Trivia

One of the 36 founders of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS).

She had intended to have all of her films destroyed after her death, fearing that no one would care about them. She was convinced not to do this.

She was the first movie actress to receive a percentage of a film's earnings

First star (along with husband Douglas Fairbanks) to officially place hand and footprints in the cement at Grauman's Chinese Theatre (April 30, 1927). Hollywood legend has it that the very first star to do so, unofficially, thus inspiring the ensuing tradition, was Norma Talmadge when she accidentally walked onto the wet cement prior to the official opening of the Theatre

Was Joan Crawford's mother-in-law, while Crawford was married to Pickford's son, Douglas Fairbanks Jr..

She left her children $50,000 and her grandchildren trust funds.

When she presented producer Cecil B. DeMille with the Best Picture Oscar for The Greatest Show on Earth (1952) (March 19, 1953), not only was it the first time the Academy Awards ceremonies had ever been televised, it was also her very first television appearance.

Stage producer David Belasco gave Mary her stage name in 1908. Her real name, Gladys Marie Smith, was not right for an actress on his stage. "Gladys" did not suit the diminutive actress, "Smith" was too common, "Marie" was too foreign. "Marie" became "Mary". "Pickford" was her mother's maiden name. Years later, a huge fan who traced her family tree found that the name "Mary Pickford" occurred several times in her mother's family going back to the 12th century.

Was the subject of the first cinematic close up shot, in Friends (1912).

The house in which she lived in Hollywood for most of her life was nicknamed "Pickfair".

Her mansion Pickfair was sold ten months after her death for $5,362,000; later sold to Pia Zadora in January 1988 for just under $7 million.

Became a United States citizen on her marriage to Douglas Fairbanks, but later reclaimed her Canadian citizenship and died an American and Canadian citizen.

Formed United Artists company with Douglas Fairbanks, D.W. Griffith and Charles Chaplin. The first artist to have her name in marquee lights. The first international star.

When her mother Charlotte Smith died in 1928, she bequeathed $200,000 each in trust to her two younger children Jack Pickford and Lottie Pickford and to Lottie's daughter Gwynne. But she left the large bulk of her estate to her eldest daughter Mary Pickford of $1 million, because she recognized that Mary had sacrificed her childhood to become the family's breadwinner at age 5. Charlotte wrote in her will: "Whatever property I possess at the time of my death has come to me through my association with my beloved daughter in her business and through her most unusual generosity to me".

Had two adopted children with her third husband Charles 'Buddy' Rogers - a son named Ronald Charles Rogers (born 1937) and a daughter named Roxanne Rogers (born 1944 - died 2007 from osteoporosis).

She paid for her grandchildren to go to school, provided that they showed proof that they were registered.

Mary Pickford reveals in her autobiography, Sunshine and Shadow, that as a young girl living in Toronto she would buy a single rose and eat the petals, believing the beauty, color and perfume would somehow get inside her.

In the 1920s, when prominent Hollywood columnist Herbert Howe asked his banker for advice about Los Angeles real estate, the banker responded, "Go ask Mary Pickford. She knows more about local real estate than anybody I know".

Turned down the role of Norma Desmond in Sunset Boulevard (1950), which went to Gloria Swanson.

She was posthumously awarded a star on Canada's Walk of Fame in Toronto, Ontario in 1999.

Introduced Lillian Gish and Dorothy Gish to D.W. Griffith in 1912. The Gishes had lost contact with the Smith family, when, one day, Lillian and Dorothy went into a movie house to watch the latest flicker. When the girl in the Biograph film Lena and the Geese (1912) appeared on screen, Dorothy grabbed Lillian's hand and exclaimed, "That's Gladys Smith!". They did not know Gladys had changed her name and was now in films. They decided the next time they were in New York, they would go to the Biograph Studio to see their friend. When they did get to the studio, they asked to see Gladys Smith and were told no one by that name worked there. Dorothy spoke up, "But we saw her in 'Lena and the Geese'". The receptionist said, "Oh, you mean Little Mary". Mary was re-united with her friends, who then introduced the sisters to Griffith.

Son Ronnie has three children, daughter Jamie (born 1954), son Tommy (born 1955), and son Douglas Pickford (born 1966). Daughter Roxanne gave birth to a daughter, Katina, in the early 1960s.

She and husband Douglas Fairbanks were friends with Edsel Ford (son of Henry Ford) and his wife. In the Edsel and Eleanor Ford home at 1100 Lake Shore Road, Grosse Point Shores, Michigan there hangs in the study an autographed photo of her signed "Mary Pick-A-Ford", c. 1932.

In December 1910, she left the Biograph Company to work for Carl Laemmle at Independent Moving Picture Company for $175 a week.

She was posthumously awarded a Golden Palm Star on the Palm Springs Walk of Stars on November 16, 1993.

She became estranged from daughter Roxanne for a time when she, at age 18, ran off to marry a man her parents did not approve of.

The romance drama Coquette (1929) was her first talkie.

In October 1911, a court voided her contract with IMP because she was a minor when she signed it. As a result, she left IMP for the Majestic Company for $275/week.

Was the 2nd actress to receive an Academy Award; she won the Best Actress Oscar for Coquette (1929) at The 2nd Academy Awards on April 3, 1930.

Was named #24 on The American Film Institute 50 Greatest Screen Legends

Was the 1st of 3 consecutive Canadian actresses to win the Best Actress Oscar. The others were Norma Shearer and Marie Dressler.

Colonel Ralph J. Phaneuf and the soldiers the 143rd Field Artillery of Camp Kearny, California, officially made Mary their Honorary Colonel during World War I.

In same stage company as Lillian Gish and Dorothy Gish in the early 1900s.

Her likeness is included as part of the "Canadians in Hollywood" stamp series released by CanadaPost in 2006. The others in the series were Fay Wray, Lorne Greene and John Candy.

Her last silent movie was the romance comedy My Best Girl (1927).

One of her happiest memories as a child living in Toronto, Mary would rent a bicycle for ten cents and loved to ride up and coast down University Avenue. On her eighth birthday, her mother surprised her with a bicycle of her own.

Arguably the silent era's most renowned female star. Film historian Ethan Katz goes so far as to call her "the most popular star in screen history".

She started her film career at Biograph Company (American Mutoscope & Biograph) in 1909, when Biograph's director D.W. Griffith hired her. Her first film was Biograph's Pippa Passes; or, the Song of Conscience (1909), though she only was a face in the crowd. However, this launched her long and illustrious film career.

She was awarded a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6280 Hollywood Boulevard in Hollywood, California on February 8, 1960.

Founder/President of Mary Pickford Company, a production company formed in 1919, and the Mary Pickford Film Corporation, formed in 1916. The former produced films only for Pickford, the latter company produced non-Pickford films.

She died of complications from cerebral hemorrhage at Santa Monica Hospital, CA. Her third husband, Buddy, was at her bedside. Following her death, she was interred in the Garden of Memory at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Glendale, CA.

Was a founding member of The Society of Independent Motion Picture Producers (SIMPP).

She was first hired for the movies by director D.W. Griffith.

Was to have made her big-screen comeback as Vinnie in Life with Father (1947), but the role eventually went to Irene Dunne because of Dunne's box-office appeal.

Her first starring appearance in a film was in Her First Biscuits (1909) for Biograph Company.

Made her Broadway debut in "The Warrens of Virginia" on December 3, 1907. She was billed sixth in the role of Betty Warren. It was during pre-production of the play that she met Cecil B. DeMille, who was billed fourth as Arthur Warren, and his brother William C. de Mille, who wrote the play.

Had English and Irish ancestry.

Ernst Lubitsch came to America at Mary's invitation to direct Dorothy Vernon of Haddon Hall (1924), but when he arrived he had changed his mind and would not do it (it was eventually directed by Marshall Neilan). Instead, he and Mary made Rosita (1923) together.

Stepmother of Douglas Fairbanks Jr. and aunt of Alice Moore.

Singer Katie Melua wrote a song in homage to Pickford, with her name as the title, which was featured on her 2007 album "Pictures".