Episode 101: Mary Pickford-Silver Screen Powerhouse

Profiles in Positivity!

This Week’s Profile- Mary Pickford

Smart, pretty and enterprising, Gladys Smith created an extraordinary life from nothing by hard work and utilizing her own gifts of talent and resourcefulness.

By the time she was in her 20's, she had become Mary Pickford, Hollywood legend and first real movie star. She had also created unimaginable wealth - a millionaire at 24 and headed her own production company.

Where we start out in life has little to do with where we end up!

#WomenEmpowerment, #WomenSupportingWomen,#WomenOver40, #FemaleEntrepreneur, #PerimenopausalWomen

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See You Next Week!

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:51

If you ever feel frustrated that you're not quite where you're at in life where you'd like to be, I find it encouraging to listen to stories about people who made it and they came from very difficult circumstances. Our featured person of the week did just that. If you are a Hollywood history aficionado or a film buff, you'll recognize her name, which is Mary Pickford. Now, most of us, uh if we're not up on Hollywood history, we probably wouldn't know who that was, but she was actually the very first movie star. So who was she? Well, she was born. Uh I am using Wikipedia, and that's a picture of Mary Pickford. Uh as you know, I like Wikipedia. I don't get, I have no affiliation to them, but I do use them and I appreciate uh the information. And also, of course, YouTube. When you I use YouTube because I can listen to them as I'm working or doing things, and I get some great entertainment and some facts that uh and history that is very fascinating. So back to Mary Pickford. She was born Gladys Marie Smith in 1892. Um, she had a younger brother and sister eventually, and her parents didn't have very much, and she was born in Toronto, Canada. She ended up passing away at 87 years old in Santa Monica, California. She ended up becoming what was called the queen of the movies. She was one of the most recognizable women in the entire world at one point, and she was called America's sweetheart. And this was the time of silent films, and she was one of the fortunates when talkies came into existence. Uh, there were many actors and actresses that did not make the transition. Apparently, the public had trouble accepting their voice. They couldn't connect the voice with the image that they saw on the screen. Well, Mary Pickford was very fortunate because apparently her voice to the masses did match her body. Uh, in 1919, she co-founded United Artists. That sounds familiar, along with Charlie Chaplin, Douglas Fairbanks, who was her husband at the time, and D.W. Griffith, because many actors uh were uh basically owned by the different um movie houses like Paramount MGM, and uh the contracts were pretty merciless, and they she didn't like that, so she decided to create her own entity, and the fact that you know and I know the name of it today is really something because that was over a hundred years ago, so there. So she became the first uh Hollywood millionaire by 1916 and had a Hollywood career that spanned over five decades. So, what was her deal? What went on? Well, her dad passed away in Toronto, Canada, which was their home when she was five. Sadly, their entire household eventually was plagued with alcoholism. Uh, when Mary was five and her dad passed away, her mother was not emotionally sound. And eventually, I guess at that time, or soon there following, she had uh two siblings. She decided at five that she would take care of the family. That's a lot. That's a lot for anyone, especially for your little girl of five. She did not return to school after her dad died. Uh, her mother did take in boarders uh for income, and one of those boarders was a Mr. Murphy who was a theatrical stage manager, and he encouraged um her mom for income to let the kids go and be performers, actors in the theater. And Mary Pickford at the time was seven, and her siblings uh were six and five. Anyway, young, very young. But it worked, and the good news was they moved eventually from Toronto to New York City, and she started acting and she really caught on. Pardon me. The masses liked her, and uh, she started gaining notoriety. At the time, though, you were a part of an acting troupe. You were not uh set aside like now up on a marquee, you have your name and starring, and they didn't do that initially because the uh theater group wanted all of the money for themselves and to feed you little tiny bits of money. But she wised up, even though they uh hid her fan mail for quite some time, she figured it out and she began to leverage her paycheck and say, look, they're coming to see me. And uh they acquiesced and started paying her more. In 1909, which I wrote down, I did my big math, she was 17 at this point. She starred in 51 films. 51 films in 1909. So, yes, that means almost a movie a week. So girlfriend was working, nobody was handing her anything. She was working, so eventually her family that had moved from Toronto to New York City, they ended up moving from New York City to California, and this is where really things really took off for her. She at 24 years old became the first uh Hollywood millionaire. She was making at the time in today's money, $23 million. The average worker, to give you a frame of reference, the average worker in the LA area, Hollywood area, was making about $20,000 a year. So $23 million is pretty darn good for an uneducated young woman. That was spectacular. And for her, one uh side note is that as she created more of her own company, she produced movies, and she had a real gift for understanding what the public wanted. And so she made movie after movie after movie, and this time she was able to pocket uh much, not all, but much of the fee, the monies coming in for herself, and she helped others to create their films. She starred in 52 features over her life. In the 1920s, she married the current heartthrob of the day, which you can think of maybe like a Brad Pitt, Douglas Fairbanks. And during their 10-year marriage, uh, it was also uh in the 1920s, the Roaring 20s, they had a legendary estate, which was an 18-acre estate in uh Beverly Hills, and they called it the Western White House because so many politicians and illuminaries and celebrities at the time came to their house, and uh they had parties and their presidents came and other movie stars, and it was the place to be, and they called it Pickfair, which was an amalgamation of Pickford, Mary Pickford, and Douglas Fairbanks. So it was fun, a lot happened, and uh it was a thing of legend. And again, showing the creativity and the um desire to do more, be more, and contribute more. Uh she was responsible for putting together what we know as United Artists. She did that with her then husband, Douglas Fairbanks, and legend Charlie Chaplin and D.W. Griffin. And today United Artists is still functioning. She ended up being able to control uh many assets. She wisely invested in property, and the largely in the area we we know today as Beverly Hills. So in her later years, as her fame faded and things changed for her, of course, physically, she had revenue from her property. And I mention that because it seems like in many biographies, people who are enormously wealthy and money was coming in, and there was fame and celebrity, uh, they kind of forget that this can die, go away. So they end up with nothing. And there were many actors uh who ended up doing that, and she established a home for retired actors because many were found on the streets and really suffering. So we can see that yes, she was interested in furthering her interest and being comfortable, but she also showed true interest in helping others, and she did it in a very generous way. So, Mary Pickford, first real movie star and movie mogul, concerned about herself, but also helped others, and she came essentially from nothing. And at the ripe old age of five years old, she became the head of the house. That's a lot. So, my friend, Red Skelton says from our hey, that's funny file. All men make mistakes, but married men find out about them sooner. Okay, okay. Yes, we can help our honey figure out where he could use a little improvement. So it was great to be with you again here on the podcast. Remember, your dreams are not that far away. It won't be easy. Nothing good is really easy. In fact, that's why we get so much satisfaction when we do bring into fruition something that we've been thinking and working at. So um remember that you are worth your dream. That's true. So enjoy your week. Thank you for joining me. I will look forward to being with you again in a few days. Take care now.