Mary Beckford was born on April 8, 1892 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, and was originally known as Gladys Louise Smith. The father was John Charles Smith and the mother was Charlotte Smith. In 1896, when Gladys was suffering from severe diphtheria, she was baptized by a Catholic priest who changed her middle name to "Mary" (Mary).
On February 11, 1898, John Smith died of a brain hemorrhage at work. In 1899, to make more money, Charlotte rented a room for the manager of the Cummings Stock Company in Toronto, where he suggested gladis and Lottie to perform in the play.
On January 8, 1900, Gladys made her debut at the Theatre in Toronto. She played two roles in The Silver King, a female character with the title "Big Girl" and a boy named Ned. In November 1901, Gladys, her mother Charlotte, her younger brother Jack, and her sister Lottie began touring the play. In 1905, the Smiths became acquainted with stage actors Lillian Gisch, Dorothy Gisch, and their mother, Mary. During the summer show in Manhattan, the two families shared a room.
In 1907, at the suggestion of producer David Velascu, Gladys Smith changed her name to "Mary Bikofour". The new name was inspired by her middle name, Mary, and her maternal grandfather's name, John Bickford Hennessy. Charlotte, Lottie, and Jack also changed their names to Beckford, and on December 3, Mary starred in William De Miller's play The Wallen Family in Virginia at the Velasco Theatre on Broadway.
In March 1909, after starring in a play, the Bickerford family found themselves unemployed, and Charlotte advised Mary to find a job in the film industry.
On April 20, 1909, Mary starred in her first film, starring as a ten-year-old girl in the short film Her First Cookie, directed by David Griffiths, and then signed a contract with The Bevergrav Film Company for $10 a day and met her future husband, the actor Owen Moore; on April 24, Mary won her first lead role, starring in the Beavergraf Film Company's short film Cremona's Violin Maker, playing Jenina.
In January 1910, Mary and the Bevergrave Film Company went to southern California to shoot films. During this time, Florence Lawrence, known as the "Bevergrave Girl", moved to Carl Ramler's American Independent Film Company, and Mary Beckford became the new "Bevergrave Girl"; in December, Mary left David Griffith to sign to the American Independent Film Company for a weekly salary of $175.
In January 1911, he starred in the first short film "Their First Misunderstanding" after signing with Irving Moore. Soon after, the company moved to Palacio del Canedo, just outside Havana, Cuba; in September, after returning to New York from Cuba, Mary terminated her contract with the American Independent Film Company and signed a contract with Grand Company for $225 a week.
In January 1912, After shooting some short films at The Grand and Selig, Mary returned to the Bevergraaf Film Company; in the summer, after seeing their old friend on screen in the short film Lena and the Goose, the Gish family went to the American Independent Film Company to find Mary. She introduced Lillian and Dorothy to David Griffith, who hired the two sisters; in December, David Velascu used Mary to star in his new stage work, Good Devil, as Julia.
On January 9, 1913, Mary staged Good Devil at the Bellascu Public Theater, which received enthusiastic reviews; in April, Adolf Zucker filmed a film version of Good Devil with his famous player company, and Mary played Julia again in her first feature-length film. Juke released it in 1914 after shelving it for eleven months. Mary signed Adolf Zucker on a one-year contract with a famous player company for $500 a week.
On September 10, 1913, the release of the film In the Bishop's Carriage was a box office success. On March 20, 1914, the release of the film Tess in the Storm Country was a great success. Mary Beckford's fame soared, her salary doubled to $1,000 a week, and she became the world's highest-paid actress.
On July 5, 1914, Mary's American Independent Film Company partner and friend James Kirkwood Jr. directed his first film in which Picofort played a major role, The Eagle's Companion. He went on to direct 8 films for Mary, including Rags and Esmeralda. That same year, theater owner David Grauman gave Mary the nickname "Sweetheart of America."
In January 1915, Mary's weekly salary doubled to $2,000; in May, While shooting Rags, Mary met Co-starring Marshall Neeland, who hired her to direct many of her most popular films, including Stella Maris and Long-Legged Daddy. After 20 successful films, including Cinderella and Rags, Mary and Adolf Zucker renegotiated her salary, settling on a weekly salary of $10,000 and giving Mary the power to choose the writer and director of her own films.
On June 17, 1916, Adolf Zucker's company, Siny Black Entertainment, merged with Jesse Lasky's company to form the famous Lasky company; in August, Mary Bikofford established her own production company, and was the first film star to set up her own production company. Mary Peckford Films produced only Mary Picofort films, distributed by artists from the famous character-Lasky Company; in September, the famous character-Lasky company took over the film distribution company Paramount Pictures.
On March 5, 1917, Mary starred in the film Poor Rich Girl written by her friend Frances Marion, with mary playing a 12-year-old girl at the age of 25; in April, when World War I broke out, Mary again succeeded in portraying a young girl in Rebecca at Sunnybrook's Farm and The Little Princess, both novels adapted from popular novels by Frances Marion.
On January 21, 1918, Mary broke through in Stella Maris, playing two very different roles: the spoiled Stella Maris and the mediocre orphan Unity Black; on November 6, Mary parted ways with Adolf Zucker, accepting a $675,000 offer from First Nations Pictures, plus half the profits from three films.
On January 15, 1919, hearing rumors of a merger of film studios, fearing that it would limit their artistic creation and financial control over their work, Mary Beckford, Douglas van Punk, Charlie Chaplin, David Griffith, and William B. Lee. S. Hart drafted a letter of intent to form United States; on February 5, after Hart reached an agreement with Adolf Zucker, Douglas van punk, Charlie Chaplin, and David Griffiths formally joined forces to form United American Pictures, mary Beckford, which specializes in producing films distributed by United American Pictures.
On January 18, 1920, Mary's first film for United Pictures, the film Pollyanna, adapted by Frances Marion, was released, with a total box office of $1.1 million. In 1921, Mary created the Film Aid Fund, a financial aid fund to help film industry employees, with Joseph Schenck as chairman and Mary as vice-chair; on September 11, Mary played a boy and his mother in The Little Boy.
In 1922, Mary and Douglas founded the Picofort-Van Punk Studios on Santa Monica Avenue and Formosa Avenue in Hollywood; in October, Mary hired German director Ernst Liu Beiqian to direct the film "Harden Hall Dorothy Vernon" and the 1923 Picofort film Rosita; in November, Mary bought the story rights from Adolf Zucker for $50,000 to remake one of her earlier best-selling films, Tess in the Storm Country.
In 1925, Mary bought 132 rolls of film for her films at the Bevergraf Film Company. In July 1926, he traveled to Russia and made a film, "The Kiss of Mary Beckford". On May 14, 1926, the Sidney Grauman Egyptian Theater in Hollywood released Marie Bickford's Sparrow and Douglas van Punk's Black Pirate.
On April 30, 1927, Mary and Douglas became the first stars to be branded with cement at the Chinese Theater in Hollywood. In May 1927, Mary Beckford and Douglas van punk were among the 36 founders of the American Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, and van punk was elected as the first dean.
On October 31, 1927, Mary's last silent film, My Best Girl, was released, co-starring Charles Bud Rogers.
On March 29, 1928, Mary, Doug, Charlie Chaplin, David Griffiths, Gloria Swanson, Norma Tarmech, Dorres Delio, and John Barrymore presented their voices to a radio broadcast sponsored by THE DOGGE Company to prove their ability to appear in sound films, but the reviews were mostly negative; on June 21, Mary appeared on the front page of The New York Times, shocking the world by cutting her signature curly hair short. She later wrote, "If I had been given another choice, I'm sure I wouldn't have done it." ”
On April 12, 1929, Mary made her first sound film, Hummingbird, which grossed $1.4 million despite Mary's ambivalence about the sound medium; in October, Mary Beckford and Douglas van Punk collaborated on the film Taming of the Taming, their first and last co-starring film.
On April 3, 1930, she won the Best Actress Award for the film Hummingbird. On March 15, 1933, Mary's last film, Confidential, was released due to President Roosevelt closing the bank. Like all the movies released this week, the box office didn't do well; in December, at the Paramount Theater on Broadway in New York, she starred in the play "Church Rats"; late at the end of the year, Mary discussed with Walt Disney to play Alice in the animated rally of the live-action version of Alice in Wonderland. This plan failed to materialize.
In 1934, Mary wrote a pamphlet preaching Christian science, Why Not Try God? 》。 On August 7, 1934, Mary published her novel The Widow of Demi. In 1935, Mary wrote another pamphlet for the Christian Academy, My Life Rendezvous.
In September 1936, Mary collaborated with Jesse Lasky to form the Beckford-Lasky Productions Company. Before they disbanded the partnership, they made two films, One Afternoon After a Rain and Gay Outlaws. In 1938, Mary developed Mary Beckford Cosmetics, a range of cosmetic products that the public could afford.
In 1941, Mary co-founded the Independent Film Producers Association with Charlie Chaplin, Orson Wells, Walt Disney, David Selznick, Samuel Godwin, Alexander Korda, and Walter Wanger.
In 1949, Mary, Bud, and Malkom Boyd formed PRB, a New York City-based radio and television production company. In February 1951, Mary and Charlie Chaplin transferred power to United Pictures to a lawyer.
On March 19, 1953, Mary appeared at the 25th Academy Awards ceremony to present cecil M. B. Demir Oscar.
From March to June 1954, Mary's own life story was serialized in McCall magazine and in her autobiography Sunshine and Shadows in 1955. On November 9, 1955, Mary received the first George Eastman Award for her contributions to the silent film era.
In February 1956, Mary sold her stake in United States for $3 million, and Chaplin had sold his stake the previous year, marking the departure of the last founder; the same year, Mary established the Mary Beckford Charitable Trust, which was later renamed the Mary Beckford Foundation.
On March 29, 1976, Mary received an Honorary Oscar for her contributions to film, and has since ceased to appear in public. On May 29, 1979, Mary Bikolai died in Santa Monica Hospital after a stroke.
In 1999, she was named the 24th "Greatest Actress in a Hundred Years" by the American Film Institute.