Mary Pickford (1892-1979), born Gladys Louise Smith in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, was an actress, producer, director and distributor (by way of her co-ownership of United Artists). Known affectionately as "America's Sweetheart," she was recognized throughout the world for her screen portrayals of sweet, innocent, childlike women, but beyond that type of characterization, she exhibited impressive versatility in a variety of screen roles. From 1915 through the mid-1920s she was arguably the most popular and best-known woman in the world. By 1915, statisticians calculated that she was seen globally by 12.5 million moviegoers every day of the year. Pickfair, the Hollywood estate she shared with her husband, actor Douglas Fairbanks, was considered a mansion fit for royalty. Pickford's sister, Lottie, and brother, Jack, also had careers in film.

Mary Pickford acted on the live stage in stock companies beginning in 1900, and in 1907 she finally made it to Broadway in David Belasco's hit production "The Warrens of Virginia." She abandoned the stage and began acting in film in 1909 at the age of 17. By 1915 she had started her own production company, and in 1919, with Fairbanks, Charles Chaplin and D. W. Griffith as her partners, she launched United Artists. When Pickford retired from acting in 1933, she had more than 200 film credits to her name, among them TESS OF THE STORM COUNTRY (1914 and 1922), RAGS (1915), THE POOR LITTLE RICH GIRL (1917), REBECCA OF SUNNYBROOK FARM (1917), STELLA MARIS (1918), DADDY-LONG-LEGS (1919), POLLYANNA (1920), LITTLE LORD FAUNTLEROY (1921), DOROTHY VERNON OF HADDON HALL (1924), SPARROWS (1926), MY BEST GIRL (1927), COQUETTE (1929), and SECRETS (1933, her final film).

After retiring from screen acting, 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 Fairbanks from 1920 to 1936, and to Charles "Buddy" Rogers from 1937 until her death. Pickford was a founder and life member of the Academy and served on its Board of Governors from May 1927 to October 1927. Pickford received a 1928/1929 Best Actress Academy Award for her performance in COQUETTE and a 1975 Honorary Academy Award.