Exit Smiling

Beatrice Lillie was born in 1894 in Toronto. Her father had been a British Army officer, then after the war he became an official in the Canadian government. Her mother was a concert singer Beatrice began performing with her and Muriel her older sister. They performed in Ontario towns as part of a family trio. Soon, the crowds grew as the critics began to notice a real talent. Beatrice, was beginning to stand apart from her mom and older sister - especially, when the trio performed in in comedies, Beatrice really stood apart. Her mom had sent her to Germany to study music when World War I broke out. Bea, was able to get to London where her mother and sister were. Beatrice began performing in London’s theatre district in search of a career as a ballad signer. Her first break came after she spoofed several popular ballads in her audition for “Not Likely”. As the war began to send more and more young men to the font, Lillie, with her androgynous good looks, found herself in the lucrative situation of male impersonator in wartime theatrical reviews. In a tuxedo, a top hat, and a greasepaint mustache Bea, was a superstar.

While in London Beatrice married British nobleman Robert Peel, a direct descendent of Prime Minister Robert Peel II. That same year, they had a child they named Robert Jr.

Then, in 1914, her mother had saved enough money and took the girls to London - where she performed on the famous West End Playhouse in a play entitled “Not Likely”. She was becoming famous for her stage work in light comedies.

In 1924, she first performed in New York, where she did sketches, sang songs and performed parodies and she received lavish praise in The New York Times.

Between 1924 and 1926 she performed in Britain and the US. A few of her best known bits were performing silly songs while over acting. A few of the names were "There are Fairies at the Bottom of our Garden" and "Mother Told Me So". She would sing: "Get Yourself a Geisha" and "Snoops the Lawyer", to showcase her exquisite sense of the absurd. One of her best and most popular comedy routines is "One Dozen Double Damask Dinner Napkins", (in which an increasingly confused patron attempts to purchase said napkins) earned her the frequently used label of "Funniest Woman in the World".

In 1926 she returned to New York City, auditioned and received her first silent movie role entitled: Exit Smiling, opposite fellow Canadian Jack Pickford.

Jack 2

jack 1

Jack Pickford was born in, 1896 Toronto as Jack Smith. He had 2 older sisters named Gladys and Lottie Smith. At about the age of 2 his alcoholic, father who had left the family a year earlier died of a blood clot caused by a workplace accident. Their mother had appeared in the earliest silent films of the 1910s and later became a seamstress while raising the children. After her husband’s death she allowed her oldest daughter Gladys to perform at theatres in Toronto. She did such a good job she was asked if she would be willing to perform in silent movies. While performing in movies was seen as a step down from the theater, Galdys felt it would be a nice change and with the money she was offered she could move the whole family to the United States. Upon arriving in the States and beginning her new movie career she had her mom manage her. She soon changed her name to Mary Pickford (an old family name).

Once Mary had signed a contract she helped secure jobs for both her sister and her 14-year-old brother, John. The movie company then decided to move to California and a tiny town called Hollywood. This would allow them the space to build big sets and use the open space to film larger scenes. Jack begged and pleaded to go along. Mary refused and protested. As the train was leaving the station Jack’s mom placed him on the train as it pulled away. When they arrived in California Mary had no choice to take care of him – so she asked around at the studio and John ended up acted in bit parts in a number of small films.

By 1917 Mary had become extremely famous and was making the studio millions. Mary’s mom had negotiated the first $1-million-dollar contract ever for her daughter. Mary then saw to it that her family was brought out to California and Jack was given a lucrative contract of his own. At this point Jack had performed in 95 short silent films. When the US entered WWI in 1918, Jack was asked to serve in the Navy. He was only in the service for under a year but, when he returned he found that all his roles had dried up. This could have been a result in his private life.

Despite his roles of “Boy Next Door” his personal life was becoming legendary in early Hollywood… - it was fueled by alcoholism, drug abuse and womanizing, culminating in severe alcoholism….the same that resulted in his father’s early death. By the 1920’s both his sisters had become alcoholics, all three likely inherited it from their father.

In 1926 he was asked to perform in what we now know would be his second to last film “Exit Smiling”.