Book description
Mary Pickfords ambition, passion, innate talent, and savvy business
acumen sent her career into the stratosphere and set the blueprint for
the modern movie star. Born Gladys Louise Smith in 1892, Pickford was
raised in a house on University Avenue in Toronto and began her acting
career on the stage. However, her determination led her to the new
world of motion pictures, where she not only revolutionized acting
method but negotiated her own terms for the highest salary for any
actress and complete creative control over her films unheard of
behaviour for a woman of that period.
Pickford co-founded United Artists in 1919 with Douglas Fairbanks
and Charlie Chaplin, which turned the existing studio system on its
head. The actresss subsequent marriage to Fairbanks incited a fan
frenzy comparable to todays obsession with couples like Brad Pitt and
Angelina Jolie. Although Pickfords star faded with the advent of
talking pictures, she was the catalyst for the culture of Hollywood
celebrity that enthralls us today.
"Whether you are Canadian or American, this is a great read, not
only about the life of Mary Pickford but an inside look at the birth of
the movie industry." Peggy Dymond Leavey's ten previous books
include
Sky Lake Summer
,
The Deep End Gang
, and
The Path Through the Trees
, all of which have been nominated for the Silver Birch Award. She has
also been shortlisted for the Manitoba Young Readers' Choice award, the
Arthur Ellis Award, and the Canadian Library Association Book of the
Year for Children Award. Her most recent book, Growing Up Ivy, was
published by Dundurn in 2010.
A retired librarian, Peggy has published stories and articles in
newspapers and magazines and was contributing editor on three books of
local history. Her interest in the pioneers of early motion pictures
began with her research into the movie industry of her hometown,
Trenton, Ontario - Canada's filmmaking capital from 1917-1934. Writing
the life of Mary Pickford was a natural progression.
Visit Peggy at
www. peggydymondleavey. com
