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.
Academy Awards
Best Actress
Known For
Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ
(1925)
Chariot Race Spectator (uncredited)
The Black Pirate
(1926)
Princess Isobel in Final Embrace - Cameo Appearance (uncredited)
Full Filmography
Acting
The Sealed Room
(1909)
A Lady-in-Waiting
The Little Darling
(1909)
Little Darling
The Renunciation
(1909)
Kittie Ryan
The Mountaineer's Honor
(1909)
Harum-Scarum, a Mountain Girl
The Violin Maker of Cremona
(1909)
Giannina, Taddeo's Daughter
Pippa Passes
(1909)
Girl in crowd
Getting Even
(1909)
Miss Lucy
The Son's Return
(1909)
Mary
The Lonely Villa
(1909)
The Gibson Goddess
(1909)
Woman on Sidewalk
The Country Doctor
(1909)
Poor Mother's Elder Daughter
The Light That Came
(1909)
Her First Biscuits
(1909)
Biscuit Victim
A Strange Meeting
(1909)
The Broken Locket
(1909)
Ruth King
The Indian Runner's Romance
(1909)
Blue Cloud's Wife
The Awakening
(1909)
The Widow's Daughter
The Way of Man
(1909)
Winnie, Mabel's Cousin
Lines of White on a Sullen Sea
(1909)
Second Couple
Two Memories
(1909)
Marion's Sister
Sweet and Twenty
(1909)
Alice
The Little Teacher
(1909)
The Little Teacher
The Mexican Sweethearts
(1909)
The Señorita
They Would Elope
(1909)
Bessie
His Duty
(1909)
A young woman in the street
The Necklace
(1909)
The Maid / In Pawnshop
Tender Hearts
(1909)
Nellie
The Faded Lilies
(1909)
At party
The Peachbasket Hat
(1909)
On street/In store
The Slave
(1909)
A Slave Girl
The Cardinal's Conspiracy
(1909)
A Disguised Servant
The Seventh Day
(1909)
The Maid
1776, or The Hessian Renegades
(1909)
Messenger's Sister
In the Watches of the Night
(1909)
Girl at Henry Brainard's
In Old Kentucky
(1909)
Partygoer
His Lost Love
(1909)
Mary
Oh, Uncle!
(1909)
Bessie
Through the Breakers
(1909)
An Extra
To Save Her Soul
(1909)
Agnes Hailey
What's Your Hurry?
(1909)
Mary
The Restoration
(1909)
Alice Ashford
A Midnight Adventure
(1909)
Eleanor
The Test
(1909)
Bessie
The Heart of an Outlaw
(1909)
The Outlaw's Daughter, as an Adult
The Trick that Failed
(1909)
Nellie Burt
His Wife's Visitor
(1909)
Bessie Wright
A Sweet Revenge
(1909)
Wilful Peggy
(1910)
Peggy
The Unchanging Sea
(1910)
The Daughter as an Adult
Ramona
(1910)
Ramona
An Arcadian Maid
(1910)
The Arcadian Maid
As It Is in Life
(1910)
What the Daisy Said
(1910)
Martha
Love Among the Roses
(1910)
The Lacemaker
The Thread of Destiny
(1910)
Myrtle
A Romance of the Western Hills
(1910)
The Smoker
(1910)
George's Wife
The Englishman and the Girl
(1910)
The Girl
A Rich Revenge
(1910)
Jennie
The Newlyweds
(1910)
Mary Vance
The Woman from Mellon's
(1910)
Mary Petersby
The Two Brothers
(1910)
A Mexican
All on Account of the Milk
(1910)
The Young Woman
The Twisted Trail
(1910)
Molly Hendricks
In the Season of Buds
(1910)
Mabel
May and December
(1910)
May
A Victim of Jealousy
(1910)
The Wife's Friend
Muggsy's First Sweetheart
(1910)
Mabel Brown
Never Again
(1910)
The Girl
A Lucky Toothache
(1910)
Bessie
A Child's Impulse
(1910)
Grace
Muggsy Becomes a Hero
(1910)
Mabel
The Sorrows of the Unfaithful
(1910)
Mary
The Call to Arms
(1910)
A Messenger
When We Were in Our 'Teens
(1910)
Mary
A Gold Necklace
(1910)
Masie
The Song of the Wildwood Flute
(1910)
Dove Eyes
Simple Charity
(1910)
Miss Wilkins
Waiter No. 5
(1910)
The Chief of Police's Son's Fiancée
White Roses
(1910)
Betty
A Plain Song
(1910)
Edith
The Usurer
(1910)
Invalid Daughter
That Chink at Golden Gulch
(1910)
Sunshine Sue
(1910)
In Old Madrid
(1911)
Sweet Memories
(1911)
Polly Biblett
The Mirror
(1911)
Dorothy
A Manly Man
(1911)
Lola
As a Boy Dreams
(1911)
The Italian Barber
(1911)
Alice
Artful Kate
(1911)
Artful Kate Stanley
The Dream
(1911)
Nell Herbert
Their First Misunderstanding
(1911)
Mae Darcy
When a Man Loves
(1911)
Tessie
Three Sisters
(1911)
Mary
Maid or Man
(1911)
Elsie Keene
When the Cat's Away
(1911)
Dorothy, The Wife
The Convert
(1911)
Agnes Boyd
Her Darkest Hour
(1911)
Ruth
A Decree of Destiny
(1911)
Mary
The Message in the Bottle
(1911)
Louise Spencer
The Secret of the Palm
(1911)
Unknown Role
Tracked
(1911)
Unknown Role
The Fisher-Maid
(1911)
Paula, The Fishing-Maid
The Stampede
(1911)
Nello
While There is hope, There is Life
(1911)
Unknown Role
Second Sight
(1911)
Gertrude Edgar
The Fair Dentist
(1911)
Edith Morton - The Fair Dentist
For Her Brother's Sake
(1911)
Madge Spotwood
The Master and the Man
(1911)
Elsie Graham
Back to the Soil
(1911)
Sadie Allen
The Lighthouse Keeper
(1911)
Polly Berry - the Lighthouse Keeper's Daughter
In the Sultan's Garden
(1911)
Hadee
For the Queen's Honor
(1911)
Princess Gilda
A Gasoline Engagement
(1911)
Flora Powell
At a Quarter of Two
(1911)
Mrs Warren
Science
(1911)
Mrs. Crawford
The Call of the Song
(1911)
Amy Gordon
The Toss of a Coin
(1911)
Alice Barton - the Farmer's Daughter
The Skating Bug
(1911)
The Girl
'Tween Two Loves
(1911)
Grace
The Courting of Mary
(1911)
Mary
Love Heeds Not Showers
(1911)
Mary
Little Red Riding Hood
(1911)
Little Red Riding Hood
The Caddy's Dream
(1911)
Miss Kelsomine
The Rose's Story
(1911)
Unknown Role
The Better Way
(1911)
Lillian Garvey - a Salvation Army Lass
His Dress Shirt
(1911)
Mrs. Kirby
The Sentinel Asleep
(1911)
Unknown Role
How Mary Fixed it
(1911)
Mary
The Portrait
(1911)
Little Vera - the Model
Behind the Stockade
(1911)
Florence Williams
From the Bottom of the Sea
(1911)
Undetermined Role (unconfirmed)
The Temptress
(1911)
Lucille Allen
The Old Actor
(1912)
The Old Actor's Daughter
The New York Hat
(1912)
Mary Harding, the Daughter
So Near, Yet So Far
(1912)
The Young Woman
The Mender of Nets
(1912)
The Little Net-Mender
A Beast at Bay
(1912)
The Young Woman
The Narrow Road
(1912)
Mrs. Jim Holcomb
Friends
(1912)
Dora - the Orphan
The School Teacher and the Waif
(1912)
Nora, the Waif
A Pueblo Legend
(1912)
The Indian Girl
The Female of the Species
(1912)
The Miner's Wife's Sister
A Lodging for the Night
(1912)
The Mexican Girl
The Informer
(1912)
The Confederate Captain's Sweetheart
The One She Loved
(1912)
The Wife
A Feud in the Kentucky Hills
(1912)
The Daughter
My Baby
(1912)
The Wife
With the Enemy's Help
(1912)
Faro Kate
The Inner Circle
(1912)
The Rich Italian's Daughter
An Indian Summer
(1912)
The Widow's Daughter
Lena and the Geese
(1912)
Lena
Home Folks
(1912)
The Young Woman
Iola's Promise
(1912)
Iola
Just Like a Woman
(1912)
The Young Woman
Won by a Fish
(1912)
The Woman
Fate's Interception
(1912)
The Mexican Girl
Honor Thy Father
(1912)
Mary Fuller
A Timely Repentance
(1912)
Mrs. Nordell - Heroine of the Movie within the Movie, 'The Wife's Desertion'
In the Bishop's Carriage
(1913)
Nance Olden
Caprice
(1913)
Mercy Baxter
The Unwelcome Guest
(1913)
Jessie - the Slavey
Cinderella
(1914)
Cinderella
A Good Little Devil
(1914)
Juliet
Tess of the Storm Country
(1914)
Tessibel Skinner
Hearts Adrift
(1914)
Nina
Such a Little Queen
(1914)
Queen Anna Victoria
The Eagle's Mate
(1914)
Anemone Breckenridge
Behind the Scenes
(1914)
Dolly Lane
Madame Butterfly
(1915)
Cho-Cho-San
Fanchon, the Cricket
(1915)
Fanchon, the Cricket
Mistress Nell
(1915)
Nell Gwyn
The Dawn of a Tomorrow
(1915)
Glad
Little Pal
(1915)
'Little Pal'
A Girl of Yesterday
(1915)
Jane Stuart
Rags
(1915)
Rags / Alice McCloud
Esmeralda
(1915)
Esmeralda Rogers
The Foundling
(1915)
Molly O
Poor Little Peppina
(1916)
Peppina
The Eternal Grind
(1916)
Louise
Less Than the Dust
(1916)
Radha
The Foundling
(1916)
Molly O
Hulda from Holland
(1916)
Hulda
The Pride of the Clan
(1917)
Marget MacTavish
The Poor Little Rich Girl
(1917)
Gwen
A Little Princess
(1917)
Sara Crewe
A Romance of the Redwoods
(1917)
Jenny Lawrence
The Little American
(1917)
Angela Moore
Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm
(1917)
Rebecca Randall
All-Star Production of Patriotic Episodes for the Second Liberty Loan
(1917)
Stella Maris
(1918)
Miss Stella Maris / Unity Blake
Amarilly of Clothes-Line Alley
(1918)
Amarilly Jenkins
Johanna Enlists
(1918)
Johanna Renssaller
M'Liss
(1918)
Melissa 'M'liss' Smith
100% American
(1918)
Mayme
How Could You, Jean?
(1918)
Jean Mackaye
Cupid Angling
(1918)
Daddy-Long-Legs
(1919)
Judy Abbott
The Hoodlum
(1919)
Amy Burke
Heart o' the Hills
(1919)
Mavis Hawn
Captain Kidd, Jr.
(1919)
Mary MacTavish
Suds
(1920)
Amanda Afflick
Pollyanna
(1920)
Pollyanna Whittier
Through The Back Door
(1921)
Jeanne
The Love Light
(1921)
Angela Carlotti
Little Lord Fauntleroy
(1921)
Cedric Errol / Widow Errol
Tess of the Storm Country
(1922)
Tessibel 'Tess' Skinner
From Farm to Fame
(1922)
Mary Pickford
Rosita
(1923)
Rosita
Hollywood
(1923)
Mary Pickford
Dorothy Vernon of Haddon Hall
(1924)
Dorothy Vernon
Little Annie Rooney
(1925)
Annabelle 'Little Annie' Rooney
Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ
(1925)
Chariot Race Spectator (uncredited)
Sparrows
(1926)
Molly
The Black Pirate
(1926)
Princess Isobel in Final Embrace - Cameo Appearance (uncredited)
My Best Girl
(1927)
Maggie Johnson
A Kiss from Mary Pickford
(1927)
Self (archive footage)
One From Many
(1927)
Herself (archive footage)
The Gaucho
(1927)
The Virgin Mary
Coquette
(1929)
Norma Besant
The Taming of the Shrew
(1929)
Caterina
Screen Snapshots Series 10, No. 5
(1930)
Mary Pickford
Kiki
(1931)
Kiki
The House That Shadows Built
(1931)
(archive footage)
Hollywood on Parade No. A-4
(1932)
Self (uncredited)
Secrets
(1933)
Mary Marlowe / Mary Carlton
Hollywood on Parade No. B-5
(1933)
Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
Star Night at the Cocoanut Grove
(1934)
Self
Hollywood Hobbies
(1939)
Herself (uncredited)
Cavalcade of the Academy Awards
(1940)
Self (archive footage)
Hedda Hopper's Hollywood No. 2
(1941)
Hedda Hopper’s Hollywood No. 6
(1942)
Herself
Yesterday and Today
(1953)
(archive footage)
The Legend of Rudolph Valentino
(1961)
Self (archive footage)
Hollywood’s Children
(1982)
Self (archive footage)
What Do Those Old Films Mean?
(1985)
Herself(archive footage)
The Casting Couch
(1995)
(archive footage)
Star Power: The Creation Of United Artists
(1998)
Self / Various roles (archive footage)
Mary Pickford: A Life on Film
(2000)
Self / Numerous Roles (archive footage) (uncredited)
D.W. Griffith - Years of Discovery 1909-1913
(2002)
The Tramp and the Dictator
(2002)
Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
Chaplin Today: 'The Gold Rush'
(2003)
Self (archive footage)
Douglas Fairbanks: The Great Swashbuckler
(2005)
Self (archive footage)
Mary Pickford
(2005)
Self/Archival Footage
Why Be Good?: Sexuality & Censorship in Early Cinema
(2007)
Self (voice) (archive footage)
Mary Pickford: The Muse of the Movies
(2008)
Self (archive footage)
Sigrid Holmquist
(2010)
Sigrid Holmquist (archive footage)
Smash His Camera
(2010)
Self (archive footage)
Birth of the Tramp
(2013)
Self (archive footage)
The Women Who Run Hollywood
(2016)
Herself (archive footage)
Cinecittà Babilonia: Sex, Drugs and Black Shirts
(2017)
Self - Actress (archive footage)
Mary Pickford a Blessing and a Curse
(2023)
Self
Writing
The Day After
(1909)
Writer
The Awakening
(1909)
Screenplay
Madame Rex
(1911)
Writer
The Medallion
(1911)
Screenplay
Caught in the Act
(1911)
Screenplay
Lena and the Geese
(1912)
Screenplay
Hearts Adrift
(1914)
Writer
Garrison's Finish
(1923)
Writer
Little Annie Rooney
(1925)
Writer
Production
Poor Little Peppina
(1916)
Producer
Less Than the Dust
(1916)
Producer
A Little Princess
(1917)
Producer
The Little American
(1917)
Producer
Johanna Enlists
(1918)
Executive Producer
How Could You, Jean?
(1918)
Producer
Daddy-Long-Legs
(1919)
Producer
The Hoodlum
(1919)
Executive Producer
Suds
(1920)
Producer
Pollyanna
(1920)
Producer
Little Lord Fauntleroy
(1921)
Producer
The Love Light
(1921)
Producer
Through The Back Door
(1921)
Producer
Tess of the Storm Country
(1922)
Producer
Rosita
(1923)
Producer
Dorothy Vernon of Haddon Hall
(1924)
Producer
Little Annie Rooney
(1925)
Producer
Sparrows
(1926)
Producer
My Best Girl
(1927)
Producer
Coquette
(1929)
Producer
Secrets
(1933)
Executive Producer
One Rainy Afternoon
(1936)
Producer
The Gay Desperado
(1936)
Producer
Little Iodine
(1946)
Executive Producer
White Cradle Inn
(1947)
Producer
Stork Bites Man
(1947)
Producer
Sleep, My Love
(1948)
Producer
Love Happy
(1949)
Executive Producer
Directing