Mary Pickford

Mary Pickford (April 8, 1892 – May 29, 1979) was a Canadian-American motion picture actress, co-founder of the film studio United Artists and one of the original 36 founders of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

Known in her prime as "America's Sweetheart" and the "girl with the curls", Pickford was one of the Canadian pioneers in early Hollywood and a significant figure in the development of film acting. Pickford was one of the earliest stars to be billed under her name (film stars up until that time were usually unbilled), and was one of the most popular actresses of the 10s and 20s, earning the nickname "Queen of the Movies".

Pickford was awarded the second ever Academy Award for Best Actress for her first sound film role and also received an honorary Academy Award in 1976. In consideration of her contributions to American cinema, the American Film Institute ranked Pickford as 24th in its 1999 list of greatest female stars of classic Hollywood Cinema.

Early life

Mary Pickford (Used to Eat Roses)

"Mary Pickford" is a song written and produced by Mike Batt for the Georgian-born, British singer Katie Melua. It is Melua's tenth single and the second from her third album, Pictures. It was originally inspired by a daily facts calendar owned by Batt that one day featured the fact that Mary Pickford used to eat roses.

The lyrics talk about the 1910s film actress Mary Pickford and other founders of United Artists. Mentioned in the song are Douglas Fairbanks, Charlie Chaplin, D. W. Griffith, United Artists and Pickfair.

The song can be seen as a pastiche of the classic silent era Joseph H. Santly song At the Moving Picture Ball since they have a similar rhythm, similar subject matter and indeed they list the same silent-era movie stars.

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Mary Pickford (physiologist)

Lillian Mary Pickford (14 August 1902 – 14 August 2002) was a pioneering neuroendocrinologist and Fellow of the Royal Society (1966). She was the first woman to be elected to the Pharmacological Society and the first woman appointed to a medical professorship at Edinburgh University.

Life and work

Pickford was born in Jubbulpore, India on 14 August 1902 and was sent to live with her aunt and uncle in Surrey, England at the age of five. A family friend, Sir Cooper Perry encouraged her to become a doctor but discouraged her from becoming a researcher, saying, 'Don't think of it. Women are no use at that kind of thing'. She was educated at Wycombe Abbey school. In 1925 she graduated from Bedford College, having read physiology, zoology, and chemistry. After graduation the scarcity of work for women scientists meant she had difficulty finding any, but she found part-time work teaching before being accepted as a research assistant at University College London. A legacy from her godmother of £120 a year meant she could study clinical medicine part-time at University College Hospital and she was admitted MRCS and LRCP in 1933. In 1936 Pickford was awarded a Beit Memorial Fellowship and in 1939 reported on the antidiuretic effect of injecting acetylcholine into the brain.