About Me
Biography from Leonard Maltin's Movie Encyclopedia:
Actor. (b. Dec. 9, 1909, New York City.) Although he never quite reached the pinnacle of screen success and industry importance that his famous father attained, Doug Jr. did all right for himself, carving his own niche in movie history. The product of his father's first marriage, young Doug was an overweight, overly sensitive child who, as he later admitted, had serious selfesteem problems before losing weight and following in the family footsteps, beginning with a starring role in Stephen Steps Out (1923). Tall and slender, with an easily recognizable family resemblance but a decidedly more serious mien, he appeared in many silent films-including Stella Dallas, Wild Horse Mesa (both 1925), Broken Hearts of Hollywood (1926), Is Zat So? (1927), A Woman of Affairs and The Barker (both 1928)-often cast as a spoiled, reckless youth. Doug Jr. got little encouragement from his famous father; indeed, their relationship during this period was little more than cordial.Gradually, Fairbanks earned respect for his efforts. He impressed moviegoers as the brash reporter in Frank Capra's The Power of the Press (1928) and as the leading man in Joan Crawford's last silent film, Our Modern Maidens (1929). Doug Jr. got the girl both on- and off-screen; he and Crawford were married shortly after the completion of filming.The early talkie years found Doug Jr. at Warner Bros.-First National, at first in such trifles as Forward Pass (1929) and Loose Ankles (1930), but soon in highly dramatic roles in The Dawn Patrol, Outward Bound, Little Caesar (all 1930), and Chances (1931) that finally took him out of the "callow youth" classification. Although he was never wholly convincing as a tough guy, Fairbanks played one in many hard-boiled Warners melodramas, some of which-Union Depot, Love Is a Racket (both 1932), and The Life of Jimmy Dolan (1933)-numbered among his best films of the 1930s. In fact, the more one sees of his work from this period (in films like 1932's It's Tough to Be Famous and 1933's The Narrow Corner the more obvious it becomes that Fairbanks was a real unsung talent. He left Warners in 1934 to freelance, making several pictures in England (the best of which were 1934's Catherine the Great and 1937's Jump for Glory) before scoring a triumph as likable blackguard Rupert of Hentzau in David O. Selznick's elaborate remake of The Prisoner of Zenda (1937), starring Ronald Colman. It was Fairbanks' first full-blooded swashbuckling role, and he reminded moviegoers of his famous father, clad in black clothes, sporting a dapper little mustache, and wielding a saber with panache. (He and his father drew close around this time, and even talked of making a film together before Senior's death in 1939.)Doug Jr. made several delightful if unimportant romantic comedies-including The Joy of Living, Having Wonderful Time, The Rage of Paris and Young in Heart (all 1938)-before returning to robust adventure films with Gunga Din (1939, as the daring Sergeant Ballantine in this rousing classic), The Sun Never Sets (also 1939, once again helping save the British Empire), Safari, Green Hell (both 1940), and The Corsican Brothers (1941, another swashbuckler, this time playing twins). He also produced and starred in Ben Hecht's bizarre black comedy, Angels Over Broadway (1940).During World War 2 Fairbanks served with distinction as a lieutenant commander with the U.S. Navy. When he returned to movie work in 1947, it was in the title role of Sinbad the Sailor (1947), an eye-filling Arabian Nights adventure that saw him adopting some of his late father's larger-than-life gestures and man nerisms. He appeared opposite Betty Grable in That Lady in Ermine (1948), and then produced and cowrote two costume vehicles for himself: The Exile (1948) and The Fighting O'Flynn (1949) before starring in a taut, contemporary thriller, State Secret (1950), in England. Fairbanks, a lifelong Anglophile who numbered members of the royal family among his friends, moved to Britain in the early 1950s. His subsequent screen work was both spotty and undistinguished (although he personally fared better than did the films themselves): Three's Company, The Triangle, The Genie (all 1953), Destination Milan, The Last Moment (both 1954), Red and Blue (1967). He also produced several films, including Another Man's Poison (1952) and Chase a Crooked Shadow (1958), and hosted, produced, and often appeared in the anthology TV series "Douglas Fairbanks Presents" (1952-57). Returning to the U.S., he toured in a number of stage plays, made TV guest appearances, and appeared with several other Hollywood "legends"Fred Astaire, Melvyn Douglas, and John Houseman-in Ghost Story (1981), his last feature film to date. His talent has never been fully appreciated. His first volume of autobiography, "The Salad Days," was published in 1988; the second, "A Hell of a War," in 1993.
