John Charles (Smith) Pickford Jr (1896 - 1933)

Born 18 Aug 1896 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Ancestors

Husband of Olive R (Duffy) Pickford — married 18 Jan 1918 in Manhattan, New York, New York

Died 3 Jan 1933 at age 36 in Paris, France

Problems/Questions Profile manager: J. Salsbery [send private message]

Biography

Jack (Smith) Pickford Jr is Notable.

Jack Pickford (August 18, 1896 – January 3, 1933) was a Canadian-born American actor, film director and producer. He was the younger brother of early film star Mary Pickford.

Born John Charles Smith in Toronto, Ontario, to John Charles Smith and Charlotte Hennessy Smith in 1896. His alcoholic father left the family while Pickford was a young child. This incident left the family impoverished. Out of desperation, Charlotte allowed Pickford and his two sisters Gladys and Lottie to appear onstage. This 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.

At the time of the 1901 Canada Census, Lottie, Gladys, Lottie, and John Smith were listed as living in Toronto, along with Lottie's sister, Lizzie Watson, and their mother, Kathleen Hennessy^[1].

When Mary broke into films, Jack went to Hollywood with her, but was never in her league. When she signed her first $1 million contract, he was mostly playing the boy-next-door in B-films. Some claimed that he had great talent, but suffered from living in her shadow. At any rate, his life of drink, drugs, syphilis and scandal ruled out any career success, and his three marriages to showgirls all ended in failure. Pickford died in Paris of progressive multiple neuritis, aged thirty-six.

Sources

1. ↑ Census of Canada, 1901, Ontario, Toronto West (City) (118), Ward 4 (B), page 15, dwelling 116, family 120, John Smith; RG31 - Statistics Canada, roll T-6499 (http://www.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/census/1901/Pages/item.aspx?itemid=3361104 : Accessed January 5, 2019).

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Pickford
• Find A Grave: Memorial #7877