Charlotte Hennessey

Charlotte Hennessey Smith (1 January 1873 – 22 March 1928) was a Canadian silent film actress and the mother of Mary, Lottie, and Jack Pickford, who all became actors.

Early life and marriage

Born in Toronto, Canada to Irish Catholic parents from County Kerry, Charlotte Hennessey supported herself as a seamstress. She married John Charles Smith, son of English Methodist immigrants. She agreed to rear their children in his Methodist faith. The couple had three children: Gladys Louise, later actress Mary Pickford, Charlotte, later actress Lottie Pickford, and John Charles, later actor Jack Pickford.

Film industry

Her husband John Charles Smith died in 1898 from a fatal blood clot caused by a workplace accident when he was a purser with the Niagara Steamship Lines. Charlotte Smith struggled to make a living. She allowed her eldest daughter to take some theatre roles in Toronto in parts for children and, as the other children grew, toured with them with theater companies around the United States. They moved to New York, where Gladys, the oldest landed a role on Broadway. Soon she was able to get some film work, and changed her name to Mary Pickford at the request of a director. Later both her siblings adopted Pickford as a surname for their acting work. After her daughter, Gladys, known then as actress Mary Pickford, started getting film roles, Charlotte Smith acted in minor parts in three silent films in 1910 and 1911, with her daughter. All three children: Mary, Lottie, and Jack Pickford, became actors, although only Mary Pickford achieved great fame and fortune.