Douglas Fairbanks
Douglas Fairbanks (
May 23,
1883 –
December 12,
1939) was an
American actor,
screenwriter,
director and
producer, who became noted for his swashbuckling roles in
silent movies such as
The Mark of Zorro (
1920),
The Three Musketeers (
1921),
Robin Hood (
1922),
The Thief of Bagdad (
1924) and
The Black Pirate (
1926).
He was born
Julius Ullman in
Denver,
Colorado, the son of Hezekiah Charles Ullman (born September
1833) and Ella Adelaide Marsh (born
1850). His half-brother was John Fairbanks (born
1873); and his full brother was Robert Payne Ullman (
March 13,
1882-
February 22,
1948).
Fairbank's father, who was born in
Pennsylvania to a
Jewish family, was a prominent
New York attorney. His mother (a
Roman Catholic) was born in New York, and was previously married to a man named John Fairbanks, who left her a widow. She then married a man named Wilcox, who turned out to be abusive. Her divorce was handled by Ullman, who she later married.
In about
1881, Charles Ullman purchased several mining interests in the
Rocky Mountains and relocated the family to Denver, where he re-established his law practice. Ullman abandoned the family when Douglas was five years old, and he and Robert were raised by their mother.
Douglas Fairbanks began acting on the Denver
stage at an early age, doing amateur theatre. He was in
summer stock at the Elitch Gardens Theatre, becoming a sensation in his teens. He attended East Denver High School, and was once expelled for dressing up the campus statues on
St. Patrick's Day. He left during his senior year. He said he attended
Colorado School of Mines, then
Harvard University for a term. No record of attendance has been located, but an article about whether or not he attended Mines recounts a professor once saying Fairbanks was asked to leave because of a prank not long after he began.
He moved to
New York in the early
1900s to pursue an acting
career. He worked in a hardware store and as a clerk in a
Wall Street office before his
Broadway debut in
1902.
On
July 11,
1907 in
Watch Hill,
Rhode Island, he married Anna Beth Sully, the daughter of wealthy industrialist, Daniel J. Sully. They had one son, Douglas Elton Fairbanks (actor
Douglas Fairbanks, Jr., who was born on
December 9,
1909 and who died on
May 7,
2000). The family moved to
Hollywood in
1915.
Fairbanks signed a
contract with
Triangle Pictures and began working under the supervision of
D.W. Griffith. His athletic abilities were not appreciated by Griffith, however, and he was brought to the attention of
Anita Loos and
John Emerson, who wrote and directed many of his early romantic comedies.
He met actress and businesswoman
Mary Pickford at a party in
1916 and they began having an affair. In
1917, they, along with
Charlie Chaplin, traveled across the U.S. by train selling
war bonds. Pickford and Chaplin were then the two highest paid
movie stars in Hollywood. Fairbanks set up his own production company, the
Douglas Fairbanks Film Corporation. Within eighteen months of his arrival, Fairbanks' popularity and business acumen raised him up to be the third highest paid. To curtail these stars' astronomical salaries, the large
studios attempted to monopolize the distributors and exhibitors.
On
December 1,
1918 in
New Rochelle, New York, Beth won an interlocutory decree of divorce from Fairbanks, as well as custody of their son. The record of testimony referred to the co-respondent as "an unknown woman." The decree was made final
March 5,
1919.
To avoid being controlled by the studios and to protect their independence, Fairbanks, Pickford, Chaplin, and D.W. Griffith formed
United Artists in 1919, which created their own distributorships and gave them complete artistic control over their movies and the profits generated. The company was kept solvent in the years immediately after its formation largely from the success of Fairbank's films.
Fairbanks was determined to have Pickford become his wife, but she was still married to actor
Owen Moore. They were both concerned about bad publicity and the effect it could have on the moviegoing public, who might boycott their efforts at the theater should they marry each other. He finally gave her an ultimatum. She then obtained a fast divorce in the small
Nevada town of
Minden on
March 2,
1920. Fairbanks leased the Beverly Hills mansion
Grayhall and was rumoured to have used it during his courtship of Pickford. (Grayhall was subsequently owned by, among others, the financier
Bernard Cornfeld.)
The couple were married
March 28,
1920, by the pastor of Temple Baptist Church, at his residence on West Fourth Street in
Los Angeles. Pickford's divorce from Moore was contested by Nevada legislators, however, and the dispute was not settled until
1922. Even though the lawmakers objected to the marriage, the public went wild over the idea of "Everybody's Hero" marrying "America's Sweetheart." The couple was greeted by crowds of up to 300,000 people in
London and
Paris during their
European honeymoon, becoming Hollywood's first celebrity marriage.
During the years they were married, Fairbanks and Pickford were regarded as "Hollywood Royalty," and they were famous for entertaining at their
Beverly Hills estate,
Pickfair.
By
1920, Fairbanks had completed twenty-nine two-reel comedies, which showcased his ebullient screen persona and athletic ability. By 1920, he had the inspiration of staging a new type of adventure-costume picture, a genre that was then out of favor with the public. In the
The Mark of Zorro, Fairbanks combined his appealing screen persona with the new adventureous, costume element. It was a smash success and parlayed the actor into the rank of
superstar. For the remainder of his career in silent films, he continued to produce and star in ever more elaborate, impressive costume movies. Fairbanks spared no expense and effort in these films, which established the standard for all future swashbucking films.
In
1921, he, Pickford, friend Chaplin, and others, helped organize the
Motion Picture Fund to assist those in the industry who could not work, or were unable to meet their bills.
During the first ceremony of its type, he and Pickford placed their hand and foot prints in wet cement at the newly opened
Grauman's Chinese Theatre in Hollywood on
April 30,
1927. Fairbanks was elected first President of the
Motion Picture Academy of Arts and Sciences that same year, and he hosted the first
Academy Awards presentation (then held as a banquet, rather than today's big ceremony).
His last silent film was
The Iron Mask (
1929). Although Fairbanks flourished in the silent film genre, the restrictions of early sound films dulled his enthusiasm for movie-making. Also, his althletic abilities and general health began to decline at this time, in part due to years of heavy chain-smoking. He and Pickford then made their first
talkie, playing Petruchio and Kate in
Shakespeare's
The Taming of the Shrew (
1929). This film, and his subsequent sound films, were poorly received by the public. The last movie he acted in was the British production
The Private Life of Don Juan (
1934), after which he retired from the movie industry.
There is a witty reference to him in the David Lean film 'A Passage to India' (set in Edwardian India) in which one of the characters performs acrobatic feats on the side of a train calling, "I am Douglas Fairbanks!"
After he began an affair with
Sylvia Ashley, Fairbanks and Pickford separated in
1933. Fairbanks, Sr. and Pickford divorced in
1936, with her keeping Pickfair. On
March 7,
1936, in
Paris,
France, he and Ashley were married. His final years were lived in retirement at 705 Ocean Front (now
Pacific Coast Highway) in
Santa Monica, California, although much of their time together was spent traveling abroad.
At the age of 56, Fairbanks died of a heart attack in his sleep, at his home in Santa Monica. His funeral service was held at the Wee Kirk o' the Heather Church at
Forest Lawn Memorial Park in
Glendale, where he was placed in a crypt in the Great Mausoleum. He was subsequently removed from Forest Lawn by his widow, who commissioned an elaborate monument for him, with long rectangular reflecting pool, raised tomb, and classic
Greek architecture, at the
Hollywood Forever Cemetery. The remains of his son were also interred here upon his death in 2000.
Douglas Fairbanks' hand and foot prints are immortalized in the forecourt of
Grauman's Chinese Theatre and he has a star on the
Hollywood Walk of Fame at 7020 Hollywood Boulevard.
*
Free ebook of Douglas Fairbanks at
Project Gutenberg*
AFI Catalog Silent Films entry for Douglas Fairbanks*
Douglas Fairbanks photos at Silent Ladies & Gents*
Did Douglas Fairbanks Attend Mines?*
Article about Grayhall, Beverly Hills mansion leased by Fairbanks
