April 8 – Happy Birthday, Mary Pickford

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nWe may think of her as Mary Pickford, “America’s Sweetheart” and “the Girl with the Curls,” but she was born on this date in 1892 in Canada and named Gladys Louise Smith. 
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nThis star grew up in a theatre family. Her mother and two siblings toured the U.S., traveling by railroad, acting in plays that were not all that wonderful, and not earning a whole lot while doing so. 
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nPickford was tired of the poverty, but she gave herself just one more summer tour in the hopes that she would land a good part and “make it big.”
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nAnd guess what? She and her family did end up in a fairly good Broadway play. This was the point at which Gladys Smith took on the stage name Mary Pickford.
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nAfter that play ended its run, Pickford was again looking for work, and she was given a screen test for a film. Pickford realized: This. Is. It! 
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nShe felt that acting in movies would be better and more “her thing” than stage acting, which at the time was very stylized.
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nThe screen test was with Biograph Company director D. W. Griffith, and he thought about Pickford: This. Is. It!
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nHe thought she had star quality, and although other actors in his company worked for $5 a day, he started her at $10 a day!
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nPickford wasn’t an immediate star with only leading roles, though. She played the lead at times – but at other times she eagerly played women of all nationalities and occupations. She played mothers and young single ladies – she played secretaries and scrubwomen and charwomen – she got into as many movies as possible.
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nHow many movies do you suppose that would be?
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nIn 1909, it was 51 movies! Almost ONE A WEEK!!!
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nAll of this was in New York, but with cold weather during the winter, Biograph and other studios went west, to Southern California, for the winter. There they could shoot more days – less rain, no snow, more sunlight. 
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nAlso, at the time, actors’ names were not listed in movie credits! (Can you believe it?) But audiences picked out Pickford (see what I did there?) because of her “golden curls,” and she became more known and popular than most actors. 
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nIt wasn’t too long before her name, at least, did appear on screen. And she got the nickname “Queen of the Movies”!
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nWith that start in the movie biz, Pickford was able to became a writer, director, and producer as well as an actor. She co-founded the film studio United Artists, and she was one of the 36 founders of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
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nIt’s nice to know that a woman got to have that much power and influence in the earliest days of the movies!

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nBuddha Day

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• nApril holidays

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• nApril birthdays

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• nHistorical anniversaries in April

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• nMay holidays

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• nMay birthdays

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• nHistorical anniversaries in May

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