Douglas Fairbanks

26AUG26

King of Hollywood
Douglas Fairbanks
23rd May 1883 - 12th December 1939

The first actor to play Zorro.

He was married to Mary Pickford for 16 years. Like her, he was a founder of United Artists. He was also a founding member of the Motion Picture Academy. The very first Academy Awards, in 1929, were hosted by him.

While he was married to Mary Pickford, they were called "Hollywood Royalty".

He started his career as a stage actor on Broadway and became so popular, that he rose to be one of Hollywood's favourite and highest paid actors within a few years.

He started off as a comedic actor, but moved into the adventure genre, which is mostly what he is well known for today. His biggest roles being the leading man in films like:

The Mark of Zorro - 1920
Robin Hood - 1922
The Thief of Bagdad - 1924

Unfortunately, he didn't make the jump from silent movies to the "talkies", and he retired in 1934. He remained active in the film industry and with United Artists, until his death in 1939, at only 56 years of age.

He was the first posthumous recipient of an Academy Honorary Award a few months after his death, at the 12th Academy Awards, in acknowledgement for his career and and the Academy's first president.