How America’s Sweetheart Mary Pickford Changed the Movie Scene
Mary Pickford could easily be considered one of Hollywood’s first Canadian pioneers. Born in Toronto Ontario, Canada on April 8th, 1892, this curly blonde headed charmer was meant for stardom. Until Mary’s death on May 29th, 1979, she had amassed quite the fortune and commanded the attention of fans where ever she went. This little gem was known as none other than America’s Sweetheart, it was easy to see by her life story that she became one of the most influential women in history. Said to grace anyone’s presence with a child like innocence, Mary had hundreds of millions of adoring fans. Although her legacy may be diminished and her works long forgotten by many, Mary Pickford’s name will forever be a facet in the history of filmmaking.
One of the most interesting facts surrounding Mary, is that she was the co-founder of America Artists, which still stands strong today, not only was she an Academy Award winner, she had the know how to ensure that things around her got completed. Considered by many of her peers as the watershed figure in the history of a modern celebrity, Mary played a key role in the development of acting for films. What she was most noted for was her silent film acting and that she could also produce. This only drove her worth in the movie industry, and is single handedly responsible for what Hollywood is today. Beginning her career in the Princess Theater in Toronto, in the show Silver King, Mary became one of the most prominent actors in Canadian history. Following this trend, Mary appearing in many melodramas during her tenor became the most popular child actress of all time.
She was originally born under the name Gladys Louise Smith, to father John Charles Smith, and her mother Charlotte Hennessy of old Irish catholic descent. Being from such a broad religious background Mary had her mother baptized in not only the Methodist church, but the Catholic church as well. This allowed her mother to change Mary’s middle name to Marie. Mary’s father a lifelong alcoholic, left the family in 1895, and passed away three years later as a result of a cerebral hemorrhage. From this point Mary’s mother started taking boarders into the Pickford home in order to supplement the seamstress pay she was making. From this point where she was accepting boarders did she run into a gentleman that paved the way for Mary to become the star that she was so noted for in the future.
Mary did have two younger siblings; surprisingly enough they too were also performers. Jack and Lottie traveled with Mary and her mother by way of railroad to many rag tag location to perform, mostly in small melodramas. Within six years of this lifestyle, Mary felt that she had enough and set her sights on a role on Broadway. Should she fail to be signed Mary would give up acting forever, and find a new career. Mary won a supporting role, in a play called The Warrens Of Virginia. This play was written by William C deMille. Incidentally, William’s brother was also set to be in the play, once in the production his brother changed the spelling of his last name. Mary ran the course of the play, and traveled with the production company, this is where her name was to be changed from Gladys to Mary.
Mary’s trip to stardom really did not have many intervening factors or obstacles; she seemed to float through just about every endeavor she took on. Mary Pickford would soon find herself in the position of commanding virtually any role she set her sights on, he raw talent and ingenious way of looking at the movie industry paved the way for many others to follow. For this reason she became one of the most recognized and well-respected figures in Hollywood and around the world. By the time of Mary’s death, she had amassed numerous awards and accolades for her service in the entertainment industry. Her name will forever be regarded as one of the true and elite Hollywood Pioneers. Her legacy will never die, as it has made for the road to be traveled when it comes to fine acting and performing arts.
