Fairbanks, Douglas, 1883–1939, American movie actor, b. Denver. From 1901 to 1914, Fairbanks appeared on stage in light comedies. In 1915 he began making movies, becoming the swashbuckling hero of his day in such films as The Mark of Zorro (1921), The Three Musketeers (1921), Robin Hood (1922), and The Thief of Bagdad (1924). He was married (1920–35) to Mary Pickford, and together with Charlie Chaplin and D. W. Griffith they formed United Artists studio.
See biographies by R. Hancock and L. Fairbanks (1935), R. Schickel (1974), and J. Vance and T. Maietta (2008).
His son, Douglas Fairbanks, Jr., 1909–2000, was also an actor.
See his autobiography (1988).
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