His quote sums him up pretty well. He was alllways going! He was one half of 'Pickfair' fame and unlike the other half, enjoyed it to the fullest!! The original Zorro, the original Robin Hood, the original 'star' animal advocate...and he did his own stunts..and was one of the 36 founders, and first president of the Acadamy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences..(Acadamy Awards)...and he had a swayyt car!! Here is his story ...
Douglas Fairbanks was born Douglas Elton Thomas Ullman at 10am EST, May 23rd, 1883 .. in Denver, Colorado. His mother was a sweet, homespun, Southern lady who loved to cook - and his dad .. a bitter attorney. His parents split from each other when Douglas was 5. At the age of 7 - he was in a school play, and loved it! In school, he loved English and Literature, and would often entertain himself by converting that literature into playwrights. By age 11, his mother, seeing his talent, enrolled him in theater, by age 12 he was teaching a wing of younger kids at the theater centre. His passion for acting on stage just got stronger over the years and at age 17, he along with his mom, moved to New York where he joined 2 theaters, and worked odd jobs around NYC. There he met and dated a lady named Anna Sully, whos father was an industrialist.
In 1902, he made his first appearance on Broadway .. his talent was missed and reviews were mundane. In July of 1907, he married Anna Sully and worked with her father. Following some terrible advice from the new wife and her father, he left theater to devote his full attention to his work in industrialism. Missing theater horribly, he returned to it in 1915 to the disdane of his wife and her father. It would result in Douglas dumping them both. (Atta boy!)
He landed at gig with D.W.Griffith in Hollywood. There, he was working with Charlie Chaplin and Mary Pickford (whom he had an instant attraction to, and began a relationship with. They were both married but separated at the time) He quickly shocked them all by doing his own stunts. Throughout his carrer he would perform all of his own stunts with the exception of one that proved too risky. In 1919, his divorce from Anna Sully was finalized and he was determined to make Mary Pickford his wife - she was still married though. He issued her an ulimatum, she finalized her divorce and they were married on March 28, 1920. They quickly became 'Hollywood's Royalty" couple and their estate, 'Pickford', bacame legend for extravagant dinner partys on a nightly basis. Regular guests included Albert Eienstien, W.C. Fields, Amelia Earhart, and other notables. Foriegn dignataries, when they would visit the White House, would ask to visit Pickfair Estate. Douglas & Mary .. when not working, were hosting parades, making speeches, etc. This left little time for anything else. With this - the marriage became the public subject of a downward spiral. The marriage went into separation mode, then finalized in divorce on January 10, 1936.
The divorce left both partys in heartbreak. Douglas Fairbanks, Jr, (son of Sr. from a previous marriage), once stated ... "I don't think dad or Mary ever got over the fact that they couldn't reconsile things."
Douglas quit acting altogether, but still stayed involved with United Artists (always dear to his heart.) In December 1939, at 56, Fairbanks had a heart attack in his sleep and died a day later at his home in Santa Monica. By some accounts, he had been obsessively working-out against medical advice, trying to regain his once-trim waistline. Leave your virtual flowers and comments here!
Douglas Fairbanks was born Douglas Elton Thomas Ullman at 10am EST, May 23rd, 1883 .. in Denver, Colorado. His mother was a sweet, homespun, Southern lady who loved to cook - and his dad .. a bitter attorney. His parents split from each other when Douglas was 5. At the age of 7 - he was in a school play, and loved it! In school, he loved English and Literature, and would often entertain himself by converting that literature into playwrights. By age 11, his mother, seeing his talent, enrolled him in theater, by age 12 he was teaching a wing of younger kids at the theater centre. His passion for acting on stage just got stronger over the years and at age 17, he along with his mom, moved to New York where he joined 2 theaters, and worked odd jobs around NYC. There he met and dated a lady named Anna Sully, whos father was an industrialist.
In 1902, he made his first appearance on Broadway .. his talent was missed and reviews were mundane. In July of 1907, he married Anna Sully and worked with her father. Following some terrible advice from the new wife and her father, he left theater to devote his full attention to his work in industrialism. Missing theater horribly, he returned to it in 1915 to the disdane of his wife and her father. It would result in Douglas dumping them both. (Atta boy!)
He landed at gig with D.W.Griffith in Hollywood. There, he was working with Charlie Chaplin and Mary Pickford (whom he had an instant attraction to, and began a relationship with. They were both married but separated at the time) He quickly shocked them all by doing his own stunts. Throughout his carrer he would perform all of his own stunts with the exception of one that proved too risky. In 1919, his divorce from Anna Sully was finalized and he was determined to make Mary Pickford his wife - she was still married though. He issued her an ulimatum, she finalized her divorce and they were married on March 28, 1920. They quickly became 'Hollywood's Royalty" couple and their estate, 'Pickford', bacame legend for extravagant dinner partys on a nightly basis. Regular guests included Albert Eienstien, W.C. Fields, Amelia Earhart, and other notables. Foriegn dignataries, when they would visit the White House, would ask to visit Pickfair Estate. Douglas & Mary .. when not working, were hosting parades, making speeches, etc. This left little time for anything else. With this - the marriage became the public subject of a downward spiral. The marriage went into separation mode, then finalized in divorce on January 10, 1936.
The divorce left both partys in heartbreak. Douglas Fairbanks, Jr, (son of Sr. from a previous marriage), once stated ... "I don't think dad or Mary ever got over the fact that they couldn't reconsile things."
Douglas quit acting altogether, but still stayed involved with United Artists (always dear to his heart.) In December 1939, at 56, Fairbanks had a heart attack in his sleep and died a day later at his home in Santa Monica. By some accounts, he had been obsessively working-out against medical advice, trying to regain his once-trim waistline. Leave your virtual flowers and comments here!
'The man thats out to do something has to keep in high gear all the time!" ~ Douglas Fairbanks
