Mary Pickford

Gladys Marie Smith April 8 1894 May 29 1979 known professionally as Mary Pickford was a Canadian actress resident in the US and also producer screenwriter and film studio founder who was a pioneer in the US film industry with a Hollywood career that spanned five decades Pickford alongside her future husband actorproducer Douglas Fairbanks founded PickfordFairbanks Studios and United Artists and was one of the 36 founders of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Pickford is considered to be one of the most recognisable women in history Known as Americas Sweetheart during the silent film era she is named on the list of the AFIs 100 Years100 Stars as the 24thtop female star from the Classical Hollywood Cinema era and the girl with the curls Pickford was one of the Canadian pioneers in early Hollywood and a significant figure in the development of film acting She was one of the earliest stars to be billed under her own name and was one of the most popular actresses of the 1910s and 1920s earning the nickname Queen of the Movies She is credited with having defined the ingénue type in cinema She was awarded the second Academy Award for Best Actress for her first sound film role in Coquette 1929 By the late 1920s Pickfords career went into decline She received an Academy Honorary Award in 1976 in consideration of her contributions to American cinema