Mary Pickford (April 8, 1892 – May 29, 1979) was a Canadian-born American film actress and producer. With a career spanning 50 years, starting in the silent era, she was a co-founder of both the Pickford–Fairbanks Studio (along with Douglas Fairbanks, whom she subsequently married) and later, the United Artists film studio (with Fairbanks, Charlie Chaplin and D. W. Griffith). She was one of the original thirty-six founders of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, which presents the yearly Academy Awards.
This photograph of Pickford was taken around 1910, when she was becoming one of the most popular actresses of the period, earning the nickname "Queen of the Movies". Being of short stature, she often played the roles of children, but later found her career fading as talkies became more popular among audiences and she was cast in more adult roles. She retired from acting in 1933, becoming involved in production and other aspects of the film industry.Photograph credit: Rufus Porter Moody