Mary Pickford

Acting

Mary Pickford

Born 1892-04-07 · Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Gladys Marie Smith (April 8, 1894 – May 29, 1979), known professionally as Mary Pickford, was a Canadian actress resident in the U.S., and also producer, screenwriter and film studio founder, who was a pioneer in the US film industry with a Hollywood career that spanned five decades. Pickford alongside her future husband, actor-producer Douglas Fairbanks, founded Pickford–Fairbanks Studios and United Artists, and was one of the 36 founders of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Pickford is considered to be one of the most recognisable women in history. Known as "America's Sweetheart" during the silent film era, she is named on the list of the AFI's 100 Years...100 Stars as the 24th-top female star from the Classical Hollywood Cinema era and the "girl with the curls." Pickford was one of the Canadian pioneers in early Hollywood and a significant figure in the development of film acting. She was one of the earliest stars to be billed under her own name, and was one of the most popular actresses of the 1910s and 1920s, earning the nickname "Queen of the Movies." She is credited with having defined the ingénue type in cinema. She was awarded the second Academy Award for Best Actress for her first sound film role in Coquette (1929). By the late 1920s, Pickford's career went into decline. She received an Academy Honorary Award in 1976 in consideration of her contributions to American cinema.

Acting credits

The First 100 Years: A Celebration of American Movies poster
8.0

Based on the first centenary of the largest exporter of films in the world, that is Hollywood, is the story told by its protagonists, actors and writers and other people who made life in this business, interspersing images of famous movies.

The First 100 Years: A Celebration of American Movies

1995

A Kiss from Mary Pickford poster
5.2

Goga is a Russian man who has no luck with women. He has a chance meeting with Mary Pickford, and after she kisses him on the cheek, he becomes as irresistible as her.

A Kiss from Mary Pickford

1927

100% American poster
7.0

A girl wants to go to a ball, admission one Liberty Bond, but rather than go herself, she loans the bond to a girlfriend. A soldier and a sailor find out and take her to the ball with them.

100% American

1918

Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ poster
7.3

Erstwhile childhood friends, Judah Ben-Hur and Messala meet again as adults, this time with Roman officer Messala as conqueror and Judah as a wealthy, though conquered, Israelite. A slip of a brick during a Roman parade causes Judah to be sent off as a galley slave, his property confiscated and his mother and sister imprisoned. Years later, as a result of his determination to stay alive and his willingness to aid his Roman master, Judah returns to his homeland an exalted and wealthy Roman athlete. Unable to find his mother and sister, and believing them dead, he can think of nothing else than revenge against Messala.

Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ

1925

Why Be Good?: Sexuality & Censorship in Early Cinema poster
4.3

Before the G, PG and R ratings system there was the Production Code, and before that there was, well, nothing. This eye-opening documentary examines the rampant sexuality of early Hollywood through movie clips and reminiscences by stars of the era. Gloria Swanson, Mary Pickford, Marlene Dietrich and others relate tales of the artistic freedom that led to the draconian Production Code, which governed content from 1934 to 1968. Diane Lane narrates.

Why Be Good?: Sexuality & Censorship in Early Cinema

2007

Cavalcade of the Academy Awards poster
6.3

This 1940 presentation features highlights of earlier (1928 onward) Oscar ceremonies including Shirley Temple and Walt Disney, plus acceptance speeches for films released in 1939 with recipients and presenters including Vivien Leigh, Judy Garland, Hattie McDaniel and more, with host Bob Hope.

Cavalcade of the Academy Awards

1940

No artwork available
NR

A lost film. Mary has been invited by friends to officiate at a charity bazaar as the fortune teller. Her brother invites his artist friend Jack to pay them a visit. On the way home the auto breaks down and Mary in her gypsy costume decides to walk on. Jack arriving by train also decides to walk. On the way he spies a gypsy camp. Further on he encounters Mary, who has hurt her ankle. He is smitten by her beauty and asks her if she belongs to the gypsy camp he has just seen. She says no and escapes, dropping a side comb. He picks it up and decides to find her again. He comes to the house and meets the family, including Mary, but does not recognize her in her ordinary clothes.

Love Heeds Not Showers

1911

Little Annie Rooney poster
7.1

A feisty little girl, the daughter of a beat cop, faces the challenges of growing up in a tough city neighborhood.

Little Annie Rooney

1925

The Black Pirate poster
6.7

A nobleman vows to avenge the death of his father by the hands of pirates. To this end, he infiltrates the pirate band; Acting in character, he single-handedly captures a merchant vessel, but things are complicated when he finds that there is a beautiful young woman of royal blood aboard.

The Black Pirate

1926

1776, or The Hessian Renegades poster
5.2

During the American Revolution, a young soldier carrying a crucial message to General Washington is spotted and pursued by a group of enemy soldiers. He takes refuge with a civilian family, but is soon detected. The family and their neighbors must then make plans to see that the important message gets through after all.

1776, or The Hessian Renegades

1909

Coquette poster
5.9

A Southern belle's flirtation with a working man leads to tragedy.

Coquette

1929

No artwork available
4.5

After being jilted for another, a woman sends her lover's old letters to the new fiancée and looks forward to the reaction. But when she spots her old lover's glove left behind, she has a change of heart and repents.

Sweet Revenge

1909

Mistress Nell poster
NR

Nell Gwyn and King Charles II fall in love after meeting at a fox hunt. Nell soon learns the jealous Duchess of Portsmouth is a spy and conspiring with the Duke of Buckingham to place Charles at the mercy of the King of France. Nell boldly disguises herself as a fashionable young blade and wins the confidence of the Duchess. Now entrusted with the delivery of important documents, she makes sure they go to the King of England rather than the King of France.

Mistress Nell

1915

Secrets poster
5.2

In the 1860s, Mary Marlowe defies her father's wishes to marry a British lord and runs away with clerk John Carlton as he heads West to make his fortune. Mary and John endure the difficult journey and settle into a small cabin, then face the hostilities of a cattle rustling gang, as well as the tragic loss of their only son. With Mary's help, John defeats the gang, which propels him to political power that, over the years, gradually erodes the once-happy marriage.

Secrets

1933

Fascination: Unauthorized Story of Marilyn Monroe poster
7.2

Marilyn Monroe is one of the most famous and adored icons of the 20th century. Like no other Hollywood star, she won the hearts of millions around the world. It's been said that: "Monroe played the best game with the worst hand." Her journey to stardom stemmed from a childhood of poverty, neglect, and loneliness. 'Fascination' tells the remarkable story of Marilyn's life. From birth to her premature death she endured criticism, insecurities, drug dependence, numerous miscarriages, and three broken marriages. Despite all her demons, her unprecedented beauty, talent and quick wit amazed all that came before her.

Fascination: Unauthorized Story of Marilyn Monroe

2012

A Lucky Toothache poster
NR

Bessie, the new school teacher, arrives at the little western village, and on her way to the school she meets a gang of cowboys who bestow boxes of candy and other little offerings. Not long after the girl is seized with a jumping toothache. Each boy suggests a cure, but without success. Tom, however, now appears and offers a cure. He leaves her a note stating if she will submit to his treatment he will guarantee to cure her toothache. She is in such agony that she is inclined to submit to anything, and so, though not knowing what the cure may be, consents. After great preliminaries Tom administers a resounding kiss upon her cheek..

A Lucky Toothache

1910

A Lucky Toothache poster
NR

Bessie, the new school teacher, arrives at the little western village, and on her way to the school she meets a gang of cowboys who bestow boxes of candy and other little offerings. Not long after the girl is seized with a jumping toothache. Each boy suggests a cure, but without success. Tom, however, now appears and offers a cure. He leaves her a note stating if she will submit to his treatment he will guarantee to cure her toothache. She is in such agony that she is inclined to submit to anything, and so, though not knowing what the cure may be, consents. After great preliminaries Tom administers a resounding kiss upon her cheek..

A Lucky Toothache

1910

Cinderella poster
5.4

Good-hearted Cinderella is mistreated by her stepmother and stepsisters, but she is able to go to the Royal Ball with the help of the Fairy Godmother. Based on Charles Perrault's fairy tale, and featuring unforgettable chemistry between Pickford and then-husband Owen Moore as Prince Charming.

Cinderella

1914

Hollywood Hobbies poster
5.6

In this short film, two starstruck movie fans hire a tour guide and see a plethora of Hollywood stars.

Hollywood Hobbies

1939

Hollywood poster
9.0

Angela comes to Hollywood with only two things: Her dream to become a movie star, and Grandpa. She leaves an Aunt, a brother, Grandma, and her longtime boyfriend back in Centerville. Despite seeing major movie stars around every corner, and knocking on every casting office door in town, at the end of her first day she is still unemployed. To her horror, when she arrives back at their hotel, she finds that Grandpa has been cast in a movie by William DeMille and quickly becomes a star during the ensuing weeks. Her family, worried that Angela and Grandpa are getting into trouble, come to Hollywood to drag them back home. In short order Aunt, Grandma, brother, boyfriend and even the parrot become superstars, but Angela is still unemployed...

Hollywood

1923

Caprice poster
1.0

A lost film. A wealthy young man's marriage to a mountain girl he meets while hunting is disastrous until she abandons him and later reappears incognito as a tutored and sophisticated woman.

Caprice

1913

No artwork available
NR

Molly O, a young girl abandoned by her wealthy painter father, David King, after her mother's death; she endures an orphanage and a cruel boardinghouse before her father, remorseful and famous, unknowingly adopts the impostor niece of the orphanage matron instead, leading to Molly's return as a maid in his home, ultimately revealing her true identity and reuniting them. Version destroyed by fire.

The Foundling

1915

Mondo Hollywood poster
6.7

A documentary analyzing the social, political and cultural climate of Hollywood in the mid-1960s.

Mondo Hollywood

1967

Madame Butterfly poster
4.5

The story of a Japanese woman and the tragedy that ensues when she loves an American naval officer.

Madame Butterfly

1915

Behind the camera

Sleep, My Love poster
6.3

A woman wakes up in the middle of the night on board a train, but she can't remember how she got there. Danger and suspense ensue.

Sleep, My Love

1948

Little Annie Rooney poster
7.1

A feisty little girl, the daughter of a beat cop, faces the challenges of growing up in a tough city neighborhood.

Little Annie Rooney

1925

Little Annie Rooney poster
7.1

A feisty little girl, the daughter of a beat cop, faces the challenges of growing up in a tough city neighborhood.

Little Annie Rooney

1925

Coquette poster
5.9

A Southern belle's flirtation with a working man leads to tragedy.

Coquette

1929

Hearts Adrift poster
NR

A lost film. A man and a woman are shipwrecked on a desert island. It doesn't take long before they fall in love and, figuring that they would never see civilization again, declare themselves married and eventually have a child. One day, however...

Hearts Adrift

1914

One Rainy Afternoon poster
5.0

Suave French actor Philippe Martin provokes a scandal when, in a darkened theater, he mistakes young Monique for his mistress, Yvonne, and tries to kiss her. Charged with assault, the quick-thinking Philippe claims it's French tradition to do as he did, and is let go. To his surprise, Philippe learns that Monique has paid his fine. As the tabloids exploit the situation, Monique dates Philippe, until a photo appears of him kissing Yvonne.

One Rainy Afternoon

1936

The Love Light poster
6.9

Angela maintains a coastal lighthouse in Italy, where she awaits the return of her brothers from the war. She learns they are casualties and takes solace in the arms of an American sailor washed ashore. However, the sailor turns out to be a German spy, and she is torn between her love for him and her realization that he is part of the enemy force that has destroyed her family.

The Love Light

1921

Stork Bites Man poster
10.0

A man engages in a boycott of a no children allowed apartment house, with the help of an imaginary stock and a large department store, after his wife become pregnant and they are evicted.

Stork Bites Man

1947

Through the Back Door poster
6.5

A young Belgian girl, raised by her longtime nanny, flees Europe at the advent of World War I and travels to America to find her real mother.

Through the Back Door

1921

The Little American poster
6.3

A young American has her ship torpedoed by a German U-boat but makes it back to her ancestral home in France, where she witnesses German brutality firsthand.

The Little American

1917

The Gay Desperado poster
3.7

Opera singer Chivo is currently playing a singing cowboy, and Mexican bandito Braganza kidnaps him (along with Jane, an heiress) so he can learn to become more like the American movie gangsters he admires.

The Gay Desperado

1936

Daddy-Long-Legs poster
6.7

Wealthy Jarvis Pendleton acts as benefactor for orphan Judy Abbott, anonymously sponsoring her in her boarding school. But as she grows up, he finds himself falling in love with her, and she with him, though she does not know that the man she has fallen for is her benefactor.

Daddy-Long-Legs

1919

My Best Girl poster
7.1

Joe Merrill, son of the millionaire owner of a chain of 5 and 10 cent stores, poses as Joe Grant, and takes a job in the stockroom of one of his father's stores, to prove that he can be a success without his father's influence. There he meets stockroom girl Maggie Johnson, and they fall in love. This causes problems, because Mrs. Merrill had planned for her son to marry Millicent Rogers, a high society girl.

My Best Girl

1927

Little Lord Fauntleroy poster
7.0

An American boy turns out to be the long-lost heir of a British fortune. He is sent to live with the cold and unsentimental lord who oversees the trust.

Little Lord Fauntleroy

1921

No artwork available
NR

The story is laid in Italy, during the 17th century, and concerns itself with the love and suffering of David, a great painter. Unknown to David, his betrothed has a brother in prison, and his shame is kept hidden for the honor of the family. This brother, escaping from his cell, goes by night to his sister's room. David, coming to serenade her, sees the brother leave her window; thinking her false, casts her off, and she is too proud to tell him the truth. David, heartbroken, goes to a monastery to seek refuge from the world in seclusion. While there, he learns the truth. A great revulsion of feeling takes place in his heart. A mock sees his grief and begs him seek solace in painting a masterpiece for the altar. This he does, but is stricken to the heart. Gianetta on her way to church sees him weak and ill, crossing the plaza. She follows to his studio in the church. There they come to understand each other, but too late.

The Medallion

1911

Rosita poster
6.6

The King tosses Rosita in jail and when Don Diego, who Rosita loves, tries to defend her, he too is thrown in jail. While Don Diego is sentenced to be executed, the King lusts after Rosita and decides to put her up in a luxurious villa. To give her a title, he marries her to a masked nobleman, who turns out to be Don Diego.

Rosita

1923

Pollyanna poster
6.5

When Pollyanna is orphaned, she's sent to live with her crotchety Aunt Polly. Pollyanna discovers that many of the people in her aunt's New England hometown are as ill-tempered as her aunt. But Pollyanna's incurable optimism - exemplified by her "glad game", in which she looks for the bright side of every situation - brings a change to the staid old community.

Pollyanna

1920

Sparrows poster
7.0

Molly, the eldest child of a group of orphans being used as slaves on a farm hidden deep in a swamp, must rescue the others when their cruel master decides that one of them will be disposed of.

Sparrows

1926

The Day After poster
2.8

Mr. and Mrs. Hilton throw a New Year's Eve party. They agree not to drink the punch themselves, but as guests begin to arrive their resolve weakens, and soon they are both cavorting drunkenly. Next morning Mr. Hilton, feeling very sick, is conscience-stricken over his drunkenness and his behavior with another woman. He fears to face his wife until he discovers that she feels just as guilty herself.

The Day After

1909

Dorothy Vernon of Haddon Hall poster
5.0

In the year 1550, Sir George Vernon agrees to have his young daughter Dorothy betrothed to John Manners, the son of the Earl of Rutland. Sir George signs a contract, promising that the marriage will take place on Dorothy's 18th birthday, or else he will have to pay a large penalty to Rutland. But when the two children have grown older, rumors of John's wild behavior in France provoke Sir George to call off the engagement, and to pledge his daughter instead to her cousin Malcolm. Rutland now claims the forfeit from Sir George, and meanwhile, John has befriended Mary Stuart, the sworn enemy of Elizabeth, who is now Queen of England.

Dorothy Vernon of Haddon Hall

1924

Dorothy Vernon of Haddon Hall poster
5.0

In the year 1550, Sir George Vernon agrees to have his young daughter Dorothy betrothed to John Manners, the son of the Earl of Rutland. Sir George signs a contract, promising that the marriage will take place on Dorothy's 18th birthday, or else he will have to pay a large penalty to Rutland. But when the two children have grown older, rumors of John's wild behavior in France provoke Sir George to call off the engagement, and to pledge his daughter instead to her cousin Malcolm. Rutland now claims the forfeit from Sir George, and meanwhile, John has befriended Mary Stuart, the sworn enemy of Elizabeth, who is now Queen of England.

Dorothy Vernon of Haddon Hall

1924

A Little Princess poster
5.2

Little Sara Crewe is placed in a boarding school by her father when he goes off to war, but he does not understand that the headmistress is a cruel, spiteful woman who makes life miserable for Sara.

A Little Princess

1917

No artwork available
8.0

A moving picture company is enacting a drama in the country, where an artist, thinking that the altercation is genuine, rescues the heroine. The picture company, finding that they are missing a heroine, start in pursuit of the fleeing rescuer. He arrives at the court a few minutes ahead of the irate producer. Here things are explained, and the hero leaves the courtroom in gloom. He was not a hero after all. A lost Film, Mary Pickford Screenwriter.

Caught in the Act

1911

White Cradle Inn poster
6.8

This drama is set in Switzerland and chronicles a fight between an innkeeper and her husband, a chronic adulterer. The trouble begins when she wants to adopt a French orphan and he doesn't.

White Cradle Inn

1947