Here’s another first. I love Mary Pickford because she was a first.
Mary Pickford became one of Hollywood’s most powerful executives during its formative years. She entered acting at age six, first in Vaudeville and then in 1909 transitioned to film. Her popularity and shrewd business sense led to her record-setting salaries. In 1919, Pickford co-founded United Artists with Douglas Fairbanks, D.W. Griffith, and Charlie Chaplin to distribute films they produced, giving them artistic control and a large share of profits. Pickford spearheaded the founding of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and received the Best Actress Oscar in 1929.
Did you get all of those firsts? She was the first woman to co-found a movie studio, co-founded the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, and received the second Oscar ever for leading actress for her first film with sound. Most of her big accomplishments were made before she ever was in a “talkie.” That’s wild.
Mary Pickford was one of the earliest stars to be billed under her own name. Can you imagine a time when movies were only known in print or trailers as the title and the tagline? I can’t. Except for Jaws. She appeared in 51 films in 1909 – almost one a week. 51! Pickford starred in 52 features (full-length) throughout her career. On June 24, 1916, Pickford signed a new contract with Adolph Zukor that granted her full authority over production of the films in which she starred, and a record-breaking salary of $10,000 a week. In addition, Pickford’s compensation was half of a film’s profits, with a guarantee of $1,040,000 (US$18,720,000 in 2022), making her the first actress to sign a million-dollar contract. She also became vice-president of Pickford Film Corporation. Over a million dollars in 1916. Just for an idea of how much money that was in 1916, The Crane-Simplex, the most expensive car you could buy at that time was $10,000.
Mary was married three times, once to United Artists co-founder, Douglas Fairbanks, and had two children. Sadly, she became an alcoholic and a recluse, but lived to be 87. In 1976, she received an Academy Honorary Award for her contribution to American film. An extraordinary contribution to film . I would be hard-pressed to think of a woman contributing more to American film than Mary Pickford.
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