Film · Business · Literature · 1892–1979
Born: 8 April 1892 · Died: 29 May 1979 · Age at death: 87
Mary Pickford died aged 87. She was born on 8 April 1892 and died on 29 May 1979.
Silent film star and co-founder of the United Artists studio
Did you know?She was the first performer to have her name appear on a cinema marquee and was a founding member of the Academy.
Mary Pickford was the first great film star, and a sharp businesswoman too. She negotiated her own contracts and earned more than almost anyone in Hollywood. With Chaplin, Fairbanks and Griffith she started United Artists so artists could control their work. Audiences loved her as a girl with curls. That made it hard for her to move into adult roles. She retired from acting early in the sound era. Her business skills still inspire people who study Hollywood's history.
Gladys Louise Smith (April 8, 1892 – May 29, 1979), baptised as Gladys Marie Smith, known professionally as Mary Pickford, was a Canadian American film actress and producer.
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Profile
Canadian-American actress, born 1892
Mary Pickford was born in Toronto on 8 April 1892.
She was the biggest star of silent film.
She co-founded United Artists in 1919.
She helped found the Academy behind the Oscars.
Career highlights
Did you know?She won the second Best Actress Oscar ever awarded.
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