Mary Pickford
| Mary Pickford | |
|---|---|
Portrait photograph, 1914
|
|
| Born |
Gladys Louise Smith April 8, 1892 Toronto, Ontario, Canada |
| Died | May 29, 1979 (aged 87) Santa Monica, California, U.S. |
| Cause of death | Cerebral hemorrhage |
| Resting place | Forest Lawn Memorial Park, Glendale, California |
| Residence | Pickfair, Beverly Hills, California, U.S. |
| Citizenship | Canadian American |
| Occupation | Actress, producer, screenwriter |
| Years active | 1905–1949 |
| Spouse(s) |
Owen Moore (m. 1911; div. 1920) Douglas Fairbanks (m. 1920; div. 1936) Charles "Buddy" Rogers (m. 1937–79) |
| Children | 2 adopted |
| Parent(s) | John Charles Smith Charlotte Hennessey |
| Relatives |
Lottie Pickford (sister) Jack Pickford (brother) |
Gladys Louise Smith (April 8, 1892 – May 29, 1979), known professionally as Mary Pickford, was a Canadian-American film actress, writer, director, and producer. She was a co-founder of the film studio United Artists and one of the original 36 founders of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
Known in her prime as "America's Sweetheart" and the "girl with the curls", Pickford was one of the Canadian pioneers in early Hollywood and a significant figure in the development of film acting. Pickford was one of the earliest stars to be billed under her name (film performers up until that time were usually unbilled), and was one of the most popular actresses of the 1910s and '20s, earning the nickname "Queen of the Movies".
She was awarded the second ever Academy Award for Best Actress for her first sound film role in Coquette (1929) and also received an honorary Academy Award in 1976. In consideration of her contributions to American cinema, the American Film Institute ranked Pickford as 24th in its 1999 list of greatest female stars of classic Hollywood Cinema.
Mary Pickford was born Gladys Louise Smith in 1892 (although she would later claim 1893 or 1894 as her year of birth) at 211 University Avenue,Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Her father, John Charles Smith, was the son of English Methodist immigrants, and worked a variety of odd jobs. Her mother, Charlotte Hennessey, was of Irish Catholic descent and worked for a time as a seamstress. She had two younger siblings, Charlotte, called "Lottie" (born 1893), and John Charles, called "Jack" (born 1896), who also became actors. To please her husband's relatives, Pickford's mother baptized her children as Methodists, the faith of their father. John Charles Smith was an alcoholic; he abandoned the family and died on February 11, 1898, from a fatal blood clot caused by a workplace accident when he was a purser with Niagara Steamship.
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