His parents divorced when he was nine years old, and both remarried.[1][2] He lived with his mother in New York, California, Paris, and London.[3]
Fairbanks began his education at the exclusive Hollywood School for Boys in Los Angeles.[4] After his mother and stepfather moved to New York, he attended the Bovee School, a private grammar school for boys.[5] While attending Bovee, he was also enrolled in an after-school drill academy called Knickerbocker Greys, which he attended for a year while assigned to the drum corps.[5] After moving back to California, he attended Harvard Military School,[6] followed by studies at the Polytechnic School in Pasadena.[5] After his mother and he moved to France, Fairbanks attended Lycée Janson-de-Sailly.[5]
Film career
Stephen Steps Out and Paramount
Largely on the basis of his father's name, in May 1923, Fairbanks Jr. was given a contract with Paramount Pictures at age 13, at $1,000 a week for three years. He was signed by Jesse L. Lasky, who said the junior Fairbanks "is the typical American boy at his best" and said he likely would be featured in a film about Tom Sawyer.[7][8]
"I do not think it is the right thing for the boy to do", said his father. "I want to see him continue his education. He is only 13 years old."[9] The young actor arrived in Hollywood in June 1923 and was mobbed.[10]
Tom Sawyer was not made. Instead, Fairbanks Jr. appeared in Stephen Steps Out (1923).[11][12][13] The film was not a hit.
Paramount and he parted ways by mutual consent and Doug went to Paris to resume his studies. A year later, he returned to the studio, hired at what Fairbanks called "starvation wages", and having him work as a camera assistant.[14]
"I was anxious to build my career as an actor slowly and painstakingly", he said in 1928. "I don't want to be a young, blond leading man with an aquiline nose and shiny white teeth."[15]
At MGM, he was in Edmund Goulding's Women Love Diamonds (1927) and for Alfred E. Green at Fox he was in Is Zat So? (1927). He supported Will Rogers in A Texas Steer (1927). Also in 1927, Fairbanks made his stage debut in Young Woodley based on a book by John Van Druten.[19] Fairbanks Jr received excellent reviews and the production was a success – the play did much to improve his reputation in Hollywood. A regular audience member was Joan Crawford, with whom Fairbanks became romantically involved.[20][21] He also appeared in a stage production of Saturday's Children.[15]
First National gave Fairbanks a starring role in The Careless Age (1929), and he was reunited with Young in The Forward Pass (1929). He was one of many names in The Show of Shows (1929). In September 1929, he returned to the stage in a production of The Youngest.[24]Victor Halperin cast Fairbanks in the lead of Party Girl (1930), and Ted Wilde paired him for a third time with Young in Loose Ankles (1930), back at First National.
Fairbanks had a role supporting Edward G. Robinson in Little Caesar (1931), filmed in August 1930.[26] "We knew it was going to be good when we were making it, but not that it would become a classic", he later said.[14] The movie was a big hit, and Warner Bros. offered Fairbanks Jr. a contract with cast and script approval – a condition which, Fairbanks Jr. says, was only offered to one other actor at the studio, Richard Barthelmess.[25]
"By sheer accident, I had four successes in a row in the early '30s, and although I was still in my 20s, I demanded and received approval of cast, story, and director. I don't know how I got away with it, but I did!"[27] Because he spoke French, he was put in L'aviateur (1931). Back in Hollywood, he was in Chances (1931) and I Like Your Nerve (1931) with Young.
In June 1931, he starred in another play, The Man in Possession, which he also produced along with Sid Grauman. Fairbanks said he wanted to stay away from costume adventures, which were associated with his father.[28] He starred in two pictures for Alfred E Green, Gentleman for a Day (1932), a melodrama with Joan Blondell, and the comedy It's Tough to Be Famous (1932). He starred in a film shot in French, L'athlète incomplet (1932).
Fairbanks was reunited with Howard in Captured! (1933). In 1934, Warner asked all its stars to take a 50% pay cut because of the Depression. Fairbanks Jr. refused and was fired from the studio. He received a job offer from Britain and spent the next few years there,[29] taking a residence in London's Park Lane.
Britain and Criterion films
Fairbanks went to Britain to star in Alex Korda's The Rise of Catherine the Great (1934) playing Grand Duke Peter opposite Elisabeth Bergner. "Hollywood was getting to be a grind", he said at the time. "They had me doing five and six pictures a year. Some of them looked all right on paper, but they had the habit of slipping down into programmer class. Only once in three years would I get a part that I cared about. I kept going up and down the ladder and not getting any place. There was nothing stable about my career in Hollywood."[30]
He intended to return to Hollywood to appear in Design for Living, but became ill and was replaced by Gary Cooper. He did ultimately return to Hollywood for Success at Any Price (1934) at RKO, then returned to London for Mimi (1935). The latter starred Gertrude Lawrence, who became romantically involved with Fairbanks Jr.[31] He announced he would make Zorro Rides Again with his father.[30]
Fairbanks fell ill during the 1936 flu epidemic.[32]
Fairbanks Jr. returned to Hollywood when David O. Selznick offered him the role of Rupert of Hentzau in The Prisoner of Zenda (1937). He had been reluctant to accept the role, but his father urged him to do it, saying it was "actor proof".[35] The movie was a big success.
He had a change of pace when he starred in and co-produced Angels Over Broadway (1940), written and directed by Ben Hecht at Columbia. His last film before enlisting was The Corsican Brothers (1941), a swashbuckler made as a tribute to Fairbanks' father. Fairbanks did not have faith in the film while it was being filmed ("I thought we were cutting corners"), but it was a huge success.[14]
World War II
Fairbanks was commissioned as a reserve officer in the United States Navy when the United States entered World War II, and was assigned to Lord Mountbatten's commando staff in the United Kingdom.[37]
Lieutenant Fairbanks was subsequently transferred to Virginia Beach, where he came under the command of AdmiralH. Kent Hewitt, who was preparing U.S. naval forces for the invasion of North Africa. Fairbanks convinced Hewitt of the advantages of a military deception unit, then repeated the proposal at Hewitt's behest to Admiral Ernest King, Chief of Naval Operations. King thereupon issued a secret letter on March 5, 1943, charging the Vice Chief of Naval Operations with the recruitment of 180 officers and 300 enlisted men for the Beach Jumpers program.
The Beach Jumpers' mission would simulate amphibious landings with a very limited force. Operating miles from the actual landing beaches and using their deception equipment, the Beach Jumpers would lure the enemy into believing that theirs was the principal landing.
United States Navy Beach Jumpers saw their initial action in Operation Husky, the invasion of Sicily. For the remainder of the war, the Beach Jumpers conducted their hazardous, shallow-water operations throughout the Mediterranean.
Among his other exploits was the sinking of the corvette UJ-6083 (formerly the Regia MarinaGabbiano-classCapriolo) while in command of a mixed division of American PT boats and British Insect-class gunboats plus assorted other small craft. Fairbanks commanded from HMS Aphis.[41] Fairbanks stayed in the US Naval Reserve after the war, and ultimately retired as a captain in 1954. In 1982, Fairbanks was awarded the German Federal Cross of Merit for his contribution to the relief of the needy in occupied Germany.[citation needed]
Postwar years
Hollywood
Fairbanks returned to Hollywood at the conclusion of World War II. He spent two years finding a comeback vehicle, and picked Sinbad the Sailor (1947), which was not a big hit.
He followed it with The Exile (1947), another swashbuckler, which Fairbanks wrote and produced; it was directed by Max Ophüls. The film was the first of three independent films Fairbanks was to produce – the others being a big screen version of Terry and the Pirates, and a film called Happy Go Lucky.[42][43] It was another box office disappointment.
He thought his career would be revived by That Lady in Ermine with Betty Grable, but director Ernst Lubitsch died during production and was replaced by Otto Preminger; the resulting film was not a success, and Fairbanks Jr believes this cost his career momentum.[44] Fairbanks tried another swashbuckler for his own company, The Fighting O'Flynn (1949).[45]
British career
As a confirmed Anglophile, Fairbanks spent much time in the United Kingdom post World War II, where he was well known in the highest social circles. He was made an Honorary Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire (KBE) in 1949. In 1950 he purchased a house, no. 28, The Boltons in Mayfair, London[46] which became his primary residence [47] until he sold it in 1973 to move to Florida.[48]
The College of Arms in London granted Fairbanks a coat of arms symbolizing the U.S. and Britain united across the blue Atlantic Ocean by a silken knot of friendship.[49]
Fairbanks was also involved in several successful business ventures.[58] These included manufacturing ball point pens, real estate development, management of copyrighted theatrical works, and film production.[58]
Personal life
His first notable relationship was with the actress Joan Crawford, whom he began to date seriously during the filming of Our Modern Maidens. Fairbanks and Crawford married on June 3, 1929, at the "Actors Chapel", St. Malachy Roman Catholic Church in midtown Manhattan, although neither was Catholic.[59] Fairbanks was only 19; Crawford was 3 or 4 years older. Their witnesses were his mother, Beth Sully, and actor Jack Whiting,[60]: 208, 211 who were married themselves a few weeks later.[60]: 213
Fairbanks and Crawford travelled to Britain on a delayed honeymoon, where he was entertained by Noël Coward, Gertrude Lawrence, Beatrice Lillie, and Prince George, Duke of Kent. He became active in both society and politics, but Crawford was far more interested in her career and had an affair with Clark Gable. In his first autobiography, he later admitted that he was also unfaithful during that period and that he unsuccessfully pursued Katharine Hepburn during the filming of Morning Glory. The couple divorced in 1933, but the divorce did not become final for another year.[61]
Despite their divorce, Fairbanks was quick to defend Crawford when her adopted daughter Christina Crawford published Mommie Dearest, a scathing biography of Crawford's personal life. He firmly stated, "The Joan Crawford that I've heard about in Mommie Dearest is not the Joan Crawford I knew back then."[62] In his autobiography, he stated that he never saw a hint of any significant anger outbursts from Crawford during their marriage, and that she was more likely to sulk or argue than become angry.
On April 22, 1939, Fairbanks married Mary Lee Hartford (née Mary Lee Epling), a former wife of Huntington Hartford, the A&P supermarket heir. He remained devoted to her until her death in 1988. They had three daughters: Daphne, Victoria, and Melissa, and eight grandchildren and 10 great-grandchildren.[63] On May 30, 1991, Fairbanks married Vera Lee Shelton, a merchandiser for QVC Network Inc.[64]
Douglas Fairbanks Jr. was claimed to be the naked man in the incriminating photos used as evidence in the divorce trial of Margaret Campbell, Duchess of Argyll in 1963.[65][66] However, in 2013, Lady Colin Campbell, Margaret Campbell's stepdaughter-in-law, revealed that the man in the photo was actually Bill Lyons, sales director of Pan American Airlines.[67]
Fairbanks was a friend of Laurence Olivier and was among the contributors to a documentary by The South Bank Show titled Laurence Olivier: A Life. He was also a close friend of Sir Rex Harrison and was a presenter at Harrison's New York City memorial service.[citation needed]
He wrote his autobiography The Salad Days in 1988.[60] In addition, Fairbanks wrote a chronicle of his experiences during the Second World War, A Hell of a War, published in 1993.[69] Beyond his two volumes of autobiography, Fairbanks collaborated with Richard Schickel on the illustrated survey of Fairbanks Sr. and Jr. called The Fairbanks Album (1975)[70] and Jeffrey Vance with a critical study/biography of Fairbanks Sr. ultimately published as Douglas Fairbanks (2008).[71]
Death and legacy
On the morning of May 7, 2000, Fairbanks died at the age of 90 of a heart attack[72] and was interred at the Hollywood Forever Cemetery in Hollywood, California, in the same tomb as his father.
Fairbanks has three stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame - one for motion pictures at 6318 Hollywood Boulevard, one for television at 6665 Hollywood Boulevard, and one for radio at 6710 Hollywood Boulevard. In 1969, he was inducted into the Hall of Fame of the International Best Dressed List.[73]
The moving image collection of Douglas Fairbanks Jr., held at the Academy Film Archive, includes over 90 reels of home movies.[74]
Estate
Fairbanks's personal belongings were auctioned September 13, 2011, by Doyle New York, surpassing estimated proceeds by netting over $500,000.[75]
^"DOUG, JR., ALL SIGNED UP: Jesse L. Lasky Announces Contract With Young Son of Celebrated Actor; May Do "Tom Sawyer"". Los Angeles Times. May 24, 1923. p. II1.
^"DOUGLAS FAIRBANKS JR. SCREEN ACTOR AT 13: Famous Players–Lasky Co. Sign Son of Famous Star at $1,000 a Week for Three Years". The New York Times. May 25, 1923. p. 28.
^"DOUG SORRY TO SEE SON IN PICTURES: Star Feels Boy Should Finish Education Before Choosing Career Los Angeles Times". May 25, 1923. p. II1.
^"CROWD GREETS DOUG, JR.: Son of Film Star Here From Chicago, Reported Ready to Appear in Paramount Picture". Los Angeles Times. June 19, 1923. p. II1.
^"JUVENILES' FOND DREAM COMES TRUE: Three Youngsters Cast in Leading Roles of Wilkes Drama". Los Angeles Times. Oct 9, 1927. p. 17.
^Shaffer, Rosalind (Oct 30, 1927). "Fairbanks Jr. Makes His Debut on Stage". Chicago Daily Tribune. p. b3.
^"JOAN CRAWFORD AND MATE PART: Actress Denies Divorce Plan in Leaving Fairbanks, Jr. Wife Says Alienation Suit Not Reason for Rift Hope for Reconciliation Told by Young Film Man". Los Angeles Times. Mar 18, 1933. p. A1.
^"Douglas Fairbanks Jr. AND HIS FILMS: SUCCESS AND STARDOM". Picture Show. Vol. 35, no. 903. London. Aug 22, 1936. p. 18.
^"DOUG, JR., A BUSY YOUTH: Stage Role in "The Youngest" at Vine-street Comes on Top of Two Studio Engagements". Los Angeles Times. Sep 8, 1929. p. B11.
^"YOUNG DIRECTOR FORESTALLS POSSIBILITY OF DIFFICULTIES". The Washington Post. Aug 10, 1930. p. A3.
^Gruen, J. (March 16, 1989). "Halcyon Hollywood Douglas Fairbanks Jr. remembers the Golden Age in Tinseltown". Chicago Tribune. ProQuest282687046. (registration required)
^"JUNIOR CARVES OWN NICHE: Young Fairbanks Taboos Type of Drama Which Brought Fame and Fortune to His Noted Parent". Los Angeles Times. 21 June 1931. p. B11.
^Schallert, E. (December 28, 1937). "Irene Dunne, Fairbanks and Grant Sign Long Contracts with RKO". Los Angeles Times. ProQuest164808239. (registration required)
^Schallert, Edwin (20 June 1946). "'Exile' to Head Doug's Independent Program". Los Angeles Times.
^"Fairbanks Agrees to Make 3 Films: Actor and International Sign Production Deal--He Will Have Lead in 'The Exile' Laraine Day as Alice Adams Of Local Origin". The New York Times. 20 June 1946.
^D.O.J.M. (February 11, 1949). "Douglas Fairbanks, Jr., star of 'Fighting O'Flynn'". The Christian Science Monitor. ProQuest507998866. (registration required)
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