Mary Pickford papers
Special Collections
Margaret Herrick Library
© 2013
333 S. La Cienega Boulevard
Beverly Hills, California 90211
Phone: (310) 247-3036 extension 2226
Email: specialcollections@oscars.org
URL: http://www.oscars.org/library/index.html
Title: Mary Pickford papers
Date (inclusive): 1893-1983
Date (bulk): 1940-1979
Collection number: 224
Creator:
Pickford, Mary
Extent:
113 linear feet of papers.
47 linear feet of photographs.
Repository:
Margaret Herrick Library. Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
Languages:
English
Important Information for Users of the Collection
Available by appointment only.
Property rights to the physical object belong to the Margaret Herrick Library. Researchers are responsible for obtaining all
necessary rights, licenses, or permissions from the appropriate companies or individuals before quoting from or publishing
materials obtained from the library.
Mary Pickford papers, Margaret Herrick Library, Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
Mary Pickford was a Canadian-born actress, producer, director, and film executive active in filmmaking
from 1909 to 1936. From 1915 through the mid-1920s she was arguably the most popular and best-known woman
in the world, known affectionately as "America's Sweetheart." In 1919, with Douglas Fairbanks, Charles
Chaplin, and D. W. Griffith as her partners, she launched United Artists. She served as first vice
president of United Artists from 1936 until the company was sold in 1953. She was married to actor Owen
Moore from 1911 to 1920, to actor Douglas Fairbanks from 1920 to 1936, and to actor Charles "Buddy"
Rogers from 1937 until her death. Pickford was a founder and life member of the Academy. She received a
1928/29 Academy Award for best actress for COQUETTE (1929) and a 1975 Honorary Academy Award.
Collection Scope and Content Summary
The Mary Pickford papers span the years 1893-1983 (bulk 1940s-1970s) and encompass approximately 160
linear feet. The papers consist of production files, primarily scripts and story material; subject files;
correspondence; financial and accounting records; clippings; and scrapbooks. There is material on Douglas
Fairbanks Jr., Charles "Buddy" Rogers, and Pickfair, the Hollywood estate she built with Fairbanks. The
photograph series consists of some 25,000 items, including photographic prints, frame enlargements, film
frames, color slides, transparencies, copy negatives, and original nitrate negatives, from which the
library has struck modern archival fiber reference prints. The motion picture production photographs span
the years 1909-1933. The feature films consist of production photographs from all 52 of Pickford's
completed features as well as a few uncompleted projects. The photographs consist of scene, off camera,
candid, publicity portrait, set reference, and miscellaneous publicity photographs. The short films span
the years 1909-1913 and consist of production photographs (mostly frame enlargements made from 35mm fine-
grain masters) for 78 of the more than 100 Biograph shorts in which Pickford appeared. There is limited
photographic coverage on the approximately 40 short films Pickford made for the Independent Motion
Picture Co. (IMP) in 1911. Two U.S. Government films Pickford made during World War I to promote the sale
of Liberty Bonds are represented. The biography photographs span the years 1893-1980 and include
portraits, general publicity photographs not related to specific films, photographs of Pickfair, and
photographs and snapshots relating to the Pickford family and the Rogers family. The portraits include
works by Russell Ball, Nelson Evans, Charlotte Fairchild, Fred Hartsook, George Hurrell, Albert Witzel,
and others. There is material on her stage career before she began acting in films, as well as general
publicity photographs, mostly from the 1920s and 1930s, that relate not only to her activities in the
film industry, particularly with regard to United Artists, but also to her charitable and civic work. A
large number of photographs document Pickford's numerous public appearances with other celebrities and
dignitaries. Douglas Fairbanks and Charles "Buddy" Rogers are well represented.
Arrangement
Arranged in the following series: 1. Production files, subseries A-B as follows: A. Produced; B.
Unproduced; 2. Television files, subseries A-B as follows: A. Produced; B. Unproduced; 3. Radio files,
subseries A-B as follows: A. Produced; B. Unproduced; 4. Story files; 5. Correspondence; 6. Subject
files, subseries A-C as follows: A. General; B. Pickfair; C. Publicity; 7. Personal papers; 8. Legal
papers; 9. Financial papers; 10. Business papers; 11. Other papers (Buddy Rogers); 12. Real estate
papers; 13. Books; 14. Oversize; 15. Scrapbooks; 16. Photographs, subseries A-C as follows: A. Motion
picture production; B. Biography; C. Subject
Pickford, Mary , 1892-1979--Archives
Actresses
Directors
Executives
Producers
Screenwriters