Lottie Pickford - Film Career

Film Career

In 1907 Mary adopted the stage name 'Mary Pickford' (her birth name was Gladys Louise Smith). The rest of the family adopted the Pickford name by the time they began appearing in films. Mary signed with D.W. Griffith's Biograph Company in 1909 and also secured work for her siblings. Between 1909 and 1910 Mary made 80 shorts, Jack made 28, and Lottie made 25. Of the three Pickfords, Lottie's talents were considered the weakest. Linda Arvidson said Mary had decided her sister was not pretty enough for films, and had done her best to keep her away from Biograph. However the Pickford family had always worked together, and Lottie was on the payroll. She often hung around sets, grabbed an odd role here or there, and would understudy for Mary.

When the Biograph Company departed for California, Pickford and her mother were left behind. She would eventually join her sister in California. As Mary became a bigger star Pickford's employment was a condition of her contracts.

Away from her sister, Pickford's first starring role came in 1914 in The House of Bondage. It was a vice film, with Pickford playing a prostitute. This greatly contrasted her sister's role as "America's Sweetheart". The film did not receive good reviews, being considered too crude. In 1915 Pickford made Fanchon, The Cricket. It is the only film in which all 3 Pickford siblings appear, and was thought lost until rediscovered in the British Film Institute by a fan.

Pickford then starred in The Diamond from the Sky serial (1915) although, to her humiliation, she was only given the role after Mary turned it down. A Photoplay article from around the time of the release declared her "Pickford The Second!" and compared her to her sister, albeit as a worthy sequel. However, the serial was jeopardized when she became pregnant by her husband. This incident put her on the unofficial Hollywood blacklist for a short time. Pickford only performed in 5 roles between 1915 and 1918, when she took a break from acting, most likely due to personal problems.

After her divorce she took a starring role in 1921's They Shall Pay which co-starred her future husband Allan Forrest. Pickford again took several years' time off from acting before returning in a minor role in her sister's 1924 film "Dorothy Vernon of Haddon Hall". She billed herself as Lottie Pickford Forrest. Her final role would be in her brother-in-law Douglas Fairbanks Sr.'s "Don Q Son of Zorro" in 1925. During her career Pickford starred in only 8 features while her brother starred in over 40 features.