Mary Pickford

The centennial of the birth of Mary Pickford, "America's Sweetheart" and motion picture pioneer, will be honored with a tribute May 25 at 8 p.m. at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, 8949 Wilshire Blvd. Hosted by former Times film critic Sheila Benson, the program will feature discussion with Pickford's friends and colleagues, an extensive selection of film clips, and the screening of a Pickford feature, yet to be announced, with live musical accompaniment.

Mary Pickford and Douglas Fairbanks worked there. So did Charlie Chaplin, Marilyn Monroe, Elizabeth Taylor, Clark Gable, Marlon Brando and practically everyone else. Soon, though, wrecking crews will be at work at the storied West Hollywood movie lot at the corner of Santa Monica Boulevard and Formosa Avenue. Once known as the Warner Hollywood Studio, it's now called "The Lot. " Its new owner, CIM Group, intends to raze its aging wooden office buildings and sound-dubbing stages and replace them with glass-and-steel structures.

Mary Pickford started out as "America's Sweetheart," then realized the power of her popularity and turned herself into a mogul. Her career, like that of others in Hollywood, could have worn the brand "Only in America." The Bowers Museum of Cultural Art in Santa Ana offers a look at the silent movie star tonight in a program featuring five of her early shorts, all made between 1909 and 1912.

A clutch of city officials and film industry promoters gathered on the same lot in east Hollywood where Mary Pickford once worked to celebrate a rare occurrence: the opening of a new soundstage in Los Angeles. Occidental Entertainment Group Holdings, the Hollywood owner of a dozen local soundstages and other entertainment businesses, unveiled a 14,000-square-foot, 54-foot-high soundstage Monday on the historic lot, along with 6,000 square feet of office space and hair, makeup and dressing rooms.

Buddy Rogers, the silent screen matinee idol and bandleader who spent half his life tending the lady and legend known as America's Sweetheart and the world's first real movie star, Mary Pickford, died Wednesday. He was 94. Rogers died at his home in Rancho Mirage, said his godson, Keith Lawrence.

Blame it on Mary Pickford. If not for the silent screen star's insistence on bringing fellow actors to an event in her honor, most Hollywood types might still be banned from A-list soirees. "You are all suffering from something she started -- having to buy a lot of tickets to events that recognize all kinds of people in the industry," honorary Hollywood Mayor Johnny Grant told guests at the Women of Distinction Awards.

To celebrate the centennial of the birth of Mary Pickford, who was born Gladys Smith in Toronto on April 8, 1893, the Silent Movie, 611 N. Fairfax Ave., will present on Wednesday at 8 p.m. "Stella Maris" (1918) and "A Poor Little Rich Girl" (1917). "The Little Princess" (1918) and "M'Liss" (1918) screen Friday and Saturday at 8 p.m.

Mary Pickford is a bit of a surprise. Everyone knows the legendary actress' name and her famous Beverly Hills mansion Pickfair, but not many know exactly what she accomplished. "Basically, she was one of the most important women in film history," says Elaina Archer, who manages the Mary Pickford Library for the Mary Pickford Foundation. "It's kind of sad that people are just starting to realize it just now in a lot of ways."

There had been stage stars and eminent personalities before Mary Pickford, but they were assumed to be exceptional and inimitable. Mary Pickford not only radiated a universal feminine humanity, she also was accessible in a way no famous person had been before: You could feel you knew her, albeit through celluloid, by going around the corner to the neighborhood nickelodeon. Movies in their infancy were more than entertainment; they were a window on a new world.

Over the years, the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra's annual Silent Film Gala has showcased the classic comedies of such beloved movie clowns as Charlie Chaplin, Buster Keaton and Harold Lloyd. This year, the Silent Film Gala is screening a romantic farce starring Mary Pickford. Although the golden-haired "America's sweetheart" is best known for her dramatic work in such silent classics as "Stella Maris" and "Tess of the Storm Country," Pickford could also cut loose on screen.

Before I explain how I happened to be in Hugh Hefner's bedroom last week, let me start at the beginning. I bumped into L.A. City Councilman Tom LaBonge at the supermarket recently and asked if he'd had any clue that Hefner was going to save the day a couple of weeks ago by donating the last $900,000 needed to purchase the peak surrounding the Hollywood sign and keep it from being plundered by developers. LaBonge said no, but he hated to think what would have happened without Hefner's generosity.

Films may have been silent a century ago, but the film projectors weren't. Back in 1909, projectionists would stand in the middle of a venue and hand crank 10-minute one-reelers. Some moviegoers would even sit near the projector because they liked the intermittent click-click sound of the cranking. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences is re-creating the sights and the sounds of the moviegoing experience 100 years ago with its "A Century Ago: The Films of 1909 -- The Stars Are Born" on Monday evening and "A Century Ago: The First Films of Mary Pickford" on Tuesday.

Toronto, Canada, 1900. Little Gladys Smith is waiting for her cue to go on, her heart pounding fiercely. The curtain is about to go up! Mama had helped her with her lines so she is letter perfect, even though she can't read. Not long ago, her father had passed away. She thinks, "I must try to take my father's place . . . and prevent anything from breaking up my family." She thinks she can do this by making money acting in plays. She is 7 years old and is paid $8 a week.

And the Oscar for best Hollywood courtroom drama goes to . . . the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. The golden statuette was awarded Monday by a Los Angeles Superior Court jury, which ruled that if Mary Pickford's heirs want to sell it, they have to offer it to academy officials for $10 instead of auctioning it off for as much as $800,000.

Known as Hollywood's White House, Pickfair was the home of the movie colony's first lady, 1920s silent-screen star Mary Pickford, and her swashbuckling husband, actor Douglas Fairbanks. Royals and rascals, artists and athletes made the Wallace Neff-designed residence (believed to be the first in L.A. with a built-in swimming pool) the social center of the city.

On Oscar night in 1929, movie legend Mary Pickford -- with her bob hairdo and strapless beaded evening gown -- posed for photos after accepting the Academy Awards' first best actress award for a talking movie. It was a big night for Pickford, who had become "America's sweetheart" as a silent film star and with the melodrama "Coquette" was making the leap into talkies. Almost 80 years later, Pickford's prized statuette is now at the center of another kind of drama.

'Looks a little like a hotel up there these days," Charles (Buddy) Rogers said the other afternoon, gazing from a sunny sitting room uphill toward the looming beige bulk of Pickfair, the legendary estate that Mary Pickford and Douglas Fairbanks Sr. began to build at the start of their marriage in 1920, and that was Buddy's home for the 42 years of his marriage to Mary. "When Mary was about to leave on her journey to heaven," Rogers recalls, "she said, 'Will you live on here?'

Films may have been silent a century ago, but the film projectors weren't. Back in 1909, projectionists would stand in the middle of a venue and hand crank 10-minute one-reelers. Some moviegoers would even sit near the projector because they liked the intermittent click-click sound of the cranking. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences is re-creating the sights and the sounds of the moviegoing experience 100 years ago with its "A Century Ago: The Films of 1909 -- The Stars Are Born" on Monday evening and "A Century Ago: The First Films of Mary Pickford" on Tuesday.

More arts and entertainment coverage on the Web. It's like putting Julia Roberts' Oscar on the auction block! The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences will bar the sale of two Oscars awarded to Hollywood legend Mary Pickford. "America's first sweetheart" reigned supreme during the early years of moviemaking with a clean-cut demeanor. COURT FILES There's something about Mary AND… Model. Singer. Action heroine. Milla Jovovich has a new item on the résumé: a clothing line for Target.

MARY Pickford was more than the silent film star known as "America's Sweetheart" in the early 1900s. She was also a smartie who helped to create United Artists film studios and the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Even more than all that, she was royalty in an era when movie stars were America's equivalent of kings and queens. Her marriage to actor Douglas Fairbanks was the nation's hottest, most publicized romance.