(Booton generously shared his hours of interviews with Frances with me for my book, Without Lying Down.) Not included, but just as important, are trades such as Film Daily, Variety and newspapers of the day.īalio, Tino.

I also find Booton Herndon’s biography of Mary and Doug illuminating because he wrote it at a time when he was able to interview several of Pickford’s closest friends, including Frances Marion. Some are better than others, needless to say, with Kevin Brownlow at the head of the class. (For instance, one book mentions Lottie being in California in 1910, but Mary, in Sunshine and Shadow, says only she and Jack were there.)īelow is a bibliography listing some of the books I have used for these articles and over the years in my research. If you think there is a factual error, please let me know. I also hope the articles motivate a conversation of sorts. She was a woman in a man’s world who learned to effectively use her power at a time when there were no paths to follow.

I am not looking to put her on a pedestal nor make her larger than life, but I find the risks she took and her dedication to her craft inspiring and I hope others do too. They are not designed to be a complete biography of Pickford by any means, rather a chance to revisit aspects of her life and times. The purpose of these articles is to examine and explore aspects of Mary Pickford’s life, as well as those of her friends and colleagues, within the context of their time and culture.

Pickford by Eileen Whitfield