Douglas Fairbanks Jr

More voguishly handsome than his father, the Prince of Pickfair Douglas Fairbanks Jr lacked Senior's ability to completely dominate a film and make lackadaisical scripting and monotonous directing almost bearable, but he was certainly an extremely likable and talented actor in his own right. Coaxed into movies by Jesse Lasky, anxious to have the pull of the Fairbanks name, he alienated his father by debuting as a juvenile lead at the age of 13 in "Stephen Steps Out" (1923), causing Senior to remain hostile to his career for many years. On his way to full-fledged stardom, Fairbanks took his turn on the boards in a 1927 production of John Van Druten's "Young Woodley" before practically upstaging the great Greta Garbo with his off-beat riveting performance as her alcoholic brother in "A Woman of Affairs" (1928). He also gave filmgoers a special treat, doing impressions of John Barrymore, John Gilbert and his own father in "Our Modern Maidens" (1929), the picture which brought him and first wife Joan Crawford together.

Fairbanks saw his star gradually rise during the early 30s beginning with pictures like Howard Hawks' "Dawn Patrol", Robert Milton's "Outward Bound" and Mervyn Le Roy's "Little Caesar" (all 1930). He gave a fine handling of the male lead in "Morning Glory" (1933) managing to avoid being blown off the screen by Katharine Hepburn in her first Oscar-winning performance. Soon thereafter, he went to Britain to play the Tsar in "Catherine the Great" (1934, opposite Elisabeth Bergner), and remained there for close to three years, making his next five movies as well as his first foray into producing with Raoul Walsh's "Jump for Glory" (1937). Fairbanks could swashbuckle with the best of them as he displayed in pictures like "The Prisoner of Zenda" (also 1937), "Gunga Din" (1939) and "The Corsican Brothers" (1941), but it may have been Max Ophuls' "The Exile" (1947), which he also scripted, that displayed his physical prowess at its best. Critic David Thomson, however, takes issue, claiming it was a mistake to compete with Douglas Fairbanks Sr. as a swashbuckler and that screen evidence suggests Junior would have been more successful as a gigolo, weakling or black sheep of the family. Fairbanks' cultured presence and voice also made him a natural for comedies like "The Rage of Paris" and "Joy of Living" (both 1938).

After his World War II heroics, Fairbanks acted in a handful of pictures before temporarily retiring as an actor after "Mr. Drake's Duck" in 1951. Though he produced a few features during the 50s, he turned primarily to television, hosting, producing and sometimes acting in the British anthology series "Douglas Fairbanks Jr. Presents" (1953-57), and of his remaining rare screen performances, almost all were for TV, notably "The Crooked Hearts" (ABC, 1972, with Rosalind Russell), "Arthur Hailey's 'Strong Medicine'" (Syndicated, 1986) and the ABC Mystery Movie "Auntie Sue" (1989). He made his feature swan song in "Ghost Story" (1981), acting with fellow old timers Fred Astaire, Melvyn Douglas and John Houseman. Fairbanks favored the stage in his later career, playing Professor Henry Higgins in a 1968-69 national tour of "My Fair Lady", as well as touring in "Present Laughter and "Sleuth", among other shows. As one of the last links to a glorious Hollywood past, he has frequently turned up in numerous feature and TV documentaries "American Cinema" (PBS, 1995), the Oscar-nominated "The Battle Over Citizen Kane" (1995) and segments of A&E's "Biography" devoted to Loretta Young and John Wayne.

• Also Credited As:
  Douglas Elton Ulman Fairbanks
• Born:
  December 9, 1909 in New York, New York
• Died:
  May 7, 2000.
• Job Titles:
  Actor, Executive, Producer, Author, Screenwriter, Screen title writer, Businessman

Family

• Step-father: Jack Whiting.

Milestones

• 1923 Film acting debut in the silent "Stephen Steps Out"
• 1925 Portrayed the suitor to Lois Moran's Laurel in the silent version of "Stella Dallas", starring Belle Bennett and Ronald Colman
• 1927 Made stage debut in John Van Druten's "Young Woodley" in Los Angeles and on tour in San Francisco
• 1928 Debut in talking pictures, "The Barker"
• 1928 Practically upstaged the great Greta Garbo in "A Woman of Affairs" with his off-beat riveting performance as her alcoholic brother; most felt he did upstage leading man John Gilbert
• 1928 Wrote titles for "The Gaucho", starring his father
• 1929 Appeared in "Our Modern Maidens" with then-wife Joan Crawford
• 1930 Acted in Howard Hawks' "Dawn Patrol"
• 1933 Portrayed Joseph Sheridan in "Morning Glory", a picture dominated by Katherine Hepburn in her first Oscar-winning role
• 1934 London stage debut, "Moonlight Is Silver"
• 1934 Went to Britain to play the Tsar opposite Elizabeth Bergner in "Catherine the Great"; remained in England for close to three years, making five more movies before returning to Hollywood
• 1935 Debut as film producer, "The Amateur Gentleman"; also starred
• 1935 Formed own production company
• 1937 Gave thrilling performance as attractive blackguard Rupert von Hentzau in "The Prisoner of Zenda"; first US movie since 1934; film reteamed him with Ronald Colman
• 1938 Starred opposite Irene Dunne in delighful screwball musical comedy "Joy of Living"
• 1939 Headed and was personally reponsible for Douglas Voluntary Hopitals in Great Britain
• 1939 Helped organize British War Relief and was national chairman of CARE
• 1939 Played one of the three soldier-comrades (along with Cary Grant and Victor McLaglen) in George Stevens' "Gunga Din"
• 1940 Had starring role in the uneven jungle adventure "Green Hell", helmed by James Whale
• 1941 Dashingly swashbuckled his way through dual role as "The Corsican Brothers"
• 1947 Perhaps showed his athletic prowess to best advantage in Max Ophuls' "The Exile"; also produced and scripted from Cosmo Hamilton's novel "His Majesty the King"
• 1949 Produced, starred and co-wrote screenplay for "The Fighting O'Flynn"
• 1951 Formed The Dougfair Corporation
• 1951 Retired temporarily from acting after "Mr. Drake's Duck"
• 1958 Produced the feature "Chase a Crooked Shadow", directed by Michael Anderson
• 1966 Played Ambassador Otis in a musical version of Oscar Wilde's "The Canterville Ghost" (adapted by Sheldon Harnick and Jerry Bock); aired on "ABC Stage '67"
• 1967 Made rare big screen appearance in Tony Richardson's drama fantasy short "Red and Blue", acting with the director's then-wife Vanessa Redgrave; last film for 14 years
• 1971 Served as Naval member of the US military delegation to SEATO conference in London
• 1972 TV-movie debut as a wealthy bachelor targeted by a con woman (Rosalind Russell in her final screen role) in "The Crooked Hearts" (ABC)
• 1981 Hosted and narrated the syndicated series "The Amazing Years of Cinema"
• 1981 Made one-shot return to feature acting alongside Fred Astaire, John Houseman and Melvyn Douglas in "Ghost Story"; last film appearance as a fictional character
• 1985 Began hosting "The Compleat Gilbert & Sullivan" (PBS)
• 1985 Was one of the interviewees for "George Stevens: A Filmmaker's Journey", a feature documentary directed by George Stevens Jr
• 1986 Played Eli Camperdown in syndicated miniseries, "Arthur Hailey's 'Strong Medicine'"
• 1988 Was interviewee for the feature documentary "Going Hollywood: The War Years"
• 1989 Had final acting role in "Auntie Sue", an episode of "B.L. Stryker" (ABC)
• 1995 Appeared as an interview subject in the Oscar-nominated documentary "The Battle Over Citizen Kane" (later aired on PBS in 1996)
• Appointed Presidential Envoy for Special Mission to South America by Franklin D Roosevelt
• Hosted and produced British-filmed TV anthology series, "Douglas Fairbanks Jr. Presents"; also acted in some of the episodes (aired in syndication in the USA under the title "Douglas Fairbanks Jr. Presents The Rheingold Theater")
• Lived in Paris with mother after her divorce from Douglas Fairbanks
• Made frequent appearances as an interview subject on TV documentaries spotlighting such talents as Cole Porter, Loretta Young and Vivian Leigh, and others about WWII
• Served as National Chairman of CARE and Share-through CARE committees
• Served in WWII as Lieutenant Commander in US Navy; saw active duty aboard destroyer and mine sweeper (1941-1942); served as operations officer for Special Operations, US Amphibious Forces, Atlantic Fleet (1942-1944)
• Starred as Henry Higgins in national tour of "My Fair Lady"