Spanish card by La Novela Semanal Cinematográfica, no. 90.
French postcard by A.N., Paris, no. 80. Photo: Paramount Film.
An excellent actor who never lived up to his potential
Jack Pickford was born John Charles Smith in 1896 in Toronto, Ontario, to John Charles Smith, an English immigrant odd-job man of Methodist background, and Charlotte Hennessy Smith, who was Irish Catholic. He was called Jack as a child. His alcoholic father left the family when 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 this time, Gladys Smith had been transformed into Mary Pickford (Marie was her middle name, and Pickford was 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-14-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.
By the time he signed with First National, Pickford had played bit parts in 95 shorts and films. Though he was considered an excellent actor, Jack Pickford was seen as someone who never lived up to his potential. In 1917, he starred in one of his first major roles as Pip in the adaptation of Charles Dickens' Great Expectations (Robert G. Vignola, Paul West, 1917) as well as the title role in Mark Twain's Tom Sawyer (William Desmond Taylor, 1917) and the follow-up Huck and Tom (William Desmond Taylor, 1918).
British postcard. On the back: publicity for the British journal Picturegoer and its postcard series Pictures.
British postcard. Photo: Walturdaw / Hardie (Frederick William Hardie), Aberdeen.
The All-American little brother of America’s Sweetheart
Jack Pickford's image was that of the All-American boy, with his sister being 'America’s Sweetheart'. Most of his films, especially those in the late 1910s, were both commercial and critical successes, making him a highly regarded name for himself. In early 1918, after the United States entered World War I, Jack joined the United States Navy as an enlisted sailor and was stationed at the Third Naval District in Manhattan, New York.
Using the famous Pickford name, he soon became involved in a scheme that allowed rich young men to pay bribes to avoid military service, as well as reportedly procuring young women for officers. The scandal almost got him court-martialed, but with the help of his family, he was exonerated. The others involved in the scandal were court-martialed, sentenced to up to three years in the brig and dishonorably discharged. Pickford returned to making films.
Despite his 'boy next door' image, Pickford's private life remained one of drinking and drug abuse, domestic violence, and womanising, culminating in the severe alcoholism that resulted in his early death. In the early days of Hollywood, movie studios were able to cover up almost all of their stars' misbehaviour, but within the Hollywood crowd, Jack Pickford's behind-the-scenes activities made him a legend in his own time. Pickford met actress and Ziegfeld girl Olive Thomas at a beach cafe on the Santa Monica Pier. Thomas was just as wild as Pickford. Pickford and Thomas eloped in 1916 in New Jersey. None of their family was present, and their only witness was Thomas Meighan. The couple had no children of their own, though, in 1920, they adopted Olive's then-six-year-old nephew when his mother died.
Although by most accounts Olive was the love of Pickford's life, the marriage was stormy and filled with highly charged conflict, followed by lavish making up through the exchange of expensive gifts. For many years, the Pickfords had intended to vacation together, and with their marriage on the rocks, the couple decided to take a second honeymoon. In August 1920, the pair traveled to Paris, hoping to combine a vacation with some film preparations. The couple went out for a night of entertainment and partying at the famous bistros in the Montparnasse Quarter of Paris.
They returned to their room in the Hôtel Ritz around 3:00 a.m. It was rumored that Thomas may have taken cocaine that night, though it was never proven. She was intoxicated and tired and took a large dose of mercury bichloride, a common item for bathroom cleaning. She was taken to the American Hospital in the Paris suburb of Neuilly, where Pickford, together with his former brother-in-law Owen Moore, remained at her side until she succumbed to the poison a few days later. Rumors arose that she had either tried to commit suicide or had been murdered. A police investigation followed, as well as an autopsy, and Thomas's death was ruled accidental.
British postcard in the Picturegoer Series, London, no. 231.
An abusive husband due to drug abuse and alcoholism
Jack Pickford married two more times. In 1922, he married Marilyn Miller, a celebrated Broadway dancer and former Ziegfeld girl, at his sister and brother-in-law's famed home, Pickfair. By most accounts, it was an abusive marriage due to Pickford's drug abuse and alcoholism. They separated in 1926, and Miller was granted a French divorce in November 1927.
Some of his better films during this time included The Little Shepherd of Kingdom Come (Wallace Worsley, 1920), The Man Who Had Everything (Alfred E. Green, 1920), and Waking Up the Town (James Cruze, 1925). By 1923, his roles had gone from several a year to one. In 1928, he finished his last film, acting as Clyde Baxter in the part-talking gangster film Gang War (Bert Glennon, 1928).
Through the years, he dabbled in screenwriting and directing. He was given co-director credit for a couple of his sister Mary Pickford's films: Little Lord Fauntleroy (Alfred E. Green, Jack Pickford, 1921) and Through the Back Door (Alfred E. Green, Jack Pickford, 1921). However, he never pursued either form further. Pickford's final marriage was to Mary Mulhern, age 22, and a former Ziegfeld girl, whom he married in 1930. Within three months, Pickford grew increasingly volatile towards Mulhern. After two years, Mulhern left Pickford, claiming he had mistreated her throughout the marriage. She was granted an interlocutory divorce in February 1932, which had yet to be finalised at the time of Pickford's death.
In 1932, Pickford visited his sister Mary at Pickfair. According to Mary, he looked ill and emaciated; his clothes were hanging on him as if he were a clothes hanger. Jack Pickford, at age 36, died at the American Hospital of Paris in 1933. The cause for his death was listed as "progressive multiple neuritides which attacked all the nerve centers". This was believed to be due to his alcoholism.
Mary Pickford arranged for his body to be returned to Los Angeles, where he was interred in the private Pickford plot at Forest Lawn Memorial Park, Glendale. All in all, Pickford appeared in more than 130 films between 1908 and 1928. For his contribution to the film industry, Jack Pickford has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 1523 Vine Street.
American postcard by Kraus Mfg. Co., N.Y. At the backside, the film The Mystery of No. 47 was promoted. It was shown on 29 April 1913 at the New Magnet, Danville. On the programme were also the two-part comedy The Brass Monkey and an 'Atletic Picture'. (IMDb only mentions a 1917 version of The Mystery of No. 47).
British postcard by R.F. Hunger, London. Photo: Paramount.
Sources: Gary Brumburgh (IMDb), Wikipedia and IMDb.
