Douglas Elton Fairbanks Jr. (December 9, 1909 – May 7, 2000) was an American actor, producer, and United States Navy officer. He was a leading man during the Golden Age of Hollywood, notably in adventure and swashbuckling roles like in The Prisoner of Zenda (1937), Gunga Din (1939), and The Corsican Brothers (1941). He was the son of Douglas Fairbanks and the stepson of Mary Pickford. Fairbanks, Jr. "picked up his father's swashbuckling style and later cut a dash in high society and royal circles." His first marriage was to actress Joan Crawford.
Fairbanks was a decorated Naval officer during the Second World War, overseeing the Beach Jumpers special warfare unit. For his war service, he received several military accolades including the Silver Star, the Legion of Merit, the French Legion of Honour and Croix de Guerre, and the British Distinguished Service Cross.
Douglas Elton Fairbanks Jr. was born in New York City in 1909. He was the only child of actor Douglas Fairbanks and Anna Beth Sully, the daughter of wealthy industrialist Daniel J. Sully. Fairbanks' father was one of cinema's first icons, noted for such swashbuckling adventure films as The Mark of Zorro, Robin Hood, and The Thief of Bagdad. Fairbanks had small roles in his father's films American Aristocracy (1916) and The Three Musketeers (1921).
His parents divorced when he was nine years old, and both remarried. He lived with his mother in New York, California, Paris, and London.
Fairbanks began his education at the exclusive Hollywood School for Boys in Los Angeles. After his mother and stepfather moved to New York, he attended the Bovee School, a private grammar school for boys. 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. After moving back to California, he attended Harvard Military School, followed by studies at the Polytechnic School in Pasadena. After his mother and he moved to France, Fairbanks attended Lycée Janson-de-Sailly.
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.
"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." The young actor arrived in Hollywood in June 1923 and was mobbed.
Tom Sawyer was not made. Instead, Fairbanks Jr. appeared in Stephen Steps Out (1923). 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.
"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."
Paramount gave him supporting roles in The Air Mail (1925) and Wild Horse Mesa (1925).
Stella Dallas and Young Woodley
Sam Goldwyn borrowed him to play the juvenile in Stella Dallas (1925), which wound up being his first box-office success. He had supporting roles in Paramount's The American Venus (1926), and Padlocked (1926). At Warner Bros., Fairbanks was in Broken Hearts of Hollywood (1926), then, at Metropolitan Pictures, he was in Man Bait (1927).
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. 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. He also appeared in a stage production of Saturday's Children.
Fairbanks' second lead role was in Dead Man's Curve (1928) for FBO. He was Helene Chadwick's leading man in Modern Mothers (1928) at Columbia, and he starred in The Toilers (1928) for Tiffany. Fairbanks starred in another for Columbia, The Power of the Press (1928), directed by Frank Capra. He went back to supporting roles for The Barker (1928) at First National, his first "talkie" and A Woman of Affairs (1928) at MGM with Greta Garbo and John Gilbert.
Fairbanks had another starring role at FBO with The Jazz Age (1929) and received top billing over Loretta Young in Fast Life (1929) at Warner Bros. He appeared in MGM's Our Modern Maidens (1929) opposite Crawford.
First National and Warner Bros.