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Jack Pickford (born John Charles Smith) (August 18, 1896 – January 3, 1933) was a Canadian-born American actor, film director and producer. He was the younger brother of early film star Mary Pickford, born Gladys Smith. After their father deserted the family, all three Pickford children had to take work as child actors. When Gladys broke into films, she was asked to take the name Mary Pickford. Jack also changed his last name and went to Hollywood with her, but was never in her league. When she signed her first $1 million contract, he was mostly playing the boy-next-door in B-films. Some claimed that he had great talent, but suffered from living in her shadow. He became alcoholic and also abused drugs, as well as developing syphilis. All of this ruled out any chance of career success, and his three marriages to showgirls all ended in failure. Pickford died in Paris of progressive multiple neuritis, aged thirty-six. ==Early life== He was born John Charles Smith in 1896 in Toronto, Ontario, to John Charles Smith, an English immigrant, and Charlotte Hennessy Smith, who was Irish Catholic. He was called Jack as a child. His alcoholic father left the family while Pickford was a young child. This incident left the family impoverished. Out of desperation, Charlotte allowed Jack and his two sisters Gladys and Lottie to appear onstage, beginning with Gladys, the eldest. This proved a good source of income and, by 1900, the family had relocated to New York City and the children were acting in plays across the United States. Due to the work the family was constantly separated until 1910 when Gladys signed with Biograph Studios. By that time his sister 'Gladys Smith' had been transformed into Mary Pickford (Marie was her middle name, and Pickford an old family name). Following suit, the Smiths changed their stage names to 'Pickford'. Soon after signing with Biograph, Mary secured jobs for all the family, including the then-fourteen-year-old Jack. When the Biograph Company headed West to Hollywood, only Mary was to go, until Jack pleaded to join the company as well. Much to Mary's protest, Charlotte threw him on the train as it left the station. The company arrived in Hollywood, where Jack acted in bit parts during the stay. Mary soon became a well-known star, and by 1917 had signed a contract for $1 million with First National Pictures. As part of her contract, Mary saw to it that her family was brought along, giving the now-named "Jack Pickford" a lucrative contract with the company as well. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Jack Pickford」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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