pickford girls Mary pickford (1892-1979) was an canadian actress, who the american film institute ranked as one of the top 50 screen legends of all time pickford is ranked as the 24th best actress, right behind #23 carole lombard and right before #25 ava gardner pickford’s imdb page shows 251 acting credits from 1909-1933 this page will rank 31 mary pickford movies from best to worst in six different.