neely 2008, p. 5
^Neely 2008, p. 8
^Neely 2008, p. 10
^ ab"The Official Academy Awards Database". The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. 2009. Archived from the original on February 8, 2009. Retrieved October 17, 2009.
^Sources:
"Films Added to National Film Registry for 2006" (Press release). Library of Congress. December 27, 2006. Retrieved October 18, 2009.
Andrews, Roberts M. (October 11, 1991). "25 Films Designated For Preservation" (Fee required). St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Retrieved October 18, 2009.
^"The Hollywood Walk of Fame". Hollywood Chamber of Commerce, Inc. 2012. Retrieved January 8, 2012.
^
"Liner notes to Little Lord Fauntleroy" (PDF). Little Lord Fauntleroy DVD. Milestone Film and Video. 2003. Archived from the original (PDF) on August 21, 2010. Retrieved December 8, 2009.
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