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