Gladys Louise Smith, baptised as Gladys Marie Smith, known professionally as Mary Pickford, was a Canadian American film actress and producer. A pioneer in the American film industry with a Hollywood career spanning five decades, Pickford was one of the most popular actresses of the silent film era. Beginning her film career in 1909, Pickford became Hollywood's first millionaire by 1916, and, at the height of her career, had complete creative control of her films and was one of the most recognizable women in the world. Due to her popularity, unprecedented international fame, and success as an actress and businesswoman, she was known as the "Queen of the Movies". She was a significant figure in the development of film acting and is credited with having defined the ingénue type in cinema, a persona that also earned her the nickname "America's Sweetheart".
Biography from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Also born on April 8
- Robin Wright1966 · American actress
- Patricia Arquette1968 · American actress
- Kofi Annan1938 · UN Secretary-General from 1997 to 2006
- Chris Kyle1974 · American sniper
- Philip IV of Spain1605 · King of Spain (1621–1665) and Portugal
- Vivienne Westwood1941 · British fashion designer
- Albert I of Belgium1875 · King of the Belgians from 1909 to 1934
- Betty Ford1918 · First Lady of the United States from 1974 to 1977
Also born in 1892
- J. R. R. Tolkien1892 · English writer and philologist
- Francisco Franco1892 · Leader of Francoist Spain from 1939 to 1975
- Josip Broz Tito1892 · Leader of Yugoslavia from 1943 to 1980
- Haile Selassie1892 · Emperor of Ethiopia from 1930 to 1974
- Manfred von Richthofen1892 · German World War I flying ace
- J. Paul Getty1892 · American industrialist
- Walter Benjamin1892 · German cultural critic, philosopher and social critic
- Pearl S. Buck1892 · American writer