She was hired by D.W Griffiths at Biograph, appearing in her first film
The Lonely Villa (or
Her First Biscuits depending on the source) only after insisting on better terms than Griffiths originally offered. From the first, Pickford knew her worth as an actress and expected to be paid accordingly. Deborah G. Felder in
The 100 Most Influential Women of All Time quoted producer Samuel Goldwyn as saying, "It took longer to make one of Mary's contracts than it did to make one of her pictures." This was a hallmark of her career, though it was considered unladylike and aggressive at the time. Pickford was still her family's primary source of income.
The public began to notice Pickford, dubbed "Little Mary" after some of the titles in the films. (There were no credits in films at this time.) She had a rare ability to silently express emotion. Pickford became known as the "Biograph Girl" and she appeared in over 100 Biograph films. Pickford was typecast as the moppet girl with hair full of curls (some of which were fakes bought from prostitutes for $50). As Felder wrote in The 100 Most Influential Women, "Her screen image--childlike, sweet, demure, with a touch of mischievousness, and a great deal of spunk--belongs to a completely different era.
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