Pickford, Mary, 1893–1979, American movie actress, b. Toronto, Ont. In 1909 she began working with D. W. Griffith Griffith, D. W. (David Wark Griffith), 1880–1948, American movie director and producer, b. La Grange, Ky. Griffith was the first major American film director. He began his film career as an actor and a scenario writer in 1908 with the Biograph Company.
..... Click the link for more information. . Specializing in playing young girls, she was dubbed "America's Sweetheart." Her films include A Poor Little Rich Girl (1917), Pollyanna (1919), Little Lord Fauntleroy (1921), and Tess of the Storm Country (1922). In 1919 she cofounded the distribution firm United Artists with Griffith, Charlie Chaplin Chaplin, Charlie (Sir Charles Spencer Chaplin), 1889–1977, English film actor, director, producer, writer, and composer, b. London. Chaplin began on the music-hall stage and then joined a pantomime troupe.
..... Click the link for more information. , and Douglas Fairbanks Fairbanks, Douglas, 1883–1939, American movie actor, b. Denver. From 1901 to 1914, Fairbanks appeared on stage in light comedies. In 1915 he began making movies, becoming the swashbuckling hero of his day in such films as The Mark of Zorro (1921),
..... Click the link for more information. , her husband. She produced her own films thereafter. She won an Academy Award for Coquette (1929), her first movie with sound. She retired from acting in 1933, but continued to produce films for United Artists.

Bibliography

See her autobiography (1955); biographies by R. Windeler (1974) and E. Whitfield (1997); K. Brownlow, Mary Pickford Rediscovered (1999).

Pickford, Mary

orig. Gladys Mary Smith

(born April 9, 1893, Toronto, Ont., Can.—died May 28, 1979, Santa Monica, Calif., U.S.) Canadian-born U.S. film actress. She acted with a stock company from age 5, went on tour at 8, and was performing on Broadway by 18. She starred in D.W. Griffith's The Lonely Villa (1909) and by 1913 was acting in movies exclusively. One of the first movie stars, she became a symbol of innocence and was known as “America's sweetheart.” Her silent films include Tess of the Storm Country (1914), Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm (1917), Poor Little Rich Girl (1917), and Pollyanna (1920). A shrewd businesswoman, she formed United Artists Corp. (1919) with her second husband, Douglas Fairbanks, and others. She received an Academy Award for her first sound film, Coquette (1929). She retired from acting in 1933 and received a special Academy Award in 1975.

Pickford, Mary (b. Gladys Mary Smith) (1893–1979) film actress; born in Toronto, Canada, (wife of Douglas Fairbanks Sr.). Her stage debut was made at age five, and her film debut was in 1909. Her childlike charm, her golden curls, and her feminine wiles turned her into "America's Sweetheart." She played Cinderella parts until her retirement in 1933. A cofounder of United Artists, she won an Academy Award for Coquette (1929).