Mary Pickford and Douglas Fairbanks by Abbe

Reginald Denny and Sam Hardy

Reginald Denny (Reginald Leigh Dugmore, 1891-1967) and Sam Hardy (1883-1935) in THE NIGHT BIRD (1928), Denny’s last silent film. 

Samuel B. Hardy was a Yale man (1905x); he left college to go on stage, and made his Broadway début in THE FORTUNES OF THE KING (1904-5). He supported Douglas Fairbanks and Irene Fenwick in HAWTHORNE OF THE U.S.A. (1912) and appeared in the ZIEGFELD FOLLIES OF 1916 with Fanny Brice, Ina Claire, and Marion Davies.

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N.B. The member numbers follow The Internet Movie Database's list order announcing the Academy in January 1927.

6. Mary Pickford (Gladys Marie Smith, 1892-1979) of the Actors Branch. The photo is by Edwin Bower Hesser. 

Mary Pickford was one of the earliest film stars: by 1927, she had already been internationally famous for almost two decades. A co-founder of United Artists, it could be said that many aspects of Hollywood's notion of stardom were pioneered by -- and reflected the taste of -- "Little Mary" Pickford. 

She won the 1930 Academy Award for her first sound film, COQUETTE (1929). She was married to three film stars: Owen Moore 1911-20, Douglas Fairbanks (Sr.) 1920-36, and Charles "Buddy" Rogers 1937-79.

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N.B. The member numbers follow The Internet Movie Database's list order announcing the Academy in January 1927.

4. Harold Lloyd (1893-1971) of the Actors Branch, in a photo attributed to Russell Ball (1891-1942).

A comedy star of the same wattage as Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton, Lloyd specialized in a comedy of dangerous pratfalls — he was the “normal” youth in every group, the one whose disasters were both funny and educational.

The long sunset of his career was marked by continuing relevance in industry and Hollywood society circles; the Lloyds’ “Greenacres” was, like the Fairbankses’ “Pickfair,” a local showplace. 

He married his co-star Mildred Davis (1901-1969) in 1923.

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N.B. The member numbers follow The Internet Movie Database's list order announcing the Academy in January 1927.

3. Charles John "Jack" Holt (1888-1951) of the Actors Branch. The photo is by Evans Studio.

Just as Douglas Fairbanks Sr. was a model for aspects of both Batman and Superman, Jack Holt's stern profile was Chester Gould's inspiration for Dick Tracy.

A great Western star of the silent period, Holt was the father of Tim Holt (THE TREASURE OF THE SIERRA MADRE) and Jennifer Holt, notable for her seven marriages, one of them to William Bakewell.

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 N.B. The member numbers follow The Internet Movie Database's list order announcing the Academy in January 1927. 

2. Douglas Fairbanks (Sr.) (Douglas Elton Thomas Ullman, 1883-1939) of the Actors Branch (and first president of the Academy, 1927-29), shown here with his son Douglas Fairbanks Jr. (1909-2000).

The star of THE MYSTERY OF THE LEAPING FISH (1916) as Coke Ennyday -- not to mention 1918's SWAT THE KAISER -- by the end of the decade he had become a top film star. A founder of United Artists with Mary Pickford, Charlie Chaplin, and D.W. Griffith, during the 1920s Fairbanks went from strength to strength as an action/comedy star (THE MARK OF ZORRO, THE THREE MUSKETEERS, ROBIN HOOD, and THE IRON MASK, among others). Like Richard Barthelmess, his star waned during the 1930s.

He was married to Mary Pickford 1920-36.