ABSTRACT
Actor, producer, writer, and philanthropist Mary Pickford, America's first Sweetheart, was born in Toronto, Canada, as Gladys Louise Smith in 1892 into a poor, female-headed household. A child performer on the North American stage, Pickford transitioned in 1909 to film, where she triumphed as a silent film performer and producer, a savvy business executive, and an international cultural icon as the US film industry and nation came of age. Beginning as an impoverished child actor on the popular stage, she found fame and fortune in the silent film industry and helped to decisively shape the craft and business of film across three pivotal decades from 1909 to 1933—and beyond. Pickford personified the classic myth of the self-made American—hard working, noble, humble, yet also exceptional. During both world wars, Pickford became a symbol of American womanhood worth fighting for.
