Douglas Fairbanks sr.

published 06/11/2008 at 19:17 by Susan King

Actor | Producer - Born Douglas Elton Ulman on May 23, 1883 in Denver, CO - Died Dec. 12, 1939 of heart attack in Santa Monica, CA

Decades before Errol Flynn, Tyrone Power and Johnny Depp became swashbuckling cinematic heroes, Douglas Fairbanks dashed across the screen with the greatest of athletic ease in such extravaganzas as "The Mark of Zorro," "The Iron Mask" and "The Black Pirate."

Fairbanks was much more than a motion picture superstar, though; he and his second wife, Mary Pickford, were Hollywood royalty who reigned from their Pickfair mansion during the 1920s. He was also a pioneering independent film producer who created United Artists with Pickford, Charlie Chaplin and D.W. Griffith and was the first president of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences; through the institution he helped develop the film curriculum at USC.




— Susan King in the Los Angeles Times Nov. 6, 2008