Mary Pickford Cocktail

Published November 23, 2015 | By Pam

During the silent-movie era, a fresh-faced, golden-haired film star named Mary Pickford had charmed her way into America’s heart. Of her three marriages, the one to Douglas Fairbanks (her second) catapulted them both to royalty-status. Mary (born Gladys Louise Smith in 1892) got her start in acting at the tender age of eight-years-old, debuting on stage before moving on to silent film. She deplored the advent of “talkies”, claiming “adding sound to movies would be like adding lipstick to Venus de Milo.”

Time proved her wrong, of course, and she eventually became one of the highest paid actresses of her

time. She lived a fairy-tale life with Douglas Fairbanks, going into business with him with their own studio and doing charitable works, among them selling Liberty Bonds during World War 1. Their mansion, Pickfair, was quite renowned, and they often played hosts to Hollywood’s elite and dignitaries from around the world. Unfortunately, their lives and careers kept them constantly in the public eye, which led to their eventual divorce after sixteen years of marriage.

To have a cocktail named after her–during Prohibition, no less–is a tribute few could deny honored her at the time. In my first book of my Secret Six series, THE SPYGLASS PROJECT, Michael Malone orders the heroine, Gianna Mangiameli, a Mary Pickford at a speakeasy. (You can buy the ebook or print book here, from Amazon. Also available via other popular vendors.)