Douglas Fairbanks, Jr. | Biography, Movies, & Facts | Britannica (2024)

American actor and producer

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Quick Facts

In full:
Douglas Elton Ulman Fairbanks, Jr.
Born:
December 9, 1909, New York, New York, U.S.
Died:
May 7, 2000, New York, New York (aged 90)
Notable Family Members:
spouse Joan Crawford

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Douglas Fairbanks, Jr. (born December 9, 1909, New York, New York, U.S.—died May 7, 2000, New York, New York) was an American actor, socialite, and businessman who had a successful film career before moving on to meritorious World War II service and later pursuing business interests and acting as executive producer and host of a television show as well as giving support to a number of charitable, artistic, diplomatic, and educational enterprises.

The son of silent-screen swashbuckling hero Douglas Fairbanks, Sr., he managed to create his own image despite playing a few similar roles himself, in part by using his urbane charm and good looks to help him gain social position. Fairbanks began his film career early, in 1923, inStephen Steps Out,and followed that with such films asStella Dallas(1925),A Woman of Affairs(1928), andThe Power of the Press(1928), all silent films. He also occasionally appeared on the Los Angeles stage. His career gained momentum with the introduction of sound to motion pictures and with the publicity surrounding his marriage to Joan Crawford in 1929—and the end of the marriage four years later—and he tallied such successes asThe Dawn Patrol(1930),Little Caesar(1931),Morning Glory(1933),The Prisoner of Zenda(1937), andGunga Din(1939).

During World War II Fairbanks served in the U.S. Navy with such distinction that he received a number of awards, including an honorary knighthood (1949) from the British king, George VI, for his contribution to joint Anglo-American operations. Following the war Fairbanks spent much of his time in England and made only a few films. Instead, he concentrated on charitable and social concerns in addition to producing and acting in selected episodes of a British television anthology drama series,Douglas Fairbanks Presents,during the 1950s.

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In the 1970s Fairbanks returned to the U.S. to live. Besides seeing to his business interests, he toured in such plays asMy Fair LadyandThe Pleasure of His Companyand appeared in his final film,Ghost Story(1981). Fairbanks also took pride in his writing; in addition to publishing poetry, stories, and articles in a number of prestigious magazines, he produced two volumes of memoirs,The Salad Days(1988) andA Hell of a War(1993).

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Douglas Fairbanks, Jr. | Biography, Movies, & Facts | Britannica (2024)
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