Mary Pickford

She had intended to have all of her films destroyed after her death, fearing that no one would care about them. She was convinced not to do this.

One of the 36 founders of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

Arguably the silent eras most renowned female star. Film historian Ethan Katz goes so far as to call her "the most popular star in screen history".

Sister of actor/director Jack Pickford and stage/screen actress Lottie Pickford.

In same stage company as Lillian Gish and Dorothy Gish in the early 1900s.

Stepmother of Douglas Fairbanks Jr. and aunt of Alice Moore.

Her mansion Pickfair was sold ten months after her death for $5,362,000; later sold to Pia Zadora in January 1988 for just under $7 million.

Stage producer David Belasco gave Mary her stage name in 1908. Her real name, Gladys Marie Smith, was not right for an actress on his stage. "Gladys" did not suit the diminutive actress, "Smith" was too common, "Marie" was too foreign. "Marie" became "Mary". "Pickford" was her mothers maiden name. Years later, a huge fan who traced her family tree found that the name "Mary Pickford" occurred several times in her mothers family going back to the 12th century.

Formed United Artists company with Douglas Fairbanks , D.W. Griffith and Charles Chaplin. The first artist to have her name in marquee lights. The first international star.

She died of complications from cerebral hemorrhage at Santa Monica Hospital, CA. Her third husband, Buddy, was at her bedside. Following her death, she was interred in the Garden of Memory at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Glendale, CA.

Had English and Irish ancestry.

Sister-in-law of Robert Fairbanks.

Sister-in-law of Joe Moore , Tom Moore and Matt Moore.

Second cousin of John Mantley.

Daughter of actress Charlotte Smith.

Became a United States citizen on her marriage to Douglas Fairbanks , but later reclaimed her Canadian citizenship and died an American and Canadian citizen.

She was the first movie actress to receive a percentage of a films earnings

Son Ronnie has three children, daughter Jamie (born 1954), son Tommy (born 1955), and son Douglas Pickford (born 1966). Daughter Roxanne gave birth to a daughter, Katina, in the early 1960s.

She left her children $50,000 and her grandchildren trust funds.

Was the subject of the first cinematic close up shot, in Friends (1912) .

Turned down the role of Norma Desmond in Sunset Blvd. , which went to Gloria Swanson.

First star (along with husband Douglas Fairbanks ) to officially place hand and footprints in the cement at Graumans 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

Was named #24 on The American Film Institute 50 Greatest Screen Legends

Is portrayed by Maria Pitillo in Chaplin

The house in which she lived in Hollywood for most of her life was nicknamed "Pickfair".

Ernst Lubitsch came to America at Marys invitation to direct Dorothy Vernon of Haddon Hall , but when he arrived he had changed his mind and would not do it (it was eventually directed by Marshall Neilan ). Instead, he and Mary made Rosita together.

The romance drama Coquette was her first talkie.

Her likeness is included as part of the "Canadians in Hollywood" stamp series released by CanadaPost in 2006. The others in the series were Fay Wray , Lorne Greene and John Candy.

Her first starring appearance in a film was in Her First Biscuits (1909) for Biograph Company.

She was first hired for the movies by director D.W. Griffith.

Was to have made her big-screen comeback as Vinnie in Life with Father , but the role eventually went to Irene Dunne because of Dunnes box-office appeal.

Her last silent movie was the romance comedy My Best Girl .

Was Joan Crawford s mother-in-law, while Crawford was married to Pickfords son, Douglas Fairbanks Jr..

In October 1911, a court voided her contract with IMP because she was a minor when she signed it. As a result, she left IMP for the Majestic Company for $275/week.

In December 1910, she left the Biograph Company to work for Carl Laemmle at Independent Moving Picture Company for $175 a week.

She and husband Douglas Fairbanks were friends with Edsel Ford (son of Henry Ford ) and his wife. In the Edsel and Eleanor Ford home at 1100 Lake Shore Road, Grosse Point Shores, Michigan there hangs in the study an autographed photo of her signed "Mary Pick-A-Ford", c. 1932.

When she presented producer Cecil B. DeMille with the Best Picture Oscar for The Greatest Show on Earth (1952) (March 19, 1953), not only was it the first time the Academy Awards ceremonies had ever been televised, it was also her very first television appearance.

She became estranged from daughter Roxanne for a time when she, at age 18, ran off to marry a man her parents did not approve of.

She paid for her grandchildren to go to school, provided that they showed proof that they were registered.

She started her film career at Biograph Company (American Mutoscope & Biograph) in 1909, when Biographs director D.W. Griffith hired her. Her first film was Biographs Pippa Passes; or, The Song of Conscience (1909) , though she only was a face in the crowd. However, this launched her long and illustrious film career.

She was awarded a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6280 Hollywood Boulevard in Hollywood, California on February 8, 1960.

Founder/President of Mary Pickford Company, a production company formed in 1919, and the Mary Pickford Film Corporation, formed in 1916. The former produced films only for Pickford, the latter company produced non-Pickford films.

Had two adopted children with her third husband Charles Buddy Rogers - a son named Ronald Charles Rogers (born 1937) and a daughter named Roxanne Rogers (born 1944 - died 2007 from osteoporosis).

The character Edna Strickland changes her name to Mary Pickford in Back to the Future: The Game - Episode 5, Outatime .

Was a founding member of The Society of Independent Motion Picture Producers (SIMPP).

Singer Katie Melua wrote a song in homage to Pickford, with her name as the title, which was featured on her 2007 album "Pictures".

Fil Daily-West Coast Bureau-Tuesday, May 7, 1935: Mary Pickford has signed with Henry Duffy, theatrical manager, to appear in "Coquette". She will tour in the play along the coast.

Was the 2nd actress to receive an Academy Award; she won the Best Actress Oscar for Coquette at The 2nd Academy Awards on April 3, 1930.

She was posthumously awarded a Golden Palm Star on the Palm Springs Walk of Stars on November 16, 1993.

She was posthumously awarded a star on Canadas Walk of Fame in Toronto, Ontario in 1999.

Was the 1st of 3 consecutive Canadian actresses to win the Best Actress Oscar. The others were Norma Shearer and Marie Dressler.

When her mother Charlotte Smith died in 1928, she bequeathed $200,000 each in trust to her two younger children Jack Pickford and Lottie Pickford and to Lotties daughter Gwynne. But she left the large bulk of her estate to her eldest daughter Mary Pickford of $1 million, because she recognized that Mary had sacrificed her childhood to become the familys breadwinner at age 5. Charlotte wrote in her will: "Whatever property I possess at the time of my death has come to me through my association with my beloved daughter in her business and through her most unusual generosity to me".

In the 1920s, when prominent Hollywood columnist Herbert Howe asked his banker for advice about Los Angeles real estate, the banker responded, "Go ask Mary Pickford. She knows more about local real estate than anybody I know".

Colonel Ralph J. Phaneuf and the soldiers the 143rd Field Artillery of Camp Kearny, California, officially made Mary their Honorary Colonel during World War I.

Mary Pickford reveals in her autobiography, Sunshine and Shadow, that as a young girl living in Toronto she would buy a single rose and eat the petals, believing the beauty, color and perfume would somehow get inside her.

One of her happiest memories as a child living in Toronto, Mary would rent a bicycle for ten cents and loved to ride up and coast down University Avenue. On her eighth birthday, her mother surprised her with a bicycle of her own.

Made her Broadway debut in "The Warrens of Virginia" on December 3, 1907. She was billed sixth in the role of Betty Warren. It was during pre-production of the play that she met Cecil B. DeMille , who was billed fourth as Arthur Warren, and his brother William C. de Mille , who wrote the play.

We maniacs had fun and made good pictures and a lot of money. In the,early years, United Artists was a private golf club for the four of us.

If you have made mistakes. . . and there is always another chance for,you. . . you may have a fresh start any moment you choose, for this thing,we call "failure" is not the falling down but the staying down.

I never liked one of my pictures in its entirety.

Make them laugh, make them cry, and back to laughter. What do people,want to go to the theatre for? An emotional exercise. . . I am a servant,of the people. I have never forgotten that.

Adding sound to movies would be like putting lipstick on the Venus de,Milo.

I thought him a very uninspired director. He was a director of doors.

[on success] This thing that we call "failure" is not the falling down,but the staying down.

[on A Good Little Devil (1914) ] One of the worst [features] I,ever made. . . it was deadly.

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.

It would have been more logical if silent pictures had grown out of the,talkies instead of the other way around.

Make them laugh, make them cry, and hack to laughter. What do people go,to the theatre for? An emotional exercise. I am a servant of the,people. I have never forgotten that.

The past cannot be changed. The future is yet in your power.

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

Supposing you have tried and failed again and again. 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.

If you have made mistakes even serious mistakes there is always another chance for you.

If you have made mistakes even serious ones there is always another chance for you. What we call failure is not the falling down but the staying down.

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.

Today is a new day. You will get out of it just what you put into it. . . . If you have made mistakes even serious mistakes there is always another chance for you. And supposing you have tried and failed again and again 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.

Today is a new day. You will get out of it just what you put into itIf you have made mistakes even serious mistakes there is always another chance for you. for this thing that we call "failure" is not the falling down but the staying down.

The past cannot be changed. The future is yet in your power.

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.

Make them laugh, make them cry, and hack to laughter. What do people go to the theatre for? An emotional exercise. I am a servant of the people. I have never forgotten that.

Adding sound to movies would be like putting lipstick on the Venus de Milo. .