Timeline of Mary Pickford

Mary Pickford (1892–1979) was a Canadian motion picture actress, producer, and writer. During the silent film era she became one of the first great celebrities of the cinema and a popular icon known to the public as "America's Sweetheart".[1]

Mary Pickford in 1916

Pickford was born Gladys Marie Smith in Toronto and began acting on stage in 1900. She started her film career in the United States in 1909.[2] Initially with the Biograph film company, she moved to the Independent Motion Picture Company (IMP) in 1911, then briefly to the Majestic Film Company later that same year, followed by a return to Biograph in 1912.[3] After appearing in over 150 short films during her years with these studios she began working in features with Adolph Zukor's Famous Players Film Company, a studio which eventually became part of Paramount Pictures. By 1916 Pickford's popularity had climbed to the point that she was awarded a contract that made her a partner with Zukor and allowed her to produce her films.[4] In 1919 Pickford teamed with D.W. Griffith, Charlie Chaplin, and Douglas Fairbanks to create United Artists, an organization designed to distribute their films.[5] She married Fairbanks in 1920. Following the release of Secrets (1933), Pickford retired from acting in motion pictures, but remained active as a producer for several years afterward.[6] She sold her stock in United Artists in 1956.[7]

The timeline offered here presents significant events in Mary Pickford's life and juxtaposes them against notable events in the history and development of cinema. More emphasis is placed on the silent era, when she was most active, with particular attention to her three United Artists partners. Also presented are notable events that occurred in the United States.

Timeline

Before 1891

YearPickfordCinemaUnited States
1852
1863
  • January 26 – The stage play of East Lynne by Clifton W. Tayleure premieres[9]
1869
  • April 8 – John Charles Smith, Mary Pickford's father, is born in Canada[10]
1872
1875
1878
  • February 19 – The phonograph is patented by Thomas Edison[15]
1883
1888
1889
1890
  • John Smith and Charlotte Hennesey marry [date uncertain]

1891–1900

YearPickfordCinemaUnited States
1891
  • August – Thomas Edison files for a patent for the Kinetoscope, a motion picture camera (which he receives in 1897)[20]
1892
  • April 8 – Gladys Marie Smith (later known as Mary Pickford) is born at 211 University Avenue in Toronto, Ontario, Canada[21][nb 1]
  • Development of the Kinetoscope is completed[22]
1893
1894
1895
  • John Smith leaves his wife and children[26]
1896
  • August 18 – Mary's brother, John Charles Smith, Jr (Jack Pickford), is born in Toronto[24]
  • Gladys becomes seriously ill with diphtheria, is baptized by a Catholic priest and has her middle name changed to "Marie"[24]
1897
  • c. August – While working for the Niagara Steam Company, John Charles Smith suffers a serious injury when he hits his head on a dangling pulley[31][nb 2]
1898
  • February 15 – The USS Maine (pictured) is sunk in Havana Harbor after suffering a massive explosion[33]
  • April 25 – The United States declares war on Spain[33]
  • August 13 – The Spanish-American war ends[33]
1899
  • Late in the year, to make extra money, Charlotte rents a room to the manager of the Cummings Stock Company of Toronto, who suggests that Gladys and Lottie be cast in a play[24]
  • November 21 – Garret Hobart, Vice-President of the United States, dies of heart disease[34]
1900
  • January 8 – "Baby Gladys Smith" makes her stage debut at Toronto's Princess Theatre playing in The Silver King[24]
  • April 9 – Baby Gladys begins touring in the play The Littlest Girl[35]

1901–1910

YearPickfordCinemaUnited States
1901
  • January 29 – Gladys begins a run in the play Bottle's Baby[37]
  • April 1 – Gladys appears in the play The Little Red School House[37]
  • April 8 – Gladys' ninth birthday; she begins performing as Little Eva in a production of Uncle Tom's Cabin[38]
  • May – Gladys appears in a production of East Lynne[39]
1902
  • From this year until 1906 Gladys, Charlotte, Jack, and Lottie tour in numerous plays. Among the ones Mary appears in are Wedded But No Wife, The Gypsy Girl, For a Human Life, The Convict Stripes, and, for nineteen weeks, The Fatal Wedding[41]
  • August 22 – Theodore Roosevelt becomes the first sitting president to take a public car ride[44]
1903
1904
  • Gladys tours in the play Wedded But No Wife[41]
1905
  • The Smith family becomes acquainted with fellow stage actors Lillian and Dorothy Gish and their mother, Mary, when both families share a room in Manhattan one summer
  • Gladys tours in the play The Gypsy Girl
  • October 2–28 – Gladys, Jack, and Lottie appear in the play Edmund Burke starring Chauncey Olcott (pictured) at the Majestic Theatre in New York
1906
  • May – Edmund Burke closes; Gladys tours in a production of Wedded But No Wife[51]
1907
  • Gladys tours in For a Human Life[55]
  • At the suggestion of theatrical producer David Belasco, Gladys Smith becomes Mary Pickford; Charlotte, Lottie, and Jack take the name of Pickford as well[56][24]
1908
  • May 16 – The Warrens of Virginia ends its first run[62]
  • September 28 – The Warrens of Virginia begins a second season[62]
1909
  • March 20 – The Warrens of Virginia ends its run; with no more stage work scheduled, Charlotte suggests that Mary try entering the motion picture industry[66]
  • April — Mary successfully auditions for director D. W. Griffith at the Biography Film Studio in New York City; she signs with him for a salary of $10.00 per day; later on she helps her mother and siblings to become employed with Biograph[66][24]
  • April 20 – Mary's first day working for Griffith; she appears as an extra in Her First Biscuits; she meets Owen Moore[24][67][nb 4]
  • May 24 – Release of Two Memories, the first released film featuring Mary[69]
  • June 7 – Release of The Violin Maker of Cremona with Mary co-starring with Owen Moore[70]
  • July 15 – Release of They Would Elope[71]
  • August 21 – A review in the New York Dramatic Mirror writes of They Would Elope: "This delicious little comedy introduced again an ingénue whose work in Biograph pictures is attracting attention"[24]
  • August 23 – Release of The Indian Runner's Romance, a western with Mary as a Native American[72]
1910
  • January – Mary travels to Southern California with the Biograph Company, where they will film through the winter; during this time, Florence Lawrence (pictured), known as "The Biograph Girl" moves to Carl Laemmle's IMP Company, and Mary Pickford becomes the new "Biograph Girl"[77]
  • October 11 – Theodore Roosevelt, former President of the United States, becomes the first U.S. President to fly in an airplane[78]
  • March 10 – IMP announces: WE NAIL A LIE, refuting a story published in the Motion Picture World that Florence Lawrence had been killed in a car accident; IMP stated that the story was false and that Lawrence was "in the best of health"[81]

1911–1915

YearPickfordCinemaUnited States
1911
1912
  • January – After filming five short films with Majestic, Mary returns to the Biograph Company with a reduced salary of $175 per week[87][nb 8]
  • June 17 – Release of Lena and the Geese, a film based on a short story written by Mary[88]
  • Summer – After seeing Mary on-screen in Lena and the Geese, Lillian and Dorothy Gish come to Biograph where Mary introduces them to D. W. Griffith, who hires them both[89]
  • December 5 — Release of The New York Hat, the final film Mary made for Biograph and D. W. Griffith[90][nb 9]
  • December – Mary leaves Biograph and Griffith when David Belasco casts in his new stage production, A Good Little Devil[91]
  • April 14–15 – On route to New York, the ocean liner RMS Titanic strikes an iceberg and sinks with a loss of 1,514 lives[94]
1913
1914
1915
  • November – Mary attends a party at the home of friend Elsie Janis in Tarrytown, NY where she meets Douglas Fairbanks (pictured); both are married and at the party with their spouses, but the two strike a friendship[133]

1916–1920

YearPickfordCinemaUnited States
1916
  • January 3 – Release of The Foundling[136]
  • February 20 – Release of Poor Little Peppina[137]
  • March 10 – Lottie Pickford gives birth to a daughter, Mary Pickford Rupp[138]
  • April 17 – Release of The Eternal Grind[139]
  • May – Mary and Adolph Zukor renegotiate her salary again, settling on $10,000 a week and giving her the power to choose her own projects, writers and directors, releasing films under the Artcraft name[24]
  • July 31 – Release of Hulda from Holland[140]
  • August – Mary Pickford Film Corporation is formed and will produce only Pickford films to be distributed by the Artcraft division at Famous Players–Lasky[24]
  • December – Mary and Douglas Fairbanks share an emotional drive through Central Park after Fairbanks' mother dies, and the two begin their love affair; shortly afterward, Mary moves permanently to Los Angeles[24]
1917
1918
  • October 22 – Beth Fairbanks, the wife of Douglas Fairbanks, files for divorce on grounds of infidelity, without naming a correspondent[168]
1919
1920
  • March 2 – Mary travels with her mother, Charlotte, to Nevada to obtain a divorce from Owen Moore on grounds of desertion[184]
  • March 28 – Mary and Douglas Fairbanks marry in an intimate ceremony at the Glendale, California, home of Reverend J. Whitcomb Brougher; they move into a converted hunting lodge in Beverly Hills owned by Fairbanks, later to be dubbed "Pickfair"[185]
  • June–July – Mary and Doug honeymoon in Europe, visit London and Paris where they are swarmed by fans[186]
  • June 27 – Release of Suds[187]
  • September 10 – Olive Thomas, the wife of Jack Pickford, dies in Paris of mercurial poisoning[188]
  • Lottie Pickford and her husband, Alfred Rupp, are divorced; Lottie relinquishes custody of her daughter, Mary Pickford Rupp (later known as Gwynne), to her mother, Charlotte[189]

1921–1925

YearPickfordCinemaUnited States
1921
1922
  • Mary and Doug open the Pickford-Fairbanks Studio at Santa Monica Blvd and Formosa Ave in Hollywood (pictured)[24]
  • Mary considers making a film version of Faust with Doug co-starring and Ernst Lubitsch directed; however this is abandoned[210][nb 19]
1923
  • January 15 – Release of Garrison's Finish starring Jack Pickford; Mary was involved in the film's production[198][221]
  • August 19 – Release of Hollywood, which features cameo appearances by numerous film stars, including Mary, Doug, and Charlie Chaplin[226][nb 20]
1924
1925

1926–1930

YearPickfordCinemaUnited States
1926
  • February – Charlotte undergoes surgery for a breast tumor[252]
  • September 3 - Mary, Doug, Gwynne, and Charlotte return home due to Charlotte's illness, thus forcing them to abandon plans to go to China[24]
1927
  • April 30 – Mary and Doug become the first stars to imprint their hands and feet in cement in the forecourt of Grauman's Chinese Theater in Hollywood[260]
  • May 11 – Mary and Doug are among 36 founders of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, and Doug is elected its first president[261]
  • November 2 – Jack Pickford and Marilyn Miller are divorced[272]
1928
  • June 21 – Mary makes the front page of the New York Times and shocks the world by cropping her signature curls into a short bob[278]
1929
  • April 12 – Release of Coquette, Mary's first sound feature[282]
  • September – Mary and Doug embark on a "world tour," visiting London, Paris, Switzerland, Egypt, China, and Japan, returning to the US via San Francisco on the Asama Maru[24]
  • October 26 – Release of The Taming of the Shrew with Mary and Doug co-starring[288]
1930
  • January – Mary and Doug return home[24]
  • December 2 – President Herbert Hoover goes before Congress and asks for a $150 million public works program to help generate jobs and stimulate the economy[289]

1931–1940

YearPickfordCinemaUnited States
1931
1932
1933
  • January 3 – Jack Pickford, age 36, dies in Paris due to health problems relating to alcoholism[315]
  • March 15 – Release of Secrets, Mary's final film as an actress
  • May – Mary plans with Walt Disney to star in Alice in Wonderland; the project is eventually abandoned[316][nb 24]
  • July 2 – Louella Parsons makes the front pages of newspapers around the country by printing the news that Mary and Doug are separating[323]
  • December 8 – Mary sues Doug for divorce[324]
1934
  • August – Publication of the novel The Demi-Widow by Mary and Belle Burns Gromer[327]
  • November – Publication of the booklet Why Not Try God? where Mary touts Christian Science[328]
1935
  • January 10 – Mary obtains a provisional divorce degree which allows her to keep Pickfair[327]
  • Mary writes another booklet for the Christian Science church entitled My Rendezvous With Life[334]
  • September – Mary partners with Jesse L. Lasky to form Pickford-Lasky Productions[335]
1936
1937

June 24 – Mary marries actor and bandleader Charles "Buddy" Rogers[352]

1938
  • Mary develops Mary Pickford Cosmetics, a range of make-up products designed to be affordable to the masses[359]
1939
  • September 6 – Mary travels to Norfolk, Virginia, to visit her husband, Buddy Rogers, who had fallen ill while touring with his band[366]
1940
  • Mary contemplates having a film biography made of her life with Shirley Temple starring; the project never materializes[374]

1941–1950

YearPickfordCinemaUnited States
1941
1942
1943
  • May 2 – Mary and Buddy adopt a son, Ronald Charles Pickford Rogers[393]
1944
1945
  • Mary launches Comet Pictures with her husband, Charles "Buddy" Rogers, and Columbia Pictures's Ralph Cohn[401]
1946
1947
1948
  • February 18 – Release of Sleep, My Love, directed by Douglas Sirk and produced by Mary, her husband, Buddy, and Ralph Cohn[415]
  • The British film White Cradle Inn is bought by Mary for release in the United States by United Artists under the title High Fury[198]
1949
  • Mary, Buddy, and Malcolm Boyd form PRB (Pickford-Rogers-Boyd), a radio and television production company based in New York City[419]
  • October 12 – Premiere of Love Happy starring the Marx Brothers; the final film produced by Mary Pickford[420][421]
  • Mary's painting, "Flowers", debuts at a "famous amateurs" show in New York.[422]
1950

1951–1979

YearPickfordCinemaUnited States
1951
  • February – Mary and Charlie Chaplin hand over the reins of United Artists Corporation to lawyers[420]
1952
1953
1954
  • March–June – Mary's own version of her life story is published serially in issues of McCall's magazine; these articles will serve as the basis for Sunshine and Shadow, her autobiography published in 1955[438]
1955
1956
  • February – Mary sells her shares in United Artists for $3 million, marking the departure of the last original founder from the company[448]
  • Mary establishes the Mary Pickford Charitable Trust, which will later be renamed the Mary Pickford Foundation[24]
1958
1961
1963
1965
1971
  • May – LACMA sponsors a worldwide celebration of Mary's body of work, with simultaneous screenings of her films in cities across the globe[461]
1973
1976
1977
  • December 25 – Charlie Chaplin dies at his home, Manoir de Ban, in Riviera-Pays-d'Enhaut District, Vaud, Switzerland[469]
1979

1980–present

Afterwards

References

Notes

Footnotes

Bibliography

Website

  • Neely, Hugh Munro (2008). "Mary Pickford, Filmmaker". The Mary Pickford Institute for Film Eductation. Retrieved December 4, 2009.

Books