Jack Pickford

For Australian footballer, see Jack Pickford (footballer).

Jack Pickford
Born	John Charles Smith (1896-08-18)August 18, 1896 Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Died	Paris, France
Cause of death	Multiple neuritis
Resting place	Forest Lawn Memorial Park, Glendale
Occupation	Actor, director, producer
Years active	1909-1928
Spouse(s)	Olive Thomas (m. 1916; d. 1920) Marilyn Miller (m. 1922; div. 1927) Mary Mulhern (m. 1930–33)
Parent(s)	John Charles Smith Charlotte Hennessy Smith
Relatives	Mary Pickford (sister) Lottie Pickford (sister)

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.

Acting career

Screen shot from the 1916 film Seventeen by Robert G. Vignola.

By the time he signed with First National, Pickford had played bit parts in 95 shorts and films. Though Pickford was considered a good actor, he 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, as well as the title role in Mark Twain's Tom Sawyer.

During World War I, Pickford served a stint in the Navy; afterward he returned to making films. By 1923, his roles had gone from several a year to one. In 1928, he finished his last film, acting as Clyde Baxter in Gang War. Through the years he dabbled in writing and directing; however, he never pursued either form further. Most of his films were considered B movies, though he was able to make a name for himself. Pickford's image was that of the All-American boy or the boy next door.

Despite his image of the "boy next door," Pickford's private life was one of alcoholism, drug abuse, and womanizing, 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' misbehavior, but within the Hollywood crowd, Jack Pickford's behind-the scenes activities made him a legend in his own time. Now the theme of alcoholism in the family would be studied from both a genetic and behavioral point of view, as both of his sisters also became alcoholics, all three likely having inherited vulnerability from their father.

In early 1918, after the United States entered World War I, Pickford joined the United States Navy. 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. For his involvement, Pickford was nearly dishonorably discharged.

Personal life

Marriages

Pickford met actress and Ziegfeld girl Olive Thomas at a beach cafe on the Santa Monica Pier. Thomas was just as wild as Pickford. Screenwriter Frances Marion remarked "...I had seen her [Thomas] often at the Pickford home, for she was engaged to Mary's brother, Jack. Two innocent-looking children, they were the gayest, wildest brats who ever stirred the stardust on Broadway. Both were talented, but they were much more interested in playing the roulette of life than in concentrating on their careers."

Pickford and Thomas eloped on October 25, 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 Paris, hoping to combine a vacation with some film preparations. On the night of September 5, 1920, 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 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. 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.

Pickford married two more times. On July 31, 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 he was not kind to her and was abusive in the marriage. They separated in 1926 and Miller was granted a French divorce in November 1927.

Pickford's final marriage was to Mary Mulhern, age 22 and also a former Ziegfeld girl, whom he married on August 12, 1930. After two years of marriage, Mulhern left Pickford, claiming that he mistreated her throughout the marriage. She was granted an interlocutory divorce in February 1932 which had yet to be finalized at the time of Pickford's death.

Death and legacy

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. Mary Pickford recalled in her autobiography that she felt a wave of premonition when watching her brother leave. As they started down the stairs to the automobile entrance, Jack called back to her, "Don’t come down with me, Mary dear, I can go alone." Mary later wrote that as she stood at the top of the staircase, an inner voice said, "That’s the last time you’ll see Jack".

Jack Pickford died at the American Hospital of Paris on January 3, 1933. The cause for his death was listed as "progressive multiple neuritis which attacked all the nerve centers". This was believed 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.

For his contribution to the motion picture industry, Jack Pickford has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 1523 Vine Street.

Selected filmography

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1909	The Message	In Crowd
1909	Wanted, a Child	A Child
1909	To Save Her Soul	A Stagehand
1910	All on Account of the Milk	At Construction Site
1910	The Kid	Walter Holden's Son
1910	Ramona	A boy
1911	His Trust Fulfilled	Black messenger
1911	The Stuff Heroes are Made Of
1912	A Temporary Truce	An Indian
1912	Man's Lust for Gold	Among the Indians
1912	The Inner Circle	The Messenger
1912	A Feud in the Kentucky Hills	A Brother
1912	The Painted Lady	Beau at Ice Cream Festival
1912	The Musketeers of Pig Alley	Rival Gang Member/At Dance
1912	Heredity	Son of White Renegade Father and Indian Mother
1912	My Baby	Wedding Guest
1912	Brutality	At Theatre
1912	The New York Hat	Youth outside church
1912	My Hero	Indian	Unconfirmed
1913	A Misappropriated Turkey	On Street
1913	Love in an Apartment Hotel	A Bellhop
1913	The Unwelcome Guest	One of the Children	Alternative title: An Unwelcome Guest
1914	The Gangsters of New York	Spot, the spy	Alternative title: The Gangsters
1914	Home, Sweet Home	The Mother's Son
1914	His Last Dollar	Jockey Jones
1915	The Love Route	Billy Ball
1915	The Pretty Sister of Jose	Jose
1915	A Girl of Yesterday	John Stuart
1916	Poor Little Peppina	Beppo	Alternative title: Little Peppina
1916	Seventeen	William Sylvanus Baxter
1917	The Dummy	Barney Cook
1917	What Money Can't Buy	Dick Hale
1917	The Varmint	John Humperdink Stover
1917	Tom Sawyer	Tom Sawyer
1918	The Spirit of '17	Davy Glidden
1918	Huck and Tom	Tom Sawyer
1918	His Majesty, Bunker Bean	Bunker Bean
1918	Mile-a-Minute Kendall	Kendall
1918	Sandy	Sandy Kilday
1919	Bill Apperson's Boy	Buddy Apperson
1919	Burglar by Proxy	Jack Robin
1919	In Wrong	Johnny Spivins
1920	The Little Shepherd of Kingdom Come	Chad
1920	The Man Who Had Everything	Harry Bullway	A Goldwyn picture. It exists incomplete at the Library of Congress.
1920	Just Out of College	Ed Swinger
1923	Garrison's Finish	Billy Garrison
1923	Hollywood	Himself	Cameo appearance
1924	The Hill Billy	Jed McCoy	Alternative title: The Hillbilly
1925	Waking Up the Town	Jack Joyce
1925	My Son	Tony
1925	The Goose Woman	Gerald Holmes
1926	The Bat	Brooks Bailey
1926	Brown of Harvard	Jim Doolittle
1926	Exit Smiling	Jimmy Marsh
1928	Gang War	Clyde Baxter	Alternative title: All Square

Bibliography

• Menefee, David W. Sweet Memories. Dallas: Menefee Publishing, Inc., 2012.
• Arvidson, Linda. When the Movies Were Young. New York: Dover Publications, Inc., 1969.
• Menefee, David W. The First Male Stars: Men of the Silent Era. Albany: Bear Manor Media, 2007.
• Talmadge, Margaret L. The Talmadge Sisters. Philadelphia: J. B. Lippincott Company, 1924.
• Paris Authorities Investigate Death of Olive Thomas. The New York Times, September 11, 1920.
• Canadian Pioneers in Early Hollywood

External links

• Jack Pickford at the Internet Movie Database
• Jack Pickford at the Internet Broadway Database
• In Mary's Shadow: The Story of Jack Pickford 2001 Documentary by Elaina Archer and Michael Yakaitis
• Jack Pickford at Find a Grave
• Jack Pickford at Virtual History