NationMaster - Encyclopedia: Douglas Fairbanks, Jr.

Douglas Elton Fairbanks, Jr., KBE, DSC, K.st.j. (December 9, 1909 – May 7, 2000) was an American actor and a highly decorated naval officer of World War II. Image:Douglasfairbanksjr. ... December 9 is the 343rd day (344th in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1909 (MCMIX) was a common year starting on Friday (see link for calendar). ... Image File history File links Flag_of_New_York. ... Midtown Manhattan, looking north from the Empire State Building, 2005 New York City (officially named the City of New York) is the most populous city in the state of New York and the entire United States. ... May 7 is the 127th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (128th in leap years). ... This article is about the year 2000. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_New_York. ... Midtown Manhattan, looking north from the Empire State Building, 2005 New York City (officially named the City of New York) is the most populous city in the state of New York and the entire United States. ... Joan Crawford (March 23, 1905 â€“ May 10, 1977) was an acclaimed, iconic, Academy Award winning American actress. ... Commanders Badge of the Order of the British Empire (Military division) The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by King George V. The Order includes five classes in civil and military divisions; in decreasing order of seniority... The Distinguished Service Cross (DSC) is the third level military decoration awarded to officers and (since 1993) ratings of the Royal Navy and formerly also to officers of other Commonwealth countries. ... The Knights Hospitaller (the or Knights of Malta or Knights of Rhodes) is a tradition which began as a Benedictine nursing Order founded in the 11th century based in the Holy Land, but soon became a militant Christian Chivalric Order under its own charter, and was charged with the care... December 9 is the 343rd day (344th in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1909 (MCMIX) was a common year starting on Friday (see link for calendar). ... May 7 is the 127th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (128th in leap years). ... This article is about the year 2000. ... Actors in period costume sharing a joke while waiting between takes during location filming An actor is a person who acts, or plays a role, in a dramatic production. ... USN redirects here. ... Combatants Allied Powers Axis Powers Casualties Military dead: 17,000,000 Civilian dead: 33,000,000 Total dead: 50,000,000 Military dead: 8,000,000 Civilian dead: 4,000,000 Total dead 12,000,000 World War II (abbreviated WWII), or the Second World War, was a worldwide conflict...

Birth

Douglas Fairbanks, Jr. was born in New York City, the son of actor Douglas Fairbanks and his first wife, Anna Beth Sully. His parents divorced when he was ten years old. He lived with his mother in California, Paris, and London. Nickname: Big Apple, Gotham, NYC Location in the state of New York Coordinates: Country United States State New York Boroughs The Bronx Brooklyn Manhattan Queens Staten Island Settled 1613 - Mayor Michael Bloomberg (R) Area - City 1,214. ... Douglas Fairbanks Douglas Fairbanks (May 23, 1883 â€“ December 12, 1939) was an American actor, screenwriter, director and producer, who became noted for his swashbuckling roles in silent movies such as The Mark of Zorro (1920), The Three Musketeers (1921), Robin Hood (1922), The Thief of Bagdad (1924) and The Black... Official language(s) English Capital Sacramento Largest city Los Angeles Area Ranked 3rd - Total 158,302 sq mi (410,000 kmÂ²) - Width 250 miles (400 km) - Length 770 miles (1,240 km) - % water 4. ... City flag City coat of arms Motto: Fluctuat nec mergitur (Latin: Tossed by the waves, she does not sink) Paris Eiffel tower as seen from the esplanade du TrocadÃ©ro. ... This article is about the capital of England and the United Kingdom. ...

Hollywood

Largely on the basis of his name, he was given a contract at age fourteen with Paramount Pictures. After making some undistinguished films, he took to the stage, where he impressed his father, his step-mother Mary Pickford, and Charlie Chaplin, who encouraged him to continue with acting. Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American motion picture production and distribution company, based in Hollywood, California. ... Mary Pickford (April 8, 1892 â€“ May 29, 1979) was an Oscar-winning Canadian motion picture star and co-founder of United Artists. ... Charles Chaplin redirects here. ...

First marriage

He was also noticed by Joan Crawford who began to date him. On June 3, 1929, at City Hall in New York, New York Crawford and Fairbanks were married. He was technically underage, so one year was added to his birth (giving him 1908 as his year of birth), and Crawford shed three years from her age, which would remain shed until long after her death, giving her the same year of birth that Fairbanks had created for himself, 1908. Joan Crawford (March 23, 1905 â€“ May 10, 1977) was an acclaimed, iconic, Academy Award winning American actress. ... June 3 is the 154th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (155th in leap years), with 211 days remaining. ... 1929 (MCMXXIX) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will take you to calendar). ... Midtown Manhattan, looking north from the Empire State Building, 2005 New York City (officially named the City of New York) is the most populous city in the state of New York and the entire United States. ...

He went on a delayed honeymoon to England, where he was entertained by Noel Coward and George, Duke of Kent. He became active in both society and politics, but Crawford was far more interested in her career and her new affair with Clark Gable. THe couple was divorced in 1933. Noel Coward Sir Noel Peirce Coward (December 16, 1899 â€“ March 26, 1973) was an English actor, playwright, and composer of popular music. ... His Royal Highness The Prince George, Duke of Kent (George Edward Alexander Edmund von Wettin, later Windsor) (20 December 1902 - 25 August 1942) was the fourth son of King George V of the United Kingdom and Queen Mary. ... William Clark Gable (February 1, 1901 â€“ November 16, 1960) was an Academy Award-winning American film actor and the biggest box office star of the early sound film era. ...

Fairbanks starred in several pre-Code films with Loretta Young, and supported Katharine Hepburn in her Oscar-winning role in the film Morning Glory (1933). Clara Bow on the cover of Sin in Soft Focus, a book by Mark A. Vieira about pre-Code Hollywood. ... Loretta Young in 1935 Loretta Young (January 6, 1913 â€“ August 12, 2000) was an Academy Award-winning American actress. ... Katharine Houghton Hepburn (May 12, 1907 â€“ June 29, 2003) was an iconic four-time Academy Award-winning American star of film, television and stage, widely recognized for her sharp wit, New England gentility and fierce independence. ... Look up morning glory in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ...

With Little Caesar, Outward Bound, Gunga Din and The Dawn Patrol, his movies began to have more commercial success. Little Caesar is a 1931 crime film made during the Pre-Code era which tells the story of a man who works his way up the ranks of the mob until he reaches its upper heights. ... Outward Bound (OB) is an international, non-profit, independent educational organization with approximately 40 schools around the world and 100,000 participants per year. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... For the BBC Radio 2 show often referred to as the Dawn Patrol, see Sarah Kennedy The Dawn Patrol is a 1930 World War I film starring Richard Barthelmess and Douglas Fairbanks Jr. ...

Second marriage

On April 22, 1939, he married Mary Lee Hartford (née Mary Lee Epling), a former wife of George Huntington Hartford, the Atlantic & Pacific Tea Company heir. Douglas and Mary Lee had three daughters, Daphne, Victoria and Melissa - eight grandchildren, Anthony, Nicholas, Dominic, Natasha, Barend, Eliza, Joseph and Crystal - and seven great-grandchildren, Aislin, Georgina, Eliza, Benjy, Hugo, Alphy and Violette. Douglas and Mary Lee Fairbanks were happily married for nearly fifty years until Mary Lee died in 1988. April 22 is the 112th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (113th in leap years). ... 1939 (MCMXXXIX) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will take you to calendar). ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... The Great Atlantic and Pacific Tea Company, better known as A&P, is a United States and Canada. ...

World War II

In 1941, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt appointed him a special envoy to South America. For other uses, see President of the United States (disambiguation). ... Franklin Delano Roosevelt (January 30, 1882–April 12, 1945), 32nd President of the United States, the longest-serving holder of the office and the only man to be elected President more than twice, was one of the central figures of 20th century history. ... South America South America is a continent crossed by the equator, with most of its area in the Southern Hemisphere. ...

Although celebrated as an actor, Fairbanks most enduring legacy was a well-kept secret for decades. At the onset of World War II, Fairbanks was commissioned a Reserve Officer in the U.S. Navy and assigned to Lord Mountbatten's Commando staff in England. Louis Francis Albert Victor Nicholas Mountbatten, 1st Earl Mountbatten of Burma (June 25, 1900 – August 27, 1979) was a British admiral and statesman and an uncle of Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh. ...

Having witnessed (and participated in) British training and cross-channel harassment operations emphasizing the military art of deception, Fairbanks attained a depth of understanding and appreciation of military deception then unheard of in the United States Navy. Lieutenant Fairbanks was subsequently transferred to Virginia Beach where he came under the command of Admiral H. Kent Hewitt, who was preparing U.S. Naval forces for the invasion of North Africa. Henry Kent Hewitt (1887-1972) graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy. ...

Fairbanks was able to convince Hewitt of the advantages of such a unit, and Admiral Hewitt soon took Fairbanks to Washington, D.C. to sell the idea to the Chief of Naval Operations, ADM Ernest King. Fairbanks succeeded and ADM King issued a secret letter on 5 March 1943 charging the Vice Chief of Naval Operations with the recruitment of 180 officers and 300 enlisted men for the Beach Jumper program. Nickname: DC, The District Motto: Justitia Omnibus (Justice for All) Location of Washington, D.C., in relation to the states Maryland and Virginia Coordinates: Federal District District of Columbia - Mayor Adrian M. Fenty (D) - City Council Chairperson: Vincent C. Gray (D) Ward 1: Jim Graham (D) Ward 2: Jack Evans...

The Beach Jumpers mission would simulate amphibious landings with a very limited force. Operating dozens of kilometers from the actual landing beaches and utilizing their deception equipment, the Beach Jumpers would lure the enemy into believing that theirs was the location of the amphibious beach landing, when in fact the actual amphibious landing would be conducted at another location. Even if the enemy was less than 100-percent convinced of the deception, the uncertainty created by the operations could conceivably delay enemy reinforcement of the actual landing area by several crucial hours.

U.S. Navy Beach Jumpers saw their initial action in Operation Husky, the invasion of Sicily. Throughout the remainder of the war, the Beach Jumpers conducted their hazardous, shallow-water operations throughout the Mediterranean. Husky was also the codename of Australian military support to Sierra Leone ending in February 2003. ... Sicily (Sicilia in Italian, Latin, Sicilian and Spanish, Î£Î¹ÎºÎµÎ»Î¯Î± in Greek, Sqallija Maltese) is an autonomous region of Italy and the largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, with an area of 25,708 kmÂ² (9,926 sq. ...

For his planning the diversion-deception operations and his part in the amphibious assault on Southern France, Lieutenant Commander Fairbanks was awarded the U.S. Navy's Legion of Merit with bronze V (for valor), the Italian War Cross for Military Valor, the French Legion d'Honneur and the Croix de Guerre with Palm, and the British Distinguished Service Cross. The Legion of Merit is a military decoration of the United States armed forces that is awarded for exceptionally meritorious conduct in the performance of outstanding services and achievements. ... French Legion of Honor The Légion dhonneur (Legion of Honor ( AmE) or Legion of Honour ( ComE)) is an Order of Chivalry awarded by the President of France. ... The Croix de guerre is a military decoration of both Belgium and France which was first created in 1915. ... The Distinguished Service Cross (DSC) is the third level military decoration awarded to officers and (since 1993) ratings of the Royal Navy and formerly also to officers of other Commonwealth countries. ...

He was also made an Honorary Knight Commander of the British Empire (KBE) in 1949. Commanders Badge of the Order of the British Empire (Military division) The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by King George V. The Order includes five classes in civil and military divisions; in decreasing order of seniority...

It is not a stretch to say that Douglas Fairbanks, Jr. was the father of the United States Navy's Information Operations. As for the Beach Jumpers, they changed names several times in the decades following World War II, expanded their focus, and are currently known as the Navy Information Operations Command. USN redirects here. ...

Many of the Navy's most important information operations since World War II remain classified, but it is clear that the U.S. military retains its interest in this art of war.

Post-War Years

Fairbanks, Jr. returned to Hollywood at the conclusion of World War II and enjoyed success as host of the Douglas Fairbanks, Jr. Theater in the early years of television. Combatants Allied Powers Axis Powers Casualties Military dead: 17,000,000 Civilian dead: 33,000,000 Total dead: 50,000,000 Military dead: 8,000,000 Civilian dead: 4,000,000 Total dead 12,000,000 World War II (abbreviated WWII), or the Second World War, was a worldwide conflict...

Fairbanks was a definite Anglophile and spent a good deal of his time in Britain, where he was well known in the highest social circles. The College of Arms in London granted Fairbanks a coat of arms that symbolizes the U.S. and Britain united across the blue Atlantic Ocean by a silken knot of friendship. This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... The Colleges own coat of arms was granted in 1484. ... A modern coat of arms is derived from the medi val practice of painting designs onto the shield and outer clothing of knights to enable them to be identified in battle, and later in tournaments. ...

Death

He died of a heart attack in New York at the age of 90. He is interred in the Hollywood Forever Cemetery in Hollywood, California, in the same crypt as his father. Acute myocardial infarction (AMI or MI), commonly known as a heart attack, is a disease state that occurs when the blood supply to a part of the heart is interrupted. ... Hollywood Forever Cemetery is located at 6000 Santa Monica Boulevard in the Hollywood district of the City of Los Angeles, California. ... Greetings from Hollywood Hollywood is a district of the city of Los Angeles, California, U.S.A., that extends from Vermont Avenue on the east to just beyond Laurel Canyon Boulevard above Sunset and Crescent Heights Boulevards on the west; the north to south boundary east of La Brea Avenue... Crypt is also a commonly used name of water trumpets, aquatic plants. ...

Legacy

Fairbanks has two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, one for motion pictures at 6318 Hollywood Boulevard and one for television at 6665 Hollywood Boulevard. A band plays on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. ... Film is a term that encompasses individual motion pictures, the field of film as an art form, and the motion picture industry. ...

Trivia

It has been claimed that Douglas Fairbanks, Jr. was one of the naked men in the incriminating photos which were used as evidence in the divorce trial of Margaret Campbell, Duchess of Argyll in 1963.^[1] Margaret, Duchess of Argyll (born Ethel Margaret Whigham, December 1, 1912 - July 25, 1993), was a British society figure best known for her 1963 divorce case against her second husband, the 11th Duke of Argyll, which featured salacious photographs and scandalous stories. ...

He was good friends with legendary English stage and screen actor Sir Laurence Olivier Laurence Olivier, as photographed in 1939 by Carl Van Vechten Laurence Kerr Olivier, Baron Olivier, OM (May 22, 1907 – July 11, 1989) was an English actor and director, esteemed by many as the greatest actor of the 20th century. ...

Filmography

Year 1916 (MCMXVI) was a leap year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar). ... The Three Musketeers, produced in 1921, is a silent movie based on the novel The Three Musketeers by Alexandre Dumas, pÃ¨re. ... Year 1921 (MCMXXI) was a common year starting on Saturday (see link for full calendar). ... 1923 (MCMXXIII) was a common year starting on Monday (link will take you to calendar). ... 1925 (MCMXXV) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will take you to calendar). ... Stella Dallas is a 1937 film which tells the story of a woman who sacrifices her own happiness for the sake of her daughter. ... Year 1926 (MCMXXVI) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar). ... 1927 (MCMXXVII) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will take you to calendar). ... Year 1928 (MCMXXVIII) was a leap year starting on Sunday (link will display full calendar). ... Silent 1928 film directed by Frank Capra and starring Douglas Fairbanks Jr as an aspiring newspaper reporter and Jobyna Ralston as a young woman suspected of murder. ... The Barker is a 1929 film which tells the story of a woman who comes between a man and his estranged son. ... 1929 (MCMXXIX) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will take you to calendar). ... The Prisoner of Zenda is a 1937 black-and-white adventure film adaptation of the Anthony Hope novel of the same name starring Ronald Colman, Madeleine Carroll and Douglas Fairbanks Jr. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ...

References

External links

Categories: American film actors | American silent film actors | Hollywood Walk of Fame | United States Navy officers | American military personnel of World War II | Recipients of the Distinguished Service Cross | Heraldists | Knights Commander of the Order of the British Empire | Légion d'honneur recipients | Recipients of the Legion of Merit | People from New York City | Burials at Hollywood Forever Cemetery | 1909 births | 2000 deaths The Internet Movie Database (IMDb) is an online database of information about motion pictures, actors, movie stars, TV shows, TV stars, production crew personnel, as well as video games. ... NNDB, ostensibly standing for Notable Names Database, produced by Soylent Communications, is an online database of biographical details of notable people. ...

Contents

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