From Gladys Smith to Mary Pickford
Born Gladys Louise Smith in 1892 and baptised Gladys Marie Smith, she worked professionally as Mary Pickford. She began her film career in 1909 and became one of the most recognizable women in the world.
Acting · Film
Mary Pickford
A leading silent-film actress and producer known as the “Queen of the Movies,” she co-founded United Artists and gained complete creative control over her films.
Mary Pickford was a Canadian American actress and producer whose Hollywood career spanned five decades. One of the silent era’s most popular performers, she helped define the ingénue type in cinema and gained complete creative control over her films. She co-founded United Artists and was one of the 36 founders of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. In the Como area, she stayed at Bellagio’s Grand Hotel Villa Serbelloni.
Worth knowing
A Founder Behind the Camera
In 1919, Pickford co-founded United Artists with Charlie Chaplin, Douglas Fairbanks, and D. W. Griffith. She was also one of the 36 founders of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in 1927.
Hollywood’s First Millionaire
By 1916, Pickford had become Hollywood’s first millionaire. At the height of her career, she had complete creative control over her films.
A Stay in Bellagio
Pickford stayed at the Grand Hotel Villa Serbelloni during Bellagio’s rise as a fashionable celebrity destination.
Success in the Sound Era
Pickford won the second Academy Award for Best Actress for Coquette, her first sound-film role, in 1929. In 1976, she received an Academy Honorary Award for her contributions to American cinema.
Addresses you can still visit
Every place in this city with a documented tie to this person.
Lived here
Grand Hotel Villa Serbelloni
The silent-screen star stayed here during Bellagio's rise as a fashionable celebrity destination.
Follow the story on foot
These addresses are scattered across the city. Our routes and quests put them in an order that works.