Editing Mary Pickford (section)

=== Later years and death ===
After retiring from the screen, Pickford became an alcoholic, as her father had been. Her mother Charlotte died of breast cancer in March 1928. Her siblings, Jack and Lottie, died of alcohol-related causes in 1933 and 1936. These deaths, her divorce from Fairbanks, and the end of silent films left Pickford deeply depressed. Her relationship with her adopted children, Roxanne and Ronald, was turbulent at best. Pickford withdrew and gradually became a recluse, remaining almost entirely at Pickfair and allowing visits only from [[Lillian Gish]], her stepson [[Douglas Fairbanks Jr.]], and a few select others. In 1955, she published her memoirs, ''Sunshine and Shadow''.<ref name=Katz/> She had previously published ''Why Not Try God'' in 1934, an essay on spirituality and personal growth, ''My Rendezvous with Life'' (1935), an essay on death and her belief in an afterlife and also a novel in 1935, ''The Demi-Widow''.<ref name=Shipman/><ref name=varobit/>

In the mid-1960s, Pickford often received visitors only by telephone, speaking to them from her bedroom. [[Charles "Buddy" Rogers]] often gave guests tours of [[Pickfair]], including views of a genuine western bar Pickford had bought for Douglas Fairbanks, and a portrait of Pickford in the drawing room. A print of this image now hangs in the [[Library of Congress]].<ref name="ushistory"/> When Pickford received an [[Academy Honorary Award]] in 1976, the [[Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences|Academy]] sent a TV crew to her house to record her short statement of thanks—offering the public a very rare glimpse into Pickfair Manor.<ref>{{cite AV media |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3vXhqrbSeOE |title=The 48th Annual Academy Awards |date=March 29, 1976 |type=Television production |publisher=[[Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences]] |via=[[YouTube]]}}</ref> Charitable events continued to be held at Pickfair, including an annual Christmas party for blind war veterans, mostly from World War I.<ref name=varobit/>
[[File:Mary Pickford posing with a group of employees during her visit to the General Engineering Company (Canada) munitions factory (I0004930).tif|thumb|Mary Pickford posing with a group of employees during her visit to the General Engineering Company (Canada) munitions factory on June 5, 1943]]
Pickford acquired American citizenship when she married Fairbanks, an American citizen, in 1920. MGM agent William A. Orr reported to the US Congress in 1932 that Pickford was an American citizen.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TLEYAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA19 |page=19 |title=Hearings |publisher=[[United States House Judiciary Subcommittee on Immigration Integrity, Security, and Enforcement|Committee on Immigration and Naturalization]], US Congress |date=1932 }}</ref> Pickford also believed that she had ceased to be a [[British subject]] upon marrying Fairbanks.<ref>{{cite magazine |date=April 30, 1949|title=Mary Pickford Files TV Bid |magazine=Billboard |page=14|issn=0006-2510}}</ref> However, she held and traveled under British and later Canadian passports which she renewed regularly at the British and Canadian consulates in Los Angeles. She also owned a house in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Towards the end of her life, Pickford made arrangements with the Canadian Department of Citizenship to officially acquire Canadian citizenship because she wished to "die as a Canadian". Canadian authorities were not sure that she had ever lost her Canadian citizenship, given her passport status, but her request was approved and she officially became a Canadian citizen.<ref>{{cite book|last=Colombo|first=John Robert|title=Fascinating Canada: A Book of Questions and Answers|year=2011|publisher=Dundurn|isbn=978-1-55488-923-5|page=[https://archive.org/details/fascinatingcanad0000colo/page/20 20]|url=https://archive.org/details/fascinatingcanad0000colo/page/20}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=YJlVAAAAIBAJ&pg=2767,848052&dq=mary+pickford+citizenship&hl=en|title=City, fans honor Mary Pickford|date=May 18, 1983|work=The Leader-Post|pages=D–8|access-date=November 26, 2012}}</ref>

[[File:Mary Pickford Tomb.JPG|thumb|The tomb of actress Mary Pickford in the Garden of Memory, Forest Lawn Glendale]]
On May 29, 1979, Pickford died at a [[Santa Monica, California|Santa Monica]] hospital of complications from a [[cerebral hemorrhage]] she had suffered the week before.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1964&dat=19790530&id=GkgjAAAAIBAJ&pg=6637,4772311|archive-url=https://archive.today/20130124175355/http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1964&dat=19790530&id=GkgjAAAAIBAJ&sjid=Kc0FAAAAIBAJ&pg=6637,4772311|url-status=dead|archive-date=January 24, 2013|title=Mary Pickford Is Dead at 86|date=May 30, 1979|work=The Palm Beach Post|access-date=November 26, 2012}}</ref> She was interred in the Garden of Memory of the [[Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Glendale)|Forest Lawn Memorial Park]] cemetery in [[Glendale, California]].