History Creator / MaryPickford

Determined to take control of her own career, Pickford joined her friends and colleagues Chaplin, Griffith, and Creator/DouglasFairbanks to found United Artists in 1919. At the same time she was falling in love with Fairbanks, despite the fact that both of them were married; they divorced their respective spouses and married each other in 1920, becoming the first Hollywood power couple and the UrExample of the PortmanteauCoupleName--or rather, their house (dubbed "[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pickfair Pickfair]]") did. They divorced in 1936.

Pickford played a variety of roles in her early years, but by the time she became a big star she was playing mostly innocent girls, spunky teenagers, or [[TheIngenue wide-eyed ingenues]]. She often was used for DawsonCasting parts, like in ''The Poor Little Rich Girl'', when she played an 11-year-old child at the age of 24. In ''Literature/LittleLordFauntleroy'' (1921) she played [[ActingForTwo dual roles]], simultaneously DawsonCasting as 10-year-old Cedric Errol and PlayingGertrude as Cedric's ''mother''.

Though Pickford hated talking pictures (see the quote above), she still tried to make the transition. In 1930, after relentlessly campaigning, she won the first UsefulNotes/AcademyAward for Best Actress in a talking film, for ''Coquette''. She also did an adaptation of ''The Taming of the Shrew'' with Fairbanks, the only film they ever starred in together. Additionally, she [[ImportantHaircut cut off]] her world-famous [[RegalRinglets long, luxuriant curls]], adopting a short bob in order to project a more grown-up image as she approached 40 years old. It didn't work, and her acting career petered out in 1934. She would still be the most important woman in Hollywood for another 20 years, however, due to her role as co-owner with Chaplin of United Artists. She finally sold her share of the business in 1956, the last of the original owners to do so (Chaplin, in exile in Europe, had sold his share the previous year). In her later years, she lived a very [[Film/SunsetBoulevard Norma Desmond-ish]] existence at Pickfair, drinking heavily and hardly ever seeing anyone, not even showing up when she received an honorary Academy Award in 1976 (she did allow a film crew to give her the award at her house).

Determined to take control of her own career, Pickford joined her friends and colleagues Chaplin, Griffith, and Creator/DouglasFairbanks to found United Artists in 1919. At the same time she was falling in love with Fairbanks, despite the fact that both of them were married; they divorced their respective spouses and married each other in 1920, becoming the first Hollywood power couple and the UrExample of the PortmanteauCoupleName--or rather, their house ([[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pickfair Pickfair]]) did. They divorced in 1936.

Determined to take control of her own career, Pickford joined her friends Chaplin, Griffith, and Creator/DouglasFairbanks in founding United Artists in 1919. At the same time she was falling in love with Fairbanks, despite the fact that both of them were married; they divorced their respective spouses and married each other in 1920, becoming the first Hollywood power couple and the UrExample of the PortmanteauCoupleName--or rather, [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pickfair their house did]]. They divorced in 1936.

Pickford died in 1979, survived by her third husband, Charles "Buddy" Rogers, and their two adopted children. Pickfair would remain vacant for the entirety of TheEighties until Creator/PiaZadora and her then-husband bought the estate and demolished it in 1990, claiming that it had been infested with termites (though many years later she acknowledged this to be false).

Determined to take control of her own career, Pickford joined her friends Chaplin, Griffith, and Creator/DouglasFairbanks in founding United Artists in 1919. At the same time she was falling in love with Fairbanks, despite the fact that both of them were married; they divorced their spouses and married each other in 1920. They became the first Hollywood power couple and the UrExample of the PortmanteauCoupleName--or rather, [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pickfair their house did]]. They divorced in 1936.

Pickford was born Gladys Smith in UsefulNotes/{{Toronto}}. By the time she was seven she was working on the stage as a child actor, and by 15 she was appearing on Broadway. This brought her to the attention of the cinema's first great director, Creator/DWGriffith, who signed her to a contract in 1910. Pickford quickly became very popular, and by 1914 and ''Tess of the Storm Country'', she was world-famous. Only her good friend and future business partner Creator/CharlieChaplin could claim to be as big a star as she was.

Pickford hated talking pictures (see the quote above) but still tried to make the transition. After relentlessly campaigning, she won the first UsefulNotes/AcademyAward for Best Actress in a talking film, for ''Coquette''. She also did an adaptation of ''The Taming of the Shrew'' with Fairbanks, the only film they ever starred in together. Additionally, she [[ImportantHaircut cut off]] her world-famous [[RegalRinglets long, luxuriant curls]], adopting a short bob in order to project a more grown-up image as she approached 40 years old. It didn't work, and her acting career petered out in 1934. She would still be the most important woman in Hollywood for another 20 years, however, due to her role as co-owner with Chaplin of United Artists. She finally sold her share of the business in 1956, the last of the original owners to do so (Chaplin, in exile in Europe, had sold his share the previous year). In her later years, she lived a very [[Film/SunsetBoulevard Norma Desmond-ish]] existence at Pickfair, drinking heavily and hardly ever seeing anyone, not even showing up when she received an honorary Academy Award in 1976 (she did allow a film crew to give her the award at her house).

[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/e199383d1559f99159ba61d66fe2910d.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:300:America's (Canadian) Sweetheart]]

Mary Pickford (born Gladys Louise Smith; April 8, 1892 – May 29, 1979) was the biggest movie star of her day, the trope maker for TheIngenue and DawsonCasting on the screen, one of the founders of Creator/UnitedArtists, and "America's Sweetheart" ... even though she was [[FakeAmerican Canadian]].

Pickford was born Gladys Smith in Toronto. By the time she was seven years old she was a child actor on the stage. By 1907, she was appearing on Broadway. This brought her to the attention of cinema's first great director, Creator/DWGriffith, who signed her to a contract in 1910. She soon became very popular, and by 1914 and ''Tess of the Storm Country'', she was world-famous. Only her good friend and future business partner Creator/CharlieChaplin could claim to be as big a star as she was.

Mary Pickford (born Gladys Louise Smith, April 8th 1892 -- May 29th 1979) was the biggest movie star in the world, the trope maker for TheIngenue and DawsonCasting in films, one of the founders of Creator/UnitedArtists, and "America's Sweetheart" ... even though she was [[FakeAmerican Canadian]].

Pickford hated talking pictures (see the quote above) but still tried to make the transition. After relentlessly campaigning, she won the first UsefulNotes/AcademyAward for Best Actress in a talking film, for ''Coquette''. She also did an adaptation of ''The Taming of the Shrew'' with Fairbanks, the only film they ever starred in together. Additionally, she [[ImportantHaircut cut off]] her world-famous [[RegalRinglets long, luxuriant curls]], adopting a short bob in order to project a more grown-up image as she approached 40 years old. It didn't work, and her acting career petered out in 1934. She would still be the most important woman in Hollywood for another 20 years, however, due to her role as co-owner with Chaplin of United Artists. She finally sold her share of the business in 1956, the last of the original owners (Chaplin, in exile in Europe, had sold his share the previous year.) In her later years, she lived a very [[Film/SunsetBoulevard Norma Desmond-ish]] existence at Pickfair, drinking heavily and hardly ever seeing anyone, not even showing up when she received an honorary Academy Award in 1976 (she did allow a film crew to give her the award at her house).

Pickford hated talking pictures (see the quote above) but still tried to make the transition. After relentlessly campaigning, she won the first UsefulNotes/AcademyAward for Best Actress in a talking film, for ''Coquette''. She also did an adaptation of ''The Taming of the Shrew'' with Fairbanks, the only film they ever starred in together. Additionally, she [[ImportantHaircut cut off]] her world-famous [[RegalRinglets long, luxuriant curls]], adopting a short bob in order to project a more grown-up image as she approached 40 years old. It didn't work, and her acting career petered out in 1934. She would still be the most important woman in Hollywood for another 20 years, however, due to her role as co-owner with Chaplin of United Artists. In her later years, she lived a very [[Film/SunsetBoulevard Norma Desmond-ish]] existence at Pickfair, drinking heavily and hardly ever seeing anyone, not even showing up when she received an honorary Academy Award in 1976 (she did allow a film crew to give her the award at her house).

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/e199383d1559f99159ba61d66fe2910d.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:America's (Canadian) Sweetheart]]

Pickford played a variety of roles in her early years, but by the time she became a big star she was playing mostly innocent girls, spunky teenagers, or [[TheIngenue wide-eyed ingenues]]. She often was used for DawsonCasting parts, like in ''The Poor Little Rich Girl'', when she played an 11-year-old child at the age of 24. In ''Film/LittleLordFauntleroy'' (1921) she played [[ActingForTwo dual roles]], simultaneously DawsonCasting as 10-year-old Cedric Errol and PlayingGertrude as Cedric's ''mother''.

* PortmanteauCoupleName: 'Pickfair' for her and Douglas Fairbanks was one of the first notable ones.

** She did screen tests for Disney's planned live action/animation hybrid of ''Literature/AlicesAdventuresInWonderland''. The project was cancelled when Paramount released their version. [[http://www.disneyhistoryinstitute.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/alice-mary.jpg This still]] is all that survives of it.