|
Mary Pickford (April 8, 1892 – May 29, 1979) was a Canadian-American motion picture actress, co-founder of the film studio United Artists and one of the original 36 founders of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.〔Obituary ''Variety'', May 30, 1979.〕 Known as "America's Sweetheart", "Little Mary" 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. Pickford was one of the earliest stars to be billed under her name (rather than unbilled), and was one of the most popular actresses of the 10s and 20s, earning the nickname "Queen of the Movies". Pickford was awarded the second Academy Award for Best Actress for her first sound film role and also received an honorary Academy Award in 1976. In consideration of her contributions to American cinema, the American Film Institute ranked Pickford as 24th in its 1999 list of greatest female stars of classic Hollywood Cinema. ==Early life== Mary Pickford was born Gladys Louise Smith in 1892 at 211 University Avenue, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.〔 Her father, John Charles Smith, was the son of English Methodist immigrants, and worked a variety of odd jobs. Her mother, Charlotte Hennessey, was of Irish Catholic descent and worked for a time as a seamstress. She had two younger siblings, Charlotte, called "Lottie" (born 1893), and John Charles, called "Jack" (born 1896), who also became actors. To please her husband's relatives, Pickford's mother baptized her children as Methodists, the faith of their father. John Charles Smith was an alcoholic; he abandoned the family and died on February 11, 1898, from a fatal blood clot caused by a workplace accident when he was a purser with Niagara Steamship.〔 When Gladys was age four, her household was under infectious quarantine, a public health measure. Her mother asked a visiting priest to baptize the children as Catholic. Pickford was at this time baptized "Gladys Marie Pickford" - Marie for her mother. Their devoutly Catholic maternal grandmother (Catherine Faeley Hennessey) approved the baptism.〔(Gladys Smith (Mary Pickford) was baptized in the Catholic faith at the age of four at her home by a visiting priest ), books.google.com; accessed May 19, 2014.〕 As an adult she attended St. Mary of the Angels Anglican Church in Hollywood, California. Charlotte Hennessey Smith began taking in boarders after being widowed. One of these was a theatrical stage manager. At his suggestion, Gladys (age 7) was given two small roles, one as a boy and the other as a girl,〔 in a stock company production of ''The Silver King'' at Toronto's Princess Theatre. She subsequently acted in many melodramas with Toronto's Valentine Company, finally playing the major child role in their version of ''The Silver King''. She capped her short career in Toronto with the starring role of Little Eva in their production of ''Uncle Tom's Cabin,'' adapted from the 1852 novel by American writer and abolitionist Harriet Beecher Stowe.〔 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「Mary Pickford」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
|