1896-1933
Jack Pickford, "the Pickford brother," an actor and director in his own right, was born John Charles Smith on this day in Toronto, Canada (he was known, most famously as being "Mary's little brother" in the press for most of his short life--for good or bad [I think bad...]). As a young boy, he was pulled into the performance life of his two older sisters: Gladys (who would become Mary Pickford) and Lottie. Though he is remembered now as the brother as the possibly the most influential woman in early Hollywood (Mary), he was well possessed of talent in his own right. He is was, by all accounts, an engaging and charming child presence on and off the live stage from a young age. To be sure, when Gladys Smith was transformed into Mary Pickford around 1909/1910, the entire family benefited; as she saw to this personally. Jack first appeared as an extra in films for Biograph, the company that "discovered" Mary, in 1909. He was a member of the crowd in D. W. Griffith's The Message (1909) [another credited member of the crowd is Mack Sennett]. What we know of the film, which was released in early July, comes largely from a synopsis written Moving Picture World. This dates his entrance into film acting about six months after that of famous elder sister, his age would have been 12. He is credited with appearing in four more films from 1909--all of the Griffith films; in fact Griffith was said to be fond of Jack Pickford, and was impressed with his talent. It appears that the first film in which he appeared with Mary was one of these films: To Save Her Soul (1909), in which he played a stagehand (the film also includes Griffith's own wife Linda Arvidson and Mary's future first husband Owen Moore in "the audience"). After the invention of "Mary Pickford" at Biograph, his career hewed close to hers--appearing in numerous Griffith films featuring her in early 1910. Jack stars in his own right in Biograph's The Kid in 1910, the film was directed by Frank Powell and may or may not have featured an appearance by his more recognizable older sister; nonetheless, this was a starring role for him in his own right (the film also featured Florence Barker, one of the film industry's early tragedies, dying at the young age of 21 of pneumonia). For a short while in 1910, Jack was a regular in Powell's films. Throughout the rest of 1910, he would show up in numerous Biograph films in a small or extra roles that both featured and didn't feature his increasingly famous sister. The first film that he in which he appeared that has any significant historical interest is Griffith's His Trust Fulfilled, which was released in January of 1911. His first non-Biograph film came in The Sneak in 1913 for the competitor film studio founded, in part, by a former Biograph sales manager: Kalem Co.--the film stars Tom Moore, brother of Owen, so it's likely that Tom got him the job. He continued to appear in a spate of Biograph films steadily through 1913; during this period of time, Griffith headed up Biograph's move west to Hollywood. Jack's tagging along with this move accounts for his early appearance in the soon to be movie mecca out west. He was, from the beginning, a needy sort and that led to troublesome behavior. He is thought to have developed a problem with drink before his 18th birthday (the family's father was an alcoholic of massive proportions, so the condition was inherited for sure). In 1917, the year his sister signed her monster contract with First National, Jack finally scored his starring role; it came in the Famous Players produced--Robert Vignola (in part) directed--adaptation of Charles Dickens Great Expectations. He also starred in the title role of Tom Sawyer in 1917--making the romp The Ghost House, directed by William de Mille (brother of Cecil), along the way. In 1918, he was packed off, via the US Navy, to World War I, getting into enough trouble as to almost receive a dishonorable discharge. Upon his return from the war, he resumed his film career with an eye toward production, founding his own namesake company. In the years following, he would also direct two films. They were: Through The Back Door and Little Lord Fauntleroy both in 1921 and both of which he co-directed with Alfred E. Green; they also starred his sister Mary and were produced by her. He wasn't very successful in the directing endeavor, but he may have had more success had his first wife, Olive Thomas, not died a death that is still whispered about today. She died by what appears to be a truly accidental poisoning in Paris on the 10th of September 1920, five days after ingesting mercury bichloride. Though he would marry twice more and would continue in the film business, there could be little doubt that the event must have affected the rest of his life in the negative. By 1923, he was back to appearing in films that can only be labeled as "B movies," some of which were made by his production company Jack Pickford Productions. Of interest is his appearance in the pretty famously lost 1923 Paramount comedy Hollywood, which amongst other notable cameos, has an appearance by--post scandal--Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle. Jack also appeared in the 1926 mystery/horror/thriller The Bat, produced--and probably directed--by Roland West. He found himself in a film utilizing sound for the first time in 1928 in the crime drama Gang War, which was the final film of that decade that he had anything to do with. The last film he appeared in was the 1930 short all sound Warner production All Square; still playing--at the age of 35--the young man. "The Faithful Son." Pickford died three years later in a American hospital in Paris on the 3rd of January--cause of death was listed as multiple neuritis, which can be caused by extreme alcoholism and vitamin B-12 deficiency (also a side effect of excessive drinking). The last time that his sister saw him in 1932, he was notably emaciated and looked frail for his years. He was just 37 years old. Mary had his body shipped back to California, where he was interred in the family plot at Forest Lawn in Glendale.
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