An ardent pet lover, Mary was long affiliated with the National Catholic Society for Animal Welfare.
Became a star with the film Shoes (1916), as a poor slum girl.
Final decades were spent in abject poverty with horrific stories of being swindled, declared incompetent and living like a bag lady.
First became a fashion model, then a chorus girl in the Broadway revue "The Passing Show of 1914."
Mary was nearly killed in a two-car crash in 1917. Near death for ten days, a fragile operation on her forehead to lift the frontal bone saved her life.
Retired for marriage and tried to come back years later after her divorce, but the advent of sound hurt Mary's chances.
Silent-screen actress
Sister of actress Katherine MacDonald.
The 1929 stock market crash wiped her fortune out and she was left to appear in small, uncredited bit parts from 1931-1948. A second serious car accident ended her career for good.
Tried to publish a semi-autobiographical novel called "The Twisted Heart" in 1952 but ended up paying for the 200 copies she had published.