Fairbanks, Douglas

orig. Douglas Elton Ulman

born May 23, 1883, Denver, Colo., U.S.

died Dec. 12, 1939, Santa Monica, Calif.

U.S. film actor.

Fairbanks was a Broadway star by 1910, noted for his exuberance and physical agility. He made his film debut in The Lamb (1915). As cofounder of United Artists (1919), he produced and starred in such films as The Mark of Zorro (1920), Robin Hood (1922), and The Thief of Baghdad (1924). His films were so popular that he was called the "King of Hollywood" in the 1920s. His 15-year marriage to Mary Pickford ended in 1935. Douglas Fairbanks, Jr. (b. Dec. 9, 1909, New York, N.Y., U.S.

d. May 7, 2000, New York City), Fairbanks's son by his first wife, was a debonair leading man in U.S. and British films, including Catherine the Great (1934), The Prisoner of Zenda (1937), and State Secret (1950). In the 1960s he hosted and sometimes acted in the British TV drama series Douglas Fairbanks Presents.

Douglas Fairbanks in The Black Pirate.

EB Inc.

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▪ American actor

original name  Douglas Elton Ulman 

born May 23, 1883, Denver, Colo., U.S.

died Dec. 12, 1939, Santa Monica, Calif.

 American motion picture actor and producer who was one of the first and greatest of the swashbuckling screen heroes. His athletic prowess, gallant romanticism, and natural sincerity made him “King of Hollywood” during the 1920s.

      After college study Fairbanks began playing stage bit parts and by 1914 had become a popular Broadway actor. He made his first film, The Lamb (1915), under the direction of D.W. Griffith (Griffith, D W) and in 1917 became head of his own producing company. Among his many popular pictures were The Mark of Zorro (1920), The Three Musketeers (1921), Robin Hood (1922), The Thief of Bagdad (1924), The Black Pirate (1926), The Iron Mask (1929), and The Taming of the Shrew (1929), in which he costarred with Mary Pickford (Pickford, Mary), the popular leading lady to whom he was married from 1920 to 1935.

      With Pickford, Charlie Chaplin (Chaplin, Charlie), and Griffith, Fairbanks founded the United Artists Corporation in 1919 as a distribution outlet for independently produced films. In 1936 he publicly announced his retirement from acting but continued as a producer until his death three years later.

      Douglas Fairbanks, Jr. (b. Dec. 9, 1909, New York, N.Y., U.S.—d. May 7, 2000, New York), his son by his first wife, Anna Beth Sully, was a debonair leading man in the late 1930s and '40s who played roles similar to his father's. He later became an independent television producer in Great Britain and a company director internationally.

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