John Charles Smith (August 18, 1896 – January 3, 1933), known professionally as Jack Pickford, was a Canadian-American actor, film director, and producer. He was the younger brother of actresses Mary and Lottie Pickford.

After their father deserted the family, all three Pickford children began working as child actors on the stage. Mary later became a highly popular silent film actress, producer, and early Hollywood pioneer. While Jack appeared in numerous films as the "All American boy next door" and was a fairly popular performer, he was overshadowed by his sister's success. His career declined steadily due to alcohol, drugs, and chronic depression.

Early life

John Charles Smith, known as "Jack", was born in 1896 in Toronto, Ontario, to John Charles Smith, an English immigrant odd-job man of Methodist background, and Charlotte Hennessy Smith, who was Irish Catholic. His alcoholic father died in 1898, leaving the family impoverished. The children were dispersed, all living in separate households as their mother was grief-stricken and unable to support them. However, Jack soon became very ill. The news of his illness revitalized their mother, Charlotte, and the family was reunited.

Out of desperation, Charlotte allowed Jack and his two sisters Gladys and Lottie to appear onstage, beginning with Gladys, the eldest. This move 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. Most notably, young Jack appeared onstage in Peg Robin and The Three of Us. Jack received his education in public schools and later attended St. Francis Military Academy, in New York.

Famous Players–Lasky president Adolph Zukor gave Pickford his first lead performance debut in the film Seventeen (1916), an adaptation of Booth Tarkington's novel. It was described as "screamingly funny". In 1917, he starred in one of his first major roles as Pip in the adaptation of Charles Dickens' Great Expectations. After gaining critical success from these two productions, Pickford was then cast as the lead in The Dummy (1917), adapted from the 1914 play by Harriet Ford and Harvey J. O'Higgins, which proved extremely popular. It was a critical success and Pickford's first breakthrough performance.

Later in 1917, Pickford secured the title role in Mark Twain's Tom Sawyer and the follow-up Huck and Tom (1918). Tom Sawyer (1917) was considered one of Pickford's most successful film roles, as the title character resembled Pickford's on and off-screen persona. In a letter, on the completion of the production, he wrote: "I've always been fond of Mark Twain's writings, and Tom has long been a favorite of mine—somehow we seem to have a great deal in common. He performed so many of the very stunts that I remember in my own boyhood." In the early years of his career, Pickford became known for his clever portrayal of various boy parts in American novels.

Pickford was regularly teamed onscreen with actress Louise Huff. They both appeared in Seventeen (1916), Great Expectations (1917), Freckles (1917), What Money Can't Buy (1917), The Varmint (1917), The Ghost House (1917), Jack and Jill (1917), His Majesty, Bunker Bean (1918), Mile-a-Minute Kendall (1918), and Sandy (1918) under Paramount Pictures. In August 1920, he officially became a citizen of the United States and legally changed his surname from Smith to Pickford.thumb|[[Through the Back Door (1921) with director Alfred E. Green, assistant director Jack Pickford, Mary Pickford, and continuity writer Marion Jackson]]After the war in 1919, Pickford formed his own production company named the Jack Pickford Film Company, in partnership with First National Pictures. For a brief period, he produced and starred in his own films such as Bill Apperson's Boy (1919), Burglar by Proxy (1919), and In Wrong (1919). James Kirkwood directed Pickford during this time, in hope of boosting the actor's career.

In 1920, he signed with Goldwyn Pictures and starred in The Little Shepherd of Kingdom Come (1920), an adaptation of John Fox Jr.'s novel. Pickford became "bitterly disappointed" in the writing quality and directorial style of the film. He was determined to buy back the rights, with the intention of a future remake. A Double-Eyed Deceiver (1920), The Man Who Had Everything (1920), and Just Out of College (1920) followed and were all directed by Alfred E. Green, starring Pickford as the lead. However, Goldwyn and Pickford had creative differences and parted ways.

By 1923, his roles had gone from several a year to one. After dedicating the last two years to directorial work, Pickford returned to acting in Garrison's Finish (1923). While Pickford's career did slow down after Thomas' death, the roles he played showed a new maturity and were some of the best of his career. These included The Hill Billy (1924), The Goose Woman (1925), Brown of Harvard (1926), and Exit Smiling (1926). In 1926, he played Brooks Bailey in The Bat (1926), directed by Roland West. Years later, West made a sound version titled The Bat Whispers (1930).

In 1928, he finished his last film, acting as Clyde Baxter in Gang War (1928) – a confirmed part-talkie. It was best known for being the main feature attached to Steamboat Willie, the debut of Mickey Mouse in sound.

Most of his films, especially those in the late 1910s, were both commercial and critical successes, making a highly regarded name for himself. Pickford's image was that of the All-American boy, with his sister being "America's Sweetheart". In all, Pickford appeared in more than 130 films between 1908 and 1928. The majority of these silent films remain lost, unknown to the general public. However, a few of his films have been made available on DVD.

Personal life

Pickford was good friends with James Kirkwood and Bobby Harron, originating from their Biograph days. They all appeared in Home, Sweet Home (1914).

Pickford had an interest in automobiles. His sister Mary's first major extravagance was a car, a Stanley Steamer EMF, and Jack nicknamed it the "Even Mama Fell" and "Every Morning Fix it".

Marriages

right|150px|thumb|Olive Thomas, c. 1920

Pickford met actress and Ziegfeld girl Olive Thomas at a beach cafe on the Santa Monica Pier. Screenwriter and director Frances Marion later commented on the couple's lifestyle:

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. 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 died from the poison a few days later. Rumors arose that she had either tried to die by suicide or had been murdered. A police investigation followed, as well as an autopsy, and Thomas's death was ruled accidental. By most accounts it was an abusive marriage due to Pickford's drug abuse and alcoholism. They separated in 1926 and Miller was granted a French divorce in November 1927.

Pickford's final marriage was to Mary Mulhern, aged 22 and a former Ziegfeld girl, whom he married on August 12, 1930. Within three months Pickford grew increasingly volatile towards Mulhern. After two year, Mulhern left Pickford, claiming he had 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, at age 36, 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. "I have lived more than most men, and I am tired — so tired!" These were the last words whispered by Jack on his deathbed. 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.

Pickford siblings

Pickford and his sister Lottie were both silent film actors in their own right, but of course, were often overshadowed by their older sister, Mary. Living in her shadow, the two younger siblings embraced the happy-go-lucky times and fast living of the 1920s. Oddly enough, they both starred in Mile-a-Minute Kendall (1918) as lovers.<!-- http://spiderbites.nytimes.com/1920/articles_1920_09_00004.html -->

  • POLICE DEMAND FURTHER PROBE OF OLIVE THOMAS' DEATH, The Washington times. (Washington D.C.) 1902-1939, September 12, 1920.
  • Holmstrom, John. The Moving Picture Boy: An International Encyclopaedia from 1895 to 1995, Norwich: Michael Russell, 1996, pp.&nbsp;10–11.
  • Mary Pickford: America's Sweetheart by Scott Eyman
  • Pickford: The Woman Who Made Hollywood by Eileen Whitfield
  • The First King of Hollywood: The Life of Douglas Fairbanks by Tracey Goessel
  • Michelle Vogel. Olive Thomas: The Life and Death of a Silent Film Beauty
  • Steve Vaught. "You Don't Know Jack – A Second Take on Jack Pickford"
  • "Cleanup of Paris Cafes May Follow Movie Stars Death" Daily News, September 14, 1920
  • Amy Marie. "The Final Years of Jack Pickford"
  • Gordon Thomas. "Beautiful Dead Girl: On Early Hollywood Casualty Olive Thomas"
  • Shane Brown. "The Man Who Had Everything: The Curious Case of Jack Pickford and the New York Times"

See also

  • Canadian Pioneers in Early Hollywood
  • Family Photos - The Mary Pickford Foundation
  • Jack Pickford - Virtual History
  • In Mary's Shadow: The Story of Jack Pickford (2001) Documentary