Mary Pickford Archives - Janet Sumner Johnson

Mary Pickford

Mary Pickford: The Justin Bieber of Her Day?

Jul

25, 2011 |

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After quoting Mary Pickford last week, I had a couple of people ask about her. Of course I didn’t know anything, but that is easily rectified in the computer age. So today I present Mary Pickford, a.k.a. Gladys Smith (1892-1979):

Mary Pickford, ca. 1916

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It turns out that Mary Pickford was a giant in the film industry. Not only was her fame as a silent actress akin to that of Charlie Chaplin (i.e. THE biggest starlet of her day, and considered at the time to be the most famous woman to have ever lived), but she also helped reshape Hollywood. She is the reason that movies are not simply reproductions of plays on film.

On a funny note, one might also call her the Justin Bieber of her day because she was originally identified by her hair. When she first gained popularity, they didn’t put actors’ names in the credits, so she was simply known as “The Girl with the Golden Curls” or “Blondilocks.” And when she finally did cut it in 1928, it was front page news. Sound familiar?

Anyway, I don’t want to bore you with too many details, but I will mention two facts that make me like her (and make me think of writing):

First, she attributes her popularity to the fact that in the beginning she took as many roles as she could, no matter how small. She understood that if she became known, there would be a demand for her work.
Second, once she had made it, she used her fame to benefit many charitable causes and she convinced others to do the same.

Unfortunately, the advent of “talkies” became her undoing. Though a pioneer of the film industry, she, ironically, underestimated the power that sound combined with film would have (that, and she cut her hair). In the end, she retired as an actress in 1933.

So I ask you . . . what would you do if your chosen career suddenly ended for whatever reason? And are e-books today the equivalent of “talkies” back then?