Today in Hollywood with extreme celebrity workout programs that give guys like Jake Gyllenhaal washboard abs in a few month, CGI effects that can anyone seem like Crouching Tiger, and gifted stuntmen that can make Vin Diesel seem athletic, action stars are pretty much a dime a dozen. That was not the case way back in the silent film era, when United Artists first formed. Back then, during the silent yet golden era of film there was pretty much one action star that played the part of the athletic, charming, swashbuckling hero and that first action star was Douglas Fairbanks.Douglas Fairbanks was born in Denver in 1883, where he was brought up primarily by his mother after his father, a prominent attorney, left when he was five. He had begun acting at an early age, making his name for himself while he was a teenager in Elitch Gardens Theater. By the time he was 20, Fairbanks had made his way to New York where he began a career on Broadway, making his debut in 1902. Five years later he would marry a wealthy socialite, have a kid and later move to California to start a career in film.
Fairbanks first worked with pioneering filmmaker D.W. Griffith, starring in many romantic comedies, quickly gaining fame and recognition and becoming one of the highest paid film stars. While Griffith appreciated his comedic charm more than his athletic ability, the audience seem to want both, and soon Fairbanks was starring in a number of romantic comedies that featured both of his talents. Then, he met Mary Pickford, and along with Charlie Chaplin formed United Artists in order to have complete creative control over his own pictures. It was then that Fairbanks started to shine as a action hero.
One of the first characters that Fairbanks and his partners decided to bring to the big screen was the masked avenger Zorro. The character, created in 1919 by writer Johnston McCulley seemed like a perfect match for the charming and athletic Fairbanks. Zorro, who led a double life as Foppish Spanish Aristocrat and swashbuckling hero for the common people was a character that Fairbanks could portray with both his comic charm and his physical prowess.
One year after the serialized story of Zorro: “The Curse of Capristrano” had been published in All Story Weekly, the new company created by Fairbanks and Pickford decided to turn it into United Artists debut film. With Fairbanks as the leading man, The Mark of Zorro (1920) became a mega hit, turning Fairbanks into the first action star. After Zorro’s success, Fairbanks went on to star in other action packed silent films including The Three Musketeers (1921), Robin Hood (1922), and The Thief of Bagdad (1924). While he did transition fairly well into the sound era, Fairbanks pretty much set the standard for the swashbuckling action stars that came after him and is remembered to this day as “The King of Hollywood".
Franck Benedittini
Related Content on FMO
FMO's on
