Home > Douglas Fairbanks, Sr.

He became noted for his swashbuckling roles in such movies as The Mark of Zorro ( 1920), The Three Musketeers ( 1921), Robin Hood ( 1922), The Thief of BagdadThe Thief of Bagdad is a 1924 swashbuckler film which tells the story of a thief who falls in love with the daughter of the Caliph. It stars Douglas Fairbanks, Snitz Edwards, Charles Belcher, Julanne Johnston, Sojin, Anna May Wong and Brandon Hurst. It wa ( 1924Events Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) considers making a silent film of The Wizard of Oz''. MGM and Frank J. Baum failed to come to an agreement so the rights were sold to Chadwick Pictures. Top grossing films The Thief of Baghdad Movies released Movies releas) and The Black PirateThe Black Pirate is a 1926 adventure film which tells the story of a young nobleman who infiltrates a ship full of pirates to avenge his father's death. It stars Douglas Fairbanks, Sr. Donald Crisp, Sam De Grasse and Billie Dove. In one long, dramatic sce ( 1926See also 1925 in film 1926 1927 in film 1920s in film years in film film Events August Warner Brothers debuts the first Vitaphone film, Don Juan''. The Vitaphone system used multiple 33 1/3 rpm disc records developed by Bell Telephone Laboratories and Wes).

He was born Douglas Elton Ulman in DenverFor other cities named Denver see Denver (disambiguation). Denver is the largest city and capital of the state of Colorado, United States of America. It is the largest city along the Front Range and forms the heart of the Denver Metropolitan Area. The cit, ColoradoThere are also three Colorado Rivers: two in the United States and one in Argentina. Colorado is a state in the western United States. The name of Colorado came from the Spanish word "colorado" which means "reddish color". The name comes from the Colorado, the son of Hezekiah Charles Ulman (born September 1835Events January 1 Ole Pedersen Hoiland breaks into the Bank of Norway and steals 64. 000 dalers January 7 HMS Beagle anchors off the Chonos Archipelago. January 30 Unsuccessful assassination attempt against President Andrew Jackson in the United States Cap) and Ella Adelaide Marsh (born 1850Events January 4 The first American ice-skating club is formed ( Philadelphia, Pennsylvania). January 29 Henry Clay introduces the Compromise of 1850 to the United States Congress February 28 University of Utah opens in Salt Lake City, Utah March 7 United). His half-brother was John Fairbanks (born 1873); and his full brother was Robert Payne Ulman ( March 13, 1882- February 22, 1948).

His father, Charles, who was born in Pennsylvania, was a prominent New York City attorney. Doug's mother, who was born in New York, had previously been married to a man named John Fairbanks and was left a widow. She then divorced another man named Wilcox, who turned out to be an abusive brute, with the help of her lawyer, Ulman, who she later married. In about 1881, Charles Ulman purchased several mining interests in the Rocky Mountains and relocated the family to Denver, where he re-established his law offices. Charles abandoned the family there when Doug was five years old and he and Robert were raised by their mother.

Doug attended Colorado School of Mines and Harvard University. He worked in a hardware store and as a clerk in a Wall Street office before appearing on the Broadway stage in 1902.

In 1907, Fairbanks married Anna Beth Sully, the daughter of a wealthy industrialist; they had one son, Douglas Fairbanks, Jr. They moved to Hollywood in 1915.

While traveling with Charlie Chaplin in a war bonds drive, he met and fell in love with Mary Pickford. He, Pickford, Chaplin and D.W. Griffith formed United Artists in 1919. He and Beth were divorced in 1920.

Fairbanks and Mary Pickford married on March 18, 1920. During the years of their marriage, Fairbanks and Pickford were regarded as "Hollywood Royalty," and they became famous for entertaining at their Beverly Hills estate, Pickfair. His and Pickford's hand and foot prints were the second and third, after Norma Talmadge, to be placed in cement at Grauman's Chinese Theater in Hollywood.

He was a founder of the Motion Picture Academy of Arts and Sciences and produced its first Academy Awards program.

He and Pickford separated in 1933 and were divorced in 1936. On March 7, 1936, Fairbanks married his third and last wife, Sylvia Ashley. He lived in retirement with Sylvia at 705 Ocean Front (now Pacific Coast Highway) in Santa Monica, California.

At fifty-six years of age, he died in his sleep of a heart attack at around 12:45 a.m. in Santa Monica. His funeral service was held at the Wee Kirk o' the Heather Church at Forest Lawn Cemetery in Glendale, where he was placed in a crypt in the Great Mausoleum. His widow, Sylvia, then commissioned an elaborate monument for him in another cemetery, with long rectangular reflecting pool, raised tomb, and classic Greek architecture, and he was removed from Forest Lawn. He is entombed at Hollywood Forever Cemetery, Hollywood.

Douglas Fairbanks' hand and foot prints are immortalized in the forecourt of Grauman's Chinese Theater and he has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 7020 Hollywood Boulevard.