| Mary Pickford Actress/United Artist |
| What a gal! Just the mention of this womans name screeeaams Hollywood legend! She has been dubbed as Hollywoods first sweetheart, was the first artist to have her name in marquee lights, the first international star, and had the very first cinematic close up shot ... She was born Gladys Marie Smith, on April 8th, 1892, in Ontario, Canada. As a baby she craved attention and by the time she was 6, she was already an accomplished actress. She was known as "Baby Gladys Smith." From age 7 to 16, she appeared in countless vaudeville shows, and road productions of dramas carefully selected by her parents. She was an instant success in anything she did! Determined and skillfull, she put herself 100% in whatever she did. It wasn't long until the film bizz came knocking and in 1909, she was cast in her first screen role Mrs. Jones Entertains at the age of 16. She loved being on the screen, after 9 years on the road doing plays, this was a change of pace and one that Mary liked! In 1909, she appeared in a total of 51 films. Thats almost one a week for that whole year. Audiences loved her! She "sold" the movie to audiences. Mary lived with her husband, innovator Douglas Fairbanks, in this house called the Pickfair estate at 1143 Summit Drive in Beverly Hills ... and in this house on a ranch they bought in 1925. In January of 1919, Mary, together with Douglas Fairbanks, D.W. Griffith, and Charlie Chaplin - created United Artists. Thier vision was to create a studio designed to serve the filmmakers, and not the studio heads. One worried studio mogul quipped, "the lunatics have taken charge of the asylum." Undeterred, the studio set out with what it intended to do, and was a success among filmmakers. Mary's first film with UA was Polyanna which, as always, proved to be a hit. On March 28, 1920, Mary and Douglas Fairbanks were married. The couple would be married for 15 years, however, only the first 8 were happy. Her last husband was Charles "Buddy" Rogers, a fresh-faced actor known as "America's Boy Friend" and later a bandleader, whom she married in 1937. They had two adopted children, Roxanne and Ronald. Fairbanks, however, was the love of the actress's life, and upon hearing of his death, Pickford reportedly began to weep in front of her new husband, Rogers, saying "My darling is gone." As the world of movie making changed, and became more of a challenge, Mary eventually backed off to just making one film a year. The films were still wholesome, and as always, had the 100% of Mary in them. By 1956, Mary had become tired of the film business. She had put her everything into it for so long that she was just worn out. The only two original partners of UA was Mary and Charlie Chaplin, and they had a 50/50 rule over their company. They both sold their shares of the company and Mary turned to charity work. The Mary Pickford Trust was established and she continued that for the rest of her life making appearances on radio now and then. In 1976, she was honored at the 48th Annual Acadamy Awards, with a well deserved lifetime achievement award. It was her last public appearance. Just four years later on May 29, 1979, Mary died in Santa Monica. She was 87 years of age. RIP Mary!! Visit her grave here and leave flowers. TRIVIA: One of the 36 founders of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS). Stage producer David Belasco gave Mary her stage name in 1908. Her real name, Gladys Marie Smith, wasn't right for an actress on his stage. "Gladys" didn't suit the diminutive actress, "Smith" was too common, "Marie" was too foreign. "Marie" became "Mary". "Pickford" was her mother's maiden name. Years later, a fan who traced her family tree found that the name "Mary Pickford" occurred several times in her mother's family going back to the 12th century. First star (along with husband Douglas Fairbanks) to officially place hand and footprints in the cement at Grauman's Chinese Theatre (April 30, 1927). Hollywood legend has it that the very first star to do so, unofficially, thus inspiring the ensuing tradition, was Norma Talmadge when she accidentally walked onto the wet cement prior to the official opening of the Theatre |
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