Mary Pickford's Net Worth as of 2024
$40 Million
Born Gladys Louise Smith on the 8th April 1892, in Toronto, Ontario Canada, she was an award- winning actress and producer, and one of the original 36 founders of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, which is the presenter of the Academy Awards. Mary came to prominence with such portrayals of Gwendolyn in the film “The Poor Little Rich Girl” (1917), then Judy Abbott in the film “Daddy-Long-Legs”, and Norma Besant in “Coquette” (1929), among many other appearances. Mary passed away in 1979.
Have you ever wondered how rich Mary Pickford was, at the time of her death? According to authoritative sources, it has been estimated that Pickford’s net worth is as high as $40 million, earned through her long and prolific career, which was active from 1905 until 1949. During her career, Mary appeared in 250 film titles and has won an Academy Award in the category for Best Actress in a Leading Role for the film “Coquette”.
Mary Pickford Net Worth $40 Million
Mary was of mixed ancestry; her father John Charles Smith was of English descent, while her mother, Charlotte Hennessey was Irish Catholic. Mary had two siblings, both younger than her, and both actors, Charlotte and John Charles. Her father left the family, and soon after died from a blood clot.
After her mother became a widow she started taking in strangers and one of them was a theatrical stage manager, who soon suggested to Mary that she start pursuing acting as a career. She received two small roles in “The Silver King” play, and then joined Toronto’s Valentine Company with which she had success in the same play, but in their production. She concluded her career in Toronto with the role of Little Eva in the play “Uncle Tom’s Cabin”, but her net worth was established.
After Mary’s early success, her mother turned acting into a family business, and Mary and her siblings toured across the USA, but had little success as they only secured roles in small theater groups and plays. After several years without success she was thinking of returning home and forgetting about becoming a star, but luck smiled on her and her siblings when she made her Broadway debut supporting singer Chauncey Olcott in “Edmund Burke”, and then in 1907 she had a supporting role in the play “The Warrens of Virginia”. She used the name Mary Pickford for the show as David Belasco, who produced the play, insisted on the change. After the touring of the show was finished, Mary was again left without engagement, but she signed a contract with the Biograph Company after impressing director D.W. Griffith – she was receiving $10 a week, while most actors were on a $5 a week contract. Mary appeared in many shorts in 1909 and 1910, before leaving the Biograph and joining the Independent Moving Pictures Company, which was two years later acquired by Universal Pictures. Mary wasn’t quite satisfied with the films the studio was making and returned to Biograph; she starred in the Broadway play “A Good Little Devil” in 1912, but since then became entirely focused on film acting.
She joined Adolph Zukor who had formed Famous Players in Famous Plays Company which later became Paramount Pictures. It was in 1916 that Mary signed a record-breaking salary contract of $10,000 a week, and would earn a guarantee of $1,040,000 per film. Her contract lasted for two years, and in that time Mary starred in such films as “The Poor Little Rich Girl” and “Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm” both in 1917. After her contract expired, she and Zukor disagreed on a new contract, and as a result Mary joined First National Pictures, but then in 1919, she started the United Artists Company alongside Charlie Chaplin and Douglas Fairbanks. From then on she starred in numerous successful films, including “Pollyanna” (1920), “The Love Light” (1921), “Little Annie Rooney” (1925), then “Sparrows” (1926) and “Coquette” (1929). She made her last screen appearance in 1933 since the production of sound films – ‘talkies’ – didn’t suit her, and as a result she decided to retire from acting.
Although she wasn’t an actress anymore, Mary focused on being a producer, and worked on numerous successful films until the late ‘40s. Some of them include “One Rainy Afternoon” (1936), then “Sleep, My Love” (1948), and “Love Happy” (1949). She received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1960 for her contribution to the motion picture industry.
After retiring from the film industry, Mary had alcohol-related problems, and had spent her last years away from the public in her Pickford Manor, accepting no visitors, only ‘phone calls.
Regarding her personal life, Mary was married three times and had two children with Charles “Buddy” Rogers with whom she was married from 1937 until her death in 1979. Her first husband was Owen Moore from 1911 until 1920, and she then married Douglas Fairbanks, but the two divorced in 1936. Mary passed away on the 29th May 1979 in Santa Monica, California USA.
