Movies List
TV Show List
Joan Crawford: The Ultimate Movie Star

as Self (archive footage)

2002
Hollywood Uncensored

as Self - Host

1987
The Pirates Of Penzance

as Self - Host

1982
Ghost Story

as Edward Charles Wanderley

1981
The Hostage Tower

as Malcolm Philpott

1980
Mr. Drake's Duck

as Donald 'Don' Drake

1951
State Secret

as Dr. John Marlowe

1950
The Fighting O'Flynn

as The O'Flynn

1949
That Lady in Ermine

as Colonel Ladislas Karolyi Teglas / The Duke

1948
Sinbad the Sailor

as Sinbad

1947
The Exile

as Charles II

1947
The Corsican Brothers

as Lucien Franchi / Mario Franchi

1941
Green Hell

as Keith Brandon

1940
Safari

as Jim Logan

1940
Gunga Din

as Thomas Anthony Ballantine

1939
Having Wonderful Time

as Chick Kirkland

1938
The Prisoner of Zenda

as Rupert of Hentzau

1937
The Rise of Catherine the Great

as Grand Duke Peter

1934
Morning Glory

as Joseph Sheridan

1933
Union Depot

as Charles 'Chick' Miller

1932
Little Caesar

as Joe Massara

1931
I Like Your Nerve

as Larry O'Brien

1931
Chances

as Jack Ingleside

1931
The Dawn Patrol

as Douglas 'Doug' Scott

1930
Loose Ankles

as Gil

1930
A Woman of Affairs

as Jeffry Merrick

1928
The American Venus

as Triton

1926
Douglas Fairbanks Jr. Douglas Fairbanks Jr.

Birthday

1909-12-09

Place of Birth

New York City, New York, USA

Biography

Although he appeared in approximately 100 movies or television shows, Douglas Fairbanks Jr. never really intended to take up acting as a career. However, the environment he was born into and the circumstances naturally led him to be a thespian. The son of future silent era swashbuckling idol Douglas Fairbanks (born Douglas Elton Thomas Ullman) and Beth Sully - the daughter of a very wealthy cotton mogul - was born in 1909 and soon proved a gifted boy. To the end of his life he remained a multi-talented, hyperactive man, not content to appear in the 100 films mentioned above. Handsome, distinguished and extremely bright, he excelled at sports (much like his father), notably during his stay at the Military Academy in 1919 (his role in Claude Autant-Lara's "L'athlète incomplete" illustrated these abilities). He also excelled academically, and attended the Lycéee Janson de Sailly in Paris, where he had followed his divorced mother. Very early in his life he developed a taste for the arts as well and became a painter and sculptor. Not content to limiting himself to just one field, he became involved in business, in fields as varied as mining, hotel management, owning a chain of bowling alleys and a firm that manufactured popcorn. During World War II he headed London's Douglas Voluntary Hospital (an establishment taking care of war refugees), was President Franklin D. Roosevelt's special envoy for the Special Mission to South America in 1940 before becoming a lieutenant in the Navy (he was promoted to the rank of captain in 1954) and taking part in the Allies' landing in Sicily and Elba in 1943. A fervent Anglophile, Fairbanks was knighted in 1949 and often entertained Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip in his London mansion, "The Boltons". His film career began at the age of 13 when he was signed by Paramount Pictures. He debuted in Stephen Steps Out (1923), but the film flopped and his career stagnated despite a critically acclaimed role in Stella Dallas (1925). Things really picked up when he married Lucille Le Sueur, a young starlet who was soon to become better known as Joan Crawford. The young couple became the toast of the town and good parts and success followed, such as Fairbanks' role as the hapless partner of Edward G. Robinson in Little Caesar (1931), a favorably reviewed turn as the villain in The Prisoner of Zenda (1937), or more debonair characters in slapstick comedies or adventure yarns. The 1930s were a fruitful period for Fairbanks, his most memorable role probably being that of the British soldier in Gunga Din (1939); although it was somewhat of a "swasbuckling" role, Fairbanks made a point of never imitating his father. After World War II, his star waned and, despite a moving part in Ghost Story (1981), he did not appear in a major movie. Now a legend himself, Douglas Fairbanks Jr. left this world with the satisfaction of having lived up to the Fairbanks name at the end of a life nobody could call "wasted". He died on 7 May 2000 in New York City, New York, the result of a heart attack.
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