Motion pictures have been a part of the culture of Canada since the industry began.
Around 1910, the East Coast filmmakers began to take advantage of California winters, and after Nestor Studios, run by Canadian Al Christie, built the first permanent movie studio in Hollywood, a number of the movie companies expanded or relocated to the new Hollywood. At the same time, because there was no sound in movies, several French filmmakers had their motion pictures distributed in America.
Among those Canadians who took part in the early years of Hollywood were:
Allakariallak (1890s–1924?), Inuit actor and subject of "Nanook of the North"
Charles Arling (1880–1922), actor
Earl W. Bascom (1906-1995), actor, artist, worked with Roy Rogers, worked on Louis B. Mayer's ranch in Perris, California
William Bertram (1880–1933), actor, director
Ben Blue (1901–1975), actor, comedian
Raymond Burr (1917–1993), actor; Perry Mason, Ironside
Jack Carson (1910–1963), actor
Al Christie (1881–1951), co-founder of Christie Film Company, director/producer/screenwriter
Charles Christie (1880–1955), co-founder of Christie Film Company; builder of Hollywood's first luxury hotel
Berton Churchill (1876–1940), actor
Joe De Grasse (1873–1940), director
Sam De Grasse (1875–1953), actor
Fifi D'Orsay (1904–1983), actress
Marie Dressler (1869–1934), Academy Award for Best Actress
Douglass Dumbrille (1889–1974), moving and television actor
Deanna Durbin (1921–2013), actress, singer
Allan Dwan (1885–1981), director, producer, screenwriter
Edward Earle (1882–1972), actor
Rockliffe Fellowes (1883–1950), actor
Glenn Ford (1916–2006), actor
John Harvey Gahan (1888–1958), as Oscar Gahan, actor, musician, composer; Canada's child prodigy violinist, aka Arvé
Huntley Gordon (1887–1956), actor
Lorne Greene (1915–1987), actor; played Ben Cartwight, Commander Adama
Harry Hayden (1882–1955), actor
Del Henderson (1883–1956), actor, director, writer
Walter Huston (1884–1950), Academy Award winning actor
May Irwin (1862–1938), actor, first screen kiss in 1896
Victor Jory (1902–1982), actor
Ruby Keeler (1909–1993), dancer, actress
Barbara Kent (1906–2011), actress
Florence La Badie (1888–1917), actress
Florence Lawrence (1886–1938), "America's first movie star"
Beatrice Lillie (1894–1989), actress
Gene Lockhart (1891–1957), actor
Del Lord (1894–1970), comedy director
Wilfred Lucas (1871–1940), director, screenwriter, actor
Henry MacRae (1876–1944), director, producer, screenwriter, actor
Raymond Massey (1896–1983), actor
Louis B. Mayer (1885–1957), co–founder of Metro Goldwyn Mayer Motion Picture Studios
Bob Nolan (1908–1980), singer/actor in western musicals as leader of "The Sons of the Pioneers"
Sidney Olcott (1873–1949), director
Jack Pickford (1896–1933), actor, Hollywood's first "Bad Boy"
Lottie Pickford (1893–1936), actress
Mary Pickford (1892–1979), "America's Sweetheart," Academy Award for Best Actress, co–founder of United Artists
Walter Pidgeon (1897–1984), actor
Marie Prevost (1898–1937), actress
William Quinn (1884–1965), actor
Mack Sennett (1880–1960), director, known as the "King of Comedy"
Athole Shearer (1900–1985), actress, wife of director Howard Hawks
Douglas Shearer (1899–1971), sound director/designer, winner of seven Academy Awards
Norma Shearer (1902–1983), Academy Award for Best Actress
Nell Shipman (1892–1970), actress, writer, producer
Jay Silverheels (1912–1980), actor known for his portrayal of Tonto, sidekick to the Lone Ranger
Ned Sparks (1883–1957), actor
Richard Travers (1885–1935), actor
Jack L. Warner (1892–1978), co-founder of Warner Brothers
Marjorie White (1904–1935), actress
Joseph Wiseman (1918–2009), actor
Fay Wray (1907–2004), actress
In his book Stardust and Shadows: Canadians in Early Hollywood, Charles Foster recounted his experiences meeting some of these Canadians while on leave from the Royal Air Force during World War II. Foster visited Hollywood where he was introduced to Canadian and silent movie director Sidney Olcott. Through Olcott he learned of Hollywood's Canadian community. Although total strangers, young Foster was welcomed with open arms. This social gathering of "Canucks" also included Walter Pidgeon, Deanna Durbin, Fifi D'Orsay, and others who worked in the movie business.
Several of these Canadian pioneers achieved enormous wealth and worldwide fame, such as Louis B. Mayer and Mary Pickford who were, in their day, two of the most powerful personalities in Hollywood. From the late 1920s to the mid-1930s, Canadian female actresses were amongst the greatest box office draws. The Academy Award for Best Actress was won by Canadian women three years in a row:
1929 - Mary Pickford in Coquette
1930 - Norma Shearer in The Divorcee
1931 - Marie Dressler in Min and Bill
Foster recounts the feelings and deep loyalty of Louis B. Mayer. Although he had become a naturalized American citizen, Mayer was known to hire Canadian compatriots on the spot, as Saint John, New Brunswick native Walter Pidgeon later recalled:
Several Canadian expatriates also saw their careers decline and died before the age of 55. Florence Lawrence, the "first real movie star", the Biograph Girl in Hollywood history, who appeared in more than 270 movies, committed suicide at the age of 52. She is buried in unmarked grave in the Hollywood Cemetery. Marie Prevost, who was a leading lady during the mid-1920s, suffered from depression after the death of her mother in 1926. In 1937, she died of acute alcoholism and malnutrition at the age of 38. Florence La Badie died of injuries she sustained in a car accident in August 1917 at the age of 29. Jack Pickford, Mary Pickford's younger brother, died at age 36 from what was then known as multiple neuritis, while his sister Lottie died of a heart attack at age 43.