Jack Pickford

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Jack Pickford (August 18, 1896 - January 3, 1933) was a Canadian-born American actor. Born John Charles Smith in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, he was the younger brother of actresses Mary and Lottie Pickford. Like them, Jack Pickford's mother Charlotte Hennessy had him acting on stage as a very young boy. In 1910, he was only 14 years old when, with the help of his sister Mary, he was signed to perform in motion pictures with Biograph Studios.

[edit] Career rise

After Biograph opened its studios in Hollywood, California, the Pickford clan moved west. Jack, a small, fragile boy, grew up in the adult world, one that suddenly became full of money far beyond anything imaginable for the time when Mary Pickford signed a contract in 1917 for $1 million with First National Pictures. Jack got a lucrative contract with First National as part of the deal but that year, he gained respect for his acting abilities after starring as Pip in the adaptation of Charles Dickens' Great Expectations and in the same year for playing the title role in Mark Twain' s Tom Sawyer.

[edit] Lavish lifestyle

Despite his on-screen image as the winsome boy-next-door, Jack Pickford's private life was one of alcohol, drugs, and womanizing, culminating in the severe alcoholism and syphilis that would eventually kill him. In those days, the movie studios were able to cover up almost all of their stars' misbehavior, but within the Hollywood crowd Jack Pickford's behind-the scenes antics made him a legend in his own time.

He spent money frivolously and frequently had to suffer the humiliation of asking his mother or sister for help. As his reckless lifestyle worsened, the number of movies he made declined and therefore his own income.

In early 1918, after the United States entered World War I, Jack 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.^{[citation needed]} For his involvement, Jack Pickford came close to being dishonorably discharged; it is speculated that his sister (by that time a famous and powerful actress) arranged for him to give evidence to the authorities in exchange for a medical discharge.^{[citation needed]}

His first marriage, in 1916, to Olive Thomas (née Olive Duffy, ex-Mrs. Bernhard Krugh Thomas, 1894-1920), a Pennsylvania-born model-turned-showgirl-turned-film-actress and a reputed heroin addict, was stormy from the start, but she was reportedly the love of his life. However, while filming in Paris, France, they went out for a night of entertainment at the famous bistros in Montparnasse. Returning to their room in the Hôtel Ritz at around 3:00 in the morning, his wife died after ingesting a large dose of the mercury bichloride which had been prescribed for her husband's ongoing venereal disease; infected in 1917, he had passed the disease on to Thomas, as well as the medicine used to treat it. The police investigation into her death centered on Pickford, but no charges were ever brought. On the return trip to America, film director Allan Dwan had to talk the distraught Pickford out of committing suicide.

Married two more times unsuccessfully, including a 1922-1927 marriage to celebrated Broadway dancer Marilyn Miller, by 1932 Jack Pickford was alone again, his health deteriorating from the ravages of syphilis and the toll taken by years of alcohol and drug abuse. Pickford died at the American Hospital of Paris, at age 36. His sister, Mary Pickford, arranged for his body to be returned to Los Angeles, California, where he was interred in the private Pickford plot in the Forest Lawn Memorial Park Cemetery in Glendale, California.

Jack Pickford has a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 1523 Vine Street.

During his career, Jack Pickford appeared in more than 70 films some of which are:

See also: Other Canadian pioneers in early Hollywood