Douglas Elton Fairbanks, Jr., KBE, DSC was an American actor and a highly
decorated naval officer of World War II. Early life
Douglas Fairbanks, Jr. was born in New York City, the only child of actor
Douglas Fairbanks and his first wife, Anna Beth Sully. His parents divorced
when he was nine years old, and both remarried. He lived with his mother in
New York, California, Paris and London. Hollywood
Fairbanks's father was one of cinema's first icons, noted for such
swashbuckling adventure films as The Mark of Zorro, Robin Hood and The Thief
of Bagdad. Largely on the basis of his father's name, Fairbanks, Jr. was given
a contract with Paramount Pictures at age 14. After making some
undistinguished films, he took to the stage, where he impressed his father,
his stepmother Mary Pickford, and Charlie Chaplin, who encouraged him to
continue with acting. He began his career during the silent
film era. He initially played mainly supporting roles in a range of films
featuring many of the leading female players of the day: Belle Bennett in
Stella Dallas, Esther Ralston in An American Venus and Pauline Starke in
Women Love Diamonds. In the last years of the silent period, he was elevated to
star billing opposite Loretta Young in several pre-Code films and Joan Crawford
in Our Modern Maidens. He supported John Gilbert and Greta Garbo in A Woman of
Affairs. Progressing to sound, he played opposite Katharine Hepburn in her
Oscar-winning role in the film Morning Glory.
With Outward Bound, The Dawn Patrol, Little Caesar, The Prisoner of Zenda,
and Gunga Din, his movies began to have more commercial success.
Although celebrated as an actor, Fairbanks was commissioned a reserve
officer in the United States Navy at the onset of World War II and assigned to
Lord Mountbatten's Commando staff in the United Kingdom.
World War II In 1941, President Franklin D. Roosevelt
appointed him special envoy to South America. Fairbanks served on the cruiser
Wichita during the disastrous Convoy PQ17 operation.
Having witnessed 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.
Fairbanks convinced Hewitt of the advantages of a military deception unit,
then repeated the proposal at Hewett's behest to Admiral Ernest King, Chief of
Naval Operations. King thereupon issued a secret letter on March 5, 1943
charging the Vice Chief of Naval Operations with the recruitment of 180
officers and 300 enlisted men for the Beach Jumper program.
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 principal landing.
United States 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.
For his planning the diversion-deception operations and his part in the
amphibious assault on Southern France, Lieutenant Commander Fairbanks was
awarded the United States Navy's Legion of Merit with bronze V, the Italian War
Cross for Military Valor, the French Légion d'honneur and the Croix de guerre
with Palm, and the British Distinguished Service Cross. Fairbanks was also
awarded the Silver Star for valor displayed while serving on PT boats and
the National Order of the Southern Cross, conferred by the Brazilian
government. Among his other exploits was the sinking of the corvette UJ-6083
while in command of a mixed division of American PT Boats and British
Insect-class gunboats plus assorted other small craft. Fairbanks commanded
from HMS Aphis. Fairbanks stayed in the US Naval Reserve
after the war and ultimately retired as a Captain in 1954.
Postwar years Fairbanks returned to Hollywood at the
conclusion of World War II, but as a confirmed Anglophile, he spent a
considerable amount of his time in the United Kingdom, where he was well known
in the highest social circles. He was made an Honorary Knight Commander of the
Order of the British Empire in 1949. In 1961, he was a guest at the wedding of
Katharine Worsley to Prince Edward, Duke of Kent.
Between 1954 and 1956 he also made a number of half-hour programs at one of
the smaller Elstree film studios as part of a syndicated anthology series for
television called Douglas Fairbanks, Jr., Presents. In the middle 1950s,
Fairbanks was a guest star on NBC's The Martha Raye Show. On February 7, 1957,
he appeared on NBC's The Ford Show starring Tennessee Ernie Ford. On stage,
Fairbanks toured in My Fair Lady in 1968, and in The Pleasure of His Company
several times, including tours in the U.S. in 1970–72 and the 1977 Australian
production with Stanley Holloway. The College of Arms in London granted
Fairbanks a coat of arms symbolizing the U.S. and Britain united across the blue
Atlantic Ocean by a silken knot of friendship.
In 1982, Fairbanks was awarded the German Federal Cross of Merit for his
contribution to the relief of the needy in occupied Germany.
It has been claimed that Douglas Fairbanks, Jr. was one of the naked men
in the incriminating photos used as evidence in the divorce trial of
Margaret Campbell, Duchess of Argyll in 1963.
Fairbanks was a friend of Laurence Olivier and was among the contributors
to a documentary by The South Bank Show called Laurence Olivier: A Life. He was
also a close friend of Sir Rex Harrison and was a presenter at Harrison's New
York City memorial service. He wrote his autobiography, Salad Days,
in 1988. In addition, Fairbanks wrote a chronicle of his experiences during the
Second World War, A Hell of a War published in 1993. Beyond his two
volumes of autobiography, Fairbanks collaborated with Richard Schickel on
the illustrated survey of Fairbanks Sr. and Jr. called The Fairbanks Album and
Jeffrey Vance with a critical study/biography of Fairbanks Sr.
ultimately published as Douglas Fairbanks.
Personal life His first notable relationship was with
the actress Joan Crawford, whom he began to date seriously during the filming of
Our Modern Maidens. Fairbanks and Crawford married on June 3, 1929 at St.
Malachy in New York City. Fairbanks was only 19, Crawford was four years older.
They travelled to England on a delayed honeymoon, where he was entertained by
Noël Coward, Gertrude Lawrence, Beatrice Lillie, and Prince George, Duke of Kent.
He became active in both society and politics, but Crawford was far more
interested in her career and had an affair with Clark Gable. The couple
divorced in 1933. Despite their divorce, Fairbanks was
quick to defend Crawford when her adopted daughter Christina Crawford
published Mommie Dearest, a scathing biography of Crawford's personal life.
He firmly stated, "The Joan Crawford that I've heard about in Mommie Dearest
is not the Joan Crawford I knew back then."
On April 22, 1939, Fairbanks married Mary Lee Hartford, a former wife of
Huntington Hartford, the A&P supermarket heir. He remained devoted to her until
her death in 1988. They had three daughters: Daphne, Victoria, and
Melissa, as well as eight grandchildren and ten great-grandchildren.
On May 30, 1991, Fairbanks married Vera Lee Shelton, a merchandiser for QVC
Network Inc. Death and legacy
On the morning of May 7, 2000, Fairbanks died at the age of 90 of a heart attack
and was interred at the Hollywood Forever Cemetery in Hollywood,
California, in the same tomb as his father.
Fairbanks has three stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame: one for motion
pictures at 6318 Hollywood Boulevard, one for television at 6665 Hollywood
Boulevard and one for radio at 6710 Hollywood Boulevard. In 1969 he was
inducted into the Hall of Fame of the International Best Dressed List.
Estate Fairbanks's estate was auctioned
September 13, 2011 by Doyle New York, surpassing estimated proceeds by netting
over a half-million dollars. Partial filmography
Radio appearances Awards and honors
= American military awards= Silver Star
Legion of Merit American Defense Service Medal with "A"
device American Campaign Medal
European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal
World War II Victory Medal Naval Reserve Medal
Navy Expert Pistol Shot = International awards=
Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire
Knight of the Legion of Honor Order of the Southern Cross
Distinguished Service Cross Croix de Guerre avec palme
War Cross for Military Valor References
Further reading Wise, James. Stars in Blue: Movie Actors
in America's Sea Services. Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press, 1997. ISBN
1557509379 OCLC 36824724 External links
Douglas Fairbanks, Jr. at the Internet Movie Database
Douglas Fairbanks Jr – Daily Telegraph obituary
Photographs of Douglas Fairbanks Jr. Navy Department History entry
Imperial War Museum Interview