Monday Vintage Muse: Mary Pickford

Mary Pickford born in 1892 in Canada has a long resume under her name. She starting acting on Broadway in 1907 with a supporting role in The Warrens of Virginia along side Cecil N DeMille. She went on to be one of the most famous silent film actress, co-founder of the film studio United Artists as well as one of the original 36 founders of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. She was the first canadian actress to make it big in Hollywood and paved the way for all actresses to demand more in their contracts. Because of her contributions to the film industry AFI named her on their list of great female stars of all time.


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She stared in 52 feature films throughout her career and landed unprecedented contracts with film companies. The arrival of sound in the motion picture business was the start to the end of her career. Her reaction to the talkies was less than welcoming stating that, claiming that "adding sound to movies would be like putting lipstick on the Venus de Milo". After she retired from acting she continued to work producing films for her company United Artists with partner Charlie Chaplin.


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Mary had a troubled life later on with the deaths of her close family members and struggles with alcoholism. She died in 1979 in Santa Monica but left a large legacy behind her. There are many facilities in Los Angeles named after Pickford including The Pickford Center for Motion Picture Study, The Mary Pickford Theater at the Library of Congress, to name a few.


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