Mary Pickford
Subtitle: Hollywood and the new woman
By: Kathleen A. Feeley, University of Redlands
Series: Lives of American women; Lives of American women
Published: 2016
Language: eng
Number of pages: 204
ISBN-13: 9780813348056
Subjects: Women motion picture producers and directors; Motion picture actors and actresses; Biography; Motion picture producers and directors
Description: "On screen and off, movie star Mary Pickford personified the "New Woman" of the early 1900s--a moniker given to women who began to demand more autonomy inside and outside the home. Well educated and career-minded, these women also embraced the new mass culture in which consumption and leisure were seen to play a pivotal role in securing happiness. Mary Pickford: Hollywood and the New Woman examines Pickford's role in the rise of industrial capitalism and consumer culture, and uses her life and unprecedented career as a wildly popular actress and savvy film mogul to illustrate the opportunities and obstacles faced by American women during this time. Following Pickford's life from her childhood on stage to her rise as a powerful studio executive, this book gives an overview of her enduring contribution to American film and mass culture. It also explores her struggles to surpass her confining public film persona as "America's Sweetheart" with her creative and business achievements--mirroring how women, both then and today, must reconcile domestic life with professional aspirations and work"--
Notes: "1892-1979"--Cover.

Includes bibliographical references and index.
Table of contents: title: 1. From Gladys Smith to Mary Pickford: A Childhood on Stage and At Work, 1892-1909; title: 2. Pickford and the Moving Pictures: Creating the Art and Business of Film, 1909-1913; title: 3. A Star and a Producer are Born, 1913-1916; title: 4. America's Sweetheart and American Empire in the Age of the Great War, 1917-1920; title: 5. Mary and Doug: American Royalty, Hollywood Style, 1920-1926; title: 6. Weathering Personal, Industrial, and Economic Crises, 1927-1936; title: 7. Studio Executive and Philanthropist: A Life Beyond Performing, 1936-1979.