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Mary Pickford

Canadian actress and producer (1892-1979) · Canada · Actors · Died at 87

Mary Pickford is read about 1,409 times a day, in 93 languages.

A typical day, 30 days to 15 October 2026

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She was the silent screen's first millionaire, the first actress to own her work, and the woman whose face moved more money than anyone's in early Hollywood. Before stars had agents, Pickford had equity.

ActorsMovie DirectorFilm DirectingMoviesTelevisionScreenwritingLiteratureTheatre

A life in dates

1999Canada's Walk of FameAward1979Died29 May 19791975Academy Honorary AwardAward1968“Make them laugh, make them cry, and back to laughter. What do people go to the theater for? An emotional exercise. And no preachment.”In their wordsKevin Brownlow, The Parade's Gone By ... (1968), p. 134

1960Star on Hollywood Walk of FameAward1949Love HappyFilm, Producer1948Sleep, My LoveFilm, Producer1936“You may have a fresh start any moment you choose, for this thing that we call "failure" is not the falling down, but the staying down.”In their words25 January 1936"Why Not Try God?", Chapter 6 (newspaper serial), appeared in St. Petersburg Times, 25 January 1936, sect. 2, p. 3

1934“[Talking pictures are] like putting lip rouge on the Venus de Milo.”In their words18 March 1934Associated Press, "Mary Pickford Sees Talkies as Lipstick on Milo", Los Angeles Times, 18 March 1934, p. 1. Cf. "Los Angeles Times", 20

“The refined simplicity should develop out of the complex. [...] It would have been more logical if silent pictures had grown out of the talkie instead of the other way around.”In their wordsAttributed (1934) in Eileen Whitfield, Pickford: The Woman Who Made Hollywood (1997), p. 269-270

1933SecretsFilm, Producer1930Academy Award for Best ActressAward1929CoquetteFilm, Producer1926“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.”In their words28 May 1926"How Mary Pickford Stays Young", Reader's Digest, Vol. 5 (1926); condensed from an interview in Everybody's Magazine (28 May 1926)

SparrowsFilm, 1926Producer1925Ben-Hur: A Tale of the ChristFilm, Chariot Race Spectator (uncredited)1924“I am no longer in pictures for money. I am in them because I love them. I am not in vain. I do not care about giving a smashing personal performance.”In their wordsJanuary 1924Herbert Howe, "Mary Pickford's Favorite Stars and Films". Photoplay, January 1924, p. 28-29. (Photoplay Publishing Company).

1920PollyannaFilm, Producer1919Daddy-Long-LegsFilm, Producer1917A Little PrincessFilm, Producer1914CinderellaFilm, Cinderella1910RamonaFilm, Ramona1909The Country DoctorFilm, Poor Mother's Elder Daughter1892Born8 April 1892

Also in Deutsch

Photos 8

Mary Pickford cph.3c17995uMary Pickford cph.3c17995uChehalis Dream Theatre 01Chehalis Dream Theatre 01Colleagues and friends of Mary Pickford Wellcome L0021467Colleagues and friends of Mary Pickford Wellcome L0021467Colleagues and friends of Mary Pickford Wellcome L0021470Colleagues and friends of Mary Pickford Wellcome L0021470Colleagues and friends of Mary Pickford. Wellcome L0021471Colleagues and friends of Mary Pickford. Wellcome L0021471Debbie Reynolds Auction - a lock of Mary Pickford's hair in wooden display boxDebbie Reynolds Auction - a lock of Mary Pickford's hair in wooden display boxDIL Pickering Works - Mary Pickford visitDIL Pickering Works - Mary Pickford visitDouglas Fairbanks and Mary PickfordDouglas Fairbanks and Mary Pickford

In their own words 6

,
Mary Pickford
,
6 statements, newest first

  1. Make them laugh, make them cry, and back to laughter. What do people go to the theater for? An emotional exercise. And no preachment.

    1968, Kevin Brownlow, The Parade's Gone By ... (1968), p. 134, Own words

  2. You may have a fresh start any moment you choose, for this thing that we call "failure" is not the falling down, but the staying down.

    Jan 25, 1936, "Why Not Try God?", Chapter 6 (newspaper serial), appeared in St. Petersburg Times, 25 January 1936, sect. 2, p. 3, Own words

  3. [Talking pictures are] like putting lip rouge on the Venus de Milo.

    Mar 18, 1934, Associated Press, "Mary Pickford Sees Talkies as Lipstick on Milo", Los Angeles Times, 18 March 1934, p. 1. Cf. "Los Angeles Times", 20, Own words

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Filmography 40

CLCharlie Chaplin, The Genius of Liberty2020
BTBirth of the Tramp2013
TDThe Tramp and the Dictator2002
DDDecasia: The State of Decay2002
LHLove HappyProducer1949 · ★ 5.8
SLSleep, My LoveProducer1948 · ★ 6.3
OAOne Rainy AfternoonProducer1936
SESecretsProducer1933
COCoquetteProducer1929
TSThe Taming of the ShrewCaterina1929
MGMy Best GirlProducer1927
TPThe Black PiratePrincess Isobel in Final Embrace - Cameo Appearance (uncredited)1926 · ★ 6.7
SPSparrowsProducer1926
BCBen-Hur: A Tale of the ChristChariot Race Spectator (uncredited)1925 · ★ 7.3
LRLittle Annie RooneyWriter, Producer1925
TCTess of the Storm CountryProducer1922
LFLittle Lord FauntleroyProducer1921
TDThrough the Back DoorProducer1921
POPollyannaProducer1920
DLDaddy-Long-LegsProducer1919
THThe HoodlumProducer1919
SMStella MarisMiss Stella Maris / Unity Blake1918
JEJohanna EnlistsProducer1918
TGThe Poor Little Rich GirlGwen1917
RFRebecca of Sunnybrook FarmRebecca Randall1917
TAThe Little AmericanProducer1917
ARA Romance of the RedwoodsJenny Lawrence1917
APA Little PrincessProducer1917
CICinderellaCinderella1914
TCTess of the Storm CountryTessibel Skinner1914
THThe New York HatMary Harding, the Daughter1912
TAThe Old ActorThe Old Actor's Daughter1912
TSThe Female of the SpeciesThe Miner's Wife's Sister1912
TNThe Mender of NetsThe Little Net-Mender1912
TSThe Unchanging SeaThe Daughter as an Adult1910
RARamonaRamona1910
TVThe Lonely Villa1909 · ★ 6.0
TRThe Sealed RoomA Lady-in-Waiting1909
TDThe Country DoctorPoor Mother's Elder Daughter1909
TRThe Son's ReturnMary1909

314 credits on file

Television 2

AEAmerican Experience1988
HOHollywood1980

Awards

Canada's Walk of Fame1999
Academy Honorary Award1975
Star on Hollywood Walk of Fame1960
Academy Award for Best Actress1930

Family

Parents

Mary Pickford

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About this person

Gladys Louise Smith was born in Toronto on April 8, 1892, and began her film career in 1909. By 1916 she was Hollywood's first millionaire, and at her peak held complete creative control over her films - a rarity then or now. She defined the ingénue on screen, a type that earned her the nickname "America's Sweetheart" and made her one of the most recognizable women in the world. In 1919 she co-founded United Artists with Charlie Chaplin, Douglas Fairbanks, and D. W. Griffith, claiming distribution power for artists. She won the second-ever Academy Award for Best Actress for her first sound film, Coquette, in 1929, and helped found the Academy itself in 1927. She died May 29, 1979, forty years after her last starring role.

Country
Canada
Category
Actors
Type
Actor
Status
deceased
Dates
Lived 1892 to 1979 · aged 87

In common with Mary

Marilyn MonroeAlso in Love Happy (1949)Joan CrawfordAlso in Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ (1925)Clark GableAlso in Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ (1925)Groucho MarxAlso in Love Happy (1949)Lillian GishAlso in The New York Hat (1912)Cecil B. DeMilleAlso in A Romance of the Redwoods (1917)

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