Jack Pickford American actor Date of Birth: 18.08.1896 Country: Canada

Biography of Jack Pickford

Jack Pickford, an American actor of Canadian descent, was born on August 18, 1896, in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. He was the only son and the third child in the family of John Charles Smith and Charlotte Hennessy Smith. When Jack was very young, his father, who was an alcoholic, abandoned his wife and children. The family was left with no money. In desperation, Charlotte allowed Jack and his older sisters, Gladys and Charlotte, to perform on stage. Surprisingly, this turned out to be a good source of income, and by 1900, the family settled in New York City while touring the United States.

Due to constant traveling, the family members only saw each other during breaks between tours for the next ten years. This continued until 1910 when Gladys signed a contract with Biograph Studios. She took the stage name Mary Pickford, and the rest of the Smiths also changed their stage names. Mary secured work for all the family members, including fourteen-year-old Jack, when she signed a contract with Biograph Studios. When the studio moved to Hollywood, Mary followed, bringing Jack along. Mary quickly became a silent film star and in 1917, she signed a contract worth $1 million with First National Pictures. Using her position, Mary also secured very favorable conditions for Jack.

By the time Jack signed a contract with First National Pictures, he had already played around 95 roles in film, mostly in short films, and transitioned from playing the boy next door to romantic roles. Although Pickford was considered a good actor, he did not fully realize his potential. He possessed great dramatic talent but did not strive to utilize it, relying on his looks as he was a very handsome young man.

In 1917, he played one of his first leading roles, portraying Pip in the film adaptation of Charles Dickens' "Great Expectations" and also the lead role in Mark Twain's "Tom Sawyer." After serving in the navy, Pickford returned to Hollywood, but by the 1920s, the number of films in which he was offered roles decreased to one per year. He last appeared on set in 1928, starring in the silent crime drama "Gang Wars," and with the advent of sound cinema, he left Hollywood. He later tried his hand at directing, producing, and screenwriting but was not successful. He has around 130 acting credits to his name.

Despite his image as the boy next door, Jack Pickford's private life, which was exposed to fame and money at an early age, consisted of alcohol, drugs, and extreme debauchery. He quickly squandered his considerable earnings and would ask his sister or mother for money. The actor suffered from alcoholism and acquired chronic syphilis, which ultimately led to his demise. During those years, almost all the stars could not boast of good behavior, but young Jack Pickford stood out among them.

Jack Pickford's personal life also made headlines. All three of his wives were former showgirls from Florenz Ziegfeld's productions who became popular movie actresses. His first marriage to actress Olive Thomas gained the most notoriety. Olive shared her husband's passion for alcohol and drugs, and they traveled extensively. Once, in Paris, after returning from a party, she mistakenly drank a large dose of the liquid mercury chloride that Jack used to treat his syphilis. Olive, aged 25, died in a Paris hospital on September 10, 1920, and Jack transported her body back to their homeland for burial. During the return journey, he attempted to take his own life, but fate intervened. The thought of his sisters (he was particularly close to Lottie, although Mary always cared for him like a second mother) and mother prevented him from going overboard.

The last time Jack saw Mary was in 1932. He looked sick and emaciated, with his clothes hanging on him like a hanger. Later, Mary Pickford wrote that she felt at that moment that she would never see her brother again. Jack Pickford passed away on January 3, 1933, at the American Hospital in Paris. The medical report stated that the cause of his death was progressive neuritis affecting the central cranial nerves. Mary Pickford arranged for his body to be transported to Los Angeles, California. Jack Pickford received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for his significant contributions to the film industry.