Hello one and all!
Today my topic is Jack Pickford, the film star who had a checkered existence. The twists and turns in his story almost seems like fiction but are in fact true. Without further ado I'll describe it for you.
Jack Pickford
Jack Pickford was the brother of one of the most famous silent movie stars and “Queen of the movies” Mary Pickford. He had a moderately successful career as an actor and in 1916 married rising star of the silver screen, Olive Thomas, who was lauded as the most beautiful woman in the world. Two years later he joined the navy and became part of a scheme where he helped others avoid military service. He was court-martialed for his involvement in this but got a medical discharge when he turned state witness (some rumoured that Mary intervened to help him).
By 1920 Jack and Olive had marital troubles and they went on a European tour to try and mend it. One Saturday night they returned from a party bleary eyed and unsteady (both of them shared a love of fun, alcohol and apparently drugs). Back in their hotel room, Jack went to sleep but Olive could not rest, and half an hour later she groped around in the darkness for her sleeping pills. She emptied the whole bottle. They weren’t sleeping pills though-what she swallowed was biochloride of mercury, at that time a treatment for syphilis. Olive’s shrieks of “My God” woke Jack and he jumped out of bed to try and let her vomit it out. Her screams continued though as the pills burned through her throat and stomach from the inside.
Olive’s death was drawn out, taking five painful days. On the ship home the morose Jack tried throw himself off the ship. When he arrived back home a number of the major newspapers suspected him of murder, it was the first trial by media. The publications noted that before they sailed, Olive had made a will that left Jack Pickford all her money. These accusations dogged him and he turned to heavy drinking and he let himself go. He frequently could be seen flying his plane in low swoops over Los Angeles, with his concerned sister looking on. In 1933, at the age of 36, he died from multiple neuritis which attacked all the nerve centers, most likely from his extremely heavy drinking, in the same hospital in which Olive had died.
Thank you so much for reading!
Sources:
Berkeley Daily Gazette - Jan 4, 1933
Pickford: The Woman Who Made Hollywood
Today my topic is Jack Pickford, the film star who had a checkered existence. The twists and turns in his story almost seems like fiction but are in fact true. Without further ado I'll describe it for you.
Jack Pickford
Jack Pickford was the brother of one of the most famous silent movie stars and “Queen of the movies” Mary Pickford. He had a moderately successful career as an actor and in 1916 married rising star of the silver screen, Olive Thomas, who was lauded as the most beautiful woman in the world. Two years later he joined the navy and became part of a scheme where he helped others avoid military service. He was court-martialed for his involvement in this but got a medical discharge when he turned state witness (some rumoured that Mary intervened to help him).
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| Jack Pickford and Olive Thomas. |
By 1920 Jack and Olive had marital troubles and they went on a European tour to try and mend it. One Saturday night they returned from a party bleary eyed and unsteady (both of them shared a love of fun, alcohol and apparently drugs). Back in their hotel room, Jack went to sleep but Olive could not rest, and half an hour later she groped around in the darkness for her sleeping pills. She emptied the whole bottle. They weren’t sleeping pills though-what she swallowed was biochloride of mercury, at that time a treatment for syphilis. Olive’s shrieks of “My God” woke Jack and he jumped out of bed to try and let her vomit it out. Her screams continued though as the pills burned through her throat and stomach from the inside.
 |
| Jack and his older sister Mary. |
Olive’s death was drawn out, taking five painful days. On the ship home the morose Jack tried throw himself off the ship. When he arrived back home a number of the major newspapers suspected him of murder, it was the first trial by media. The publications noted that before they sailed, Olive had made a will that left Jack Pickford all her money. These accusations dogged him and he turned to heavy drinking and he let himself go. He frequently could be seen flying his plane in low swoops over Los Angeles, with his concerned sister looking on. In 1933, at the age of 36, he died from multiple neuritis which attacked all the nerve centers, most likely from his extremely heavy drinking, in the same hospital in which Olive had died.
Thank you so much for reading!
Sources:
Berkeley Daily Gazette - Jan 4, 1933
Pickford: The Woman Who Made Hollywood
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