Wednesday, June 8, 2011

Old Postcard Wednesday--The Doug and Mary Home, Beverly Hills, California


Squidoo has the most excellent and extensive online information titled: 
I am so confident that you will find just about everything you would want to know about the famous Hollywood couple and their glorious Pickfair at the link above that I am not going to extract pieces of the text or videos to place in this post. Instead, I have found some images of them that I thought especially compelling to post below, and then will call this OPW post a wrap. After you visit the marvelous website with its complete timeline about Pickfair and its place in Hollywood history, plus lots of great videos and images, come back and let me know your impressions...if you have time or inclination to do so. Either way, have a great tour of a piece of Hollywood's golden past.


Mary Pickford (April 8, 1892 - May 29, 1979) was a Canadian motion picture star, as well as a co-founder of the film studio United Artists and one of the original 36 founders of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Known as "America's Sweetheart," "Little Mary" and "The girl with the curls," she was one of the first Canadian pioneers in early Hollywood and one of film's greatest pioneers. Her influence in the development of film acting was enormous. Because her international fame was triggered by moving images, she is a watershed figure in the history of modern celebrity. And as one of silent film's most important performers and producers, her contract demands were central to shaping the Hollywood industry. In consideration of her contributions to American cinema, the American Film Institute named Pickford 24th among the greatest female stars of all time. [Source: Squidoo]

Douglas Elton Ullman was born on May 23, 1883 in Denver Colorado where his attorney father Hezekiah Charles Ullman had a law practice and mining interests. In 1888 Hezikiah Ullman walked out leaving Douglas' mother Ella to bring up the family who reverted to the name Fairbanks, the surname of her dead first husband.

Douglas Fairbanks began acting in Denver am dram before moving to New York with a Broadway debut in 1902. Like many aspiring actors, Douglas had a second job: he was a store clerk.

In 1907 Doug married Anna Beth Sully with whom he had one son, Douglas Fairbanks Jr - born December 9, 1909. The family moved to California in 1915 but Fairbanks and Scully divorced in 1918, although legal disputes rumbled on for a couple of years. Douglas Fairbanks Jr lived with his mother, but his father Douglas Fairbanks Senior and his [Sr] wife Mary Pickford encouraged Douglas Jr to follow his own acting career. [Source: Squidoo]







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6 comments:

Kathe W. said...

ah good old Hollywood.

mythopolis said...

Love the photo of Pickford, Fairbanks seems like a jerk in contrast.....

Lydia said...

Kathe~ Yeah, the stuff of dreams...

mythopolis~ I agree. Didn't know all that much about their relationship until reading before this post. Evidently, later on he was unfaithful and they divorced. She remarried and it lasted until death. She sure was a beauty, and so very saavy.

Don't Feed The Pixies said...

great photos - especially the one of Mary Pickford. Its interesting in some ways: the studios turned out picture after picture often on shoestring budgets - there must have been some dross along the way - and yet: so many classics

Lydia said...

Pixies~ She was a beauty. What an interesting observation you make about studios/classics made. :)

Lydia said...

Pixies~ She was a beauty. What an interesting observation you make about the studios/classics made. :)

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