Mary Pickford Gladys Louise Smith (April 8, 1892 – May 29, 1979), known professionally as Mary Pickford, was a Canadian-American film actress and producer. A Canadian pioneers in early Hollywood, pioneer in the American film industry with a Hollywood care ...

(1892–1979) was a Canadian motion picture actress, producer, and writer. During the

silent film era A silent film is a film without synchronized Sound recording and reproduction, recorded sound (or more generally, no audible dialogue). Though silent films convey narrative and emotion visually, various plot elements (such as a setting or era) ...

she became one of the first great celebrities of the cinema and a popular

icon An icon () is a religious work of art, most commonly a painting, in the cultures of the Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, Catholic Church, Catholic, and Lutheranism, Lutheran churches. The most common subjects include Jesus, Mary, mother of ...

known to the public as "America's Sweetheart". Pickford was born Gladys Marie Smith in Toronto and began acting on stage in 1900. She started her film career in the United States in 1909. Initially with the Biograph film company, she moved to the

Independent Motion Picture Company The Independent Moving Pictures Company (IMP) was a motion picture studio and production company founded in 1909 by Carl Laemmle. The company was based in New York City, with production facilities in Fort Lee, New Jersey. In 1912, IMP merged w ...

(IMP) in 1911, then briefly to the Majestic Film Company later that same year, followed by a return to Biograph in 1912. After appearing in over 150 short films during her years with these studios she began working in features with

Adolph Zukor Adolph Zukor (; ; January 7, 1873 – June 10, 1976) was a Hungarian-American film producer best known as one of the three founders of Paramount Pictures.Obituary ''Variety Obituaries, Variety'' (June 16, 1976), p. 76. He produced one of Ameri ...

Famous Players Film Company The Famous Players Film Company was a film company founded in New York City in 1912 by Adolph Zukor in partnership with the Frohman brothers, powerful theatre owners and producers there. History Discussions to form the company were held at Th ...

, a studio which eventually became part of

Paramount Pictures Paramount Pictures Corporation, commonly known as Paramount Pictures or simply Paramount, is an American film production company, production and Distribution (marketing), distribution company and the flagship namesake subsidiary of Paramount ...

. By 1916 Pickford's popularity had climbed to the point that she was awarded a contract that made her a partner with Zukor and allowed her to produce her films. In 1919 Pickford teamed with D.W. Griffith,

Charlie Chaplin Sir Charles Spencer Chaplin (16 April 188925 December 1977) was an English comic actor, filmmaker, and composer who rose to fame in the era of silent film. He became a worldwide icon through his screen persona, the Tramp, and is considered o ...

, and

Douglas Fairbanks Douglas Elton Fairbanks Sr. (born Douglas Elton Thomas Ullman; May 23, 1883 – December 12, 1939) was an American actor and filmmaker best known for being the first actor to play the masked Vigilante Zorro and other swashbuckler film, swashbu ...

to create

United Artists United Artists (UA) is an American film production and film distribution, distribution company owned by Amazon MGM Studios. In its original operating period, it was founded in February 1919 by Charlie Chaplin, D. W. Griffith, Mary Pickford an ...

, an organization designed to distribute their films. She married Fairbanks in 1920. Following the release of '' Secrets'' (1933), Pickford retired from acting in motion pictures, but remained active as a producer for several years afterward. She sold her stock in United Artists in 1956. The timeline offered here presents significant events in Mary Pickford's life and juxtaposes them against notable events in the history and development of cinema. More emphasis is placed on the silent era, when she was most active, with particular attention to her three United Artists partners. Also presented are notable events that occurred in the United States.

Timeline

Before 1891

1891–1900

1901–1910

1911–1915

1916–1920

1921–1925

1926–1930

1931–1940

1941–1950

1951–1979

1980–present

References

Notes

Footnotes

Bibliography

Website * Books * * * (Originally titled ''Mary Pickford – America's Sweetheart'') * * * * * * {{featured list Mary Pickford

Pickford Pickford is a surname, and may refer to * Sir Alfred Pickford (1872–1947), Scouting luminary and friend of Lord Baden-Powell * Charlotte Hennessey (1873–1928), aka Charlotte Smith Pickford, Canadian-American actress, mother of Mary, Lottie, and ...