The First King of Hollywood

by Tracey Goessel

ability to register with film audiences, 87

  acting nuances, 177–178

  acting performances as dance, 102, 110, 320

  affairs of, 98–99, 140–144, 372–373, 411–412, 436, 439–440

  athletic ability of (see athletic ability; stunt work)

  attempt to enlist, 199

  birth of, 8

  business acumen, 62, 130–132

  charm of, 128

  childhood of, 10–13

  as clotheshorse, 187, 439

  criminal threats against, 340

  death of, 480

  Denver residences of, 13

  desire for success, 40–41

  desire to become an actor, 21

  downward spiral of, 330

  education of, 11, 13–14, 22–23

  employment, non-acting, of, 30–31, 33–34, 46–47

  enthusiasm for travel, 274, 400–401

  entry into motion pictures, 73–74

  essence of, 103–104

  estrangement from mother, 138–139

  fatherhood and, 54

  first film appearance, 75

  first speaking line, 25–26

  first swashbuckler role, 172

  as founding member of United Artists, 212–215, 216, 216n

  friendship with Chaplin, 126–127, 183–184, 302–303, 359

  injuries sustained by, 1–2, 67, 121, 227, 228–229, 255, 348, 371

  jealousy of, 10, 138–139, 156–157, 230, 241, 241n, 291, 357, 373–374, 438, 475

  marriages, 45–47, 467–469 (see also Fairbanks-Pickford marriage)

  memorial services for, 481–482

  mustache of, 262

  mythology of, 8–10, 23

  need for family, 107–108

  personality traits, 45, 52, 303–304, 305

  philanthropic endeavors, 155, 158, 179–181, 189, 201–202, 388–389

  physical characteristics, 79

  private nicknames of, 374, 374n, 442, 455, 461

  professional debut, 22n, 24

  and reading, 246n, 283

  relationship with son, 96, 316–318, 461, 473–475, 474n, 478

  reunion with father, 12

  screenwriting of, 105

  as a singer, 39, 417, 418

  speaking voice of, 384–385, 392–393

  stunt work by (see stunt work)

  as teetotaler, 12–13, 13n, 410

  travels (see Fairbanks, Douglas, Sr., travels of)

  wooing of Pickford, 96–98, 99, 117–119

  Fairbanks, Douglas, Sr., travels of

  by chartered airplane trip, 391

  cross-country tours, 295

  European vacations, 274–279, 378–379

  to film documentary, 420–428, 430

  to Greece, India, and the Far East, 400–405

  to Hawaii, 405

  honeymoon tours, 235–243, 468–469

  publicity tour of Europe, 323–325

  solo trips, 443

  spurious, 34

  with Sylvia Ashley, 460–464

  to Tahiti, 433–436

  through Europe and Russia, 352–357

  as a young man, 27–28, 31, 31n, 38, 63, 67

  Fairbanks, Ella (mother), 9, 13, 13n, 75

  background, 4–5

  changes family name back to Fairbanks, 13

  death, 138

  initial opposition to DF theatrical aspirations, 21–22

  marriages, 6, 7–8, 12

  tea with Pickford and her mother, 98

  Fairbanks, John (half-brother), 5, 6n, 13–14, 107–108, 130, 136, 193, 205, 233n, 284, 304–305, 361

  Fairbanks, John, III, 5, 5n, 9n

  Fairbanks, Letitia, 10, 39, 61, 107, 346n, 469

  on DF’s mischievousness, 11, 14, 21, 32–33

  on Ella Fairbanks, 138–139

  on stunt doubles, 295

  Fairbanks, Robert (brother), 139, 232, 280, 312, 362, 426, 450, 479, 481

  birth of, 8

  childhood of, 2, 10, 11, 12, 14

  confronts DF with travel expenses, 464

  convinces DF to use stunt double, 294–295

  DF bequeathal to, 6n

  Fairbanks-Pickford marriage and, 444, 446, 450–451, 455, 466

  as manager of DF’s finances and studio operations, 193

  prearranged codes with, 465–466

  on reconciliation rumors, 455

  travels with DF, 275, 276, 278, 349, 391

  United Artists stock plan and, 463

  Fairbanks, Sylvia Ashley, 439, 444–446, 452, 454, 456, 460–461, 464, 470, 476

  background of, 411

  Douglas Fairbanks Jr. and, 467, 474–475, 477

  nicknames, 442

  reaction to death of DF, 480

  wedding and honeymoon with DF, 467–469

  Fairbanks Trio, 319

  Fairbanks-Pickford marriage

  anniversary celebrations, 407, 426

  divorce filings, 450–451, 460

  early devotion in, 408

  enthusiasm for travel in, 274, 400–401

  honeymoon, 235–243

  press coverage of separation rumors, 445–449

  private note by Pickford about end of, 458–459

  public infatuation with, 239–240

  reconciliation attempts, 443–444, 451–455, 466–467

  separation rumors, 409, 426–427, 433–434

  wedding ceremony, 232–233

  Famous Players–Lasky, 6n, 133, 135, 208, 256

  fans and fan mail, 456–457

  Fantana (1905), 38–40, 42, 418

  Farnum, Dustin, 85

  Farnum, William, 116, 433, 436

  Faulkner, Ralph, 291n

  Faust (1926), 314

  Fawcett, George, 101

  Fealy, Margaret, 15–16, 31

  Fealy, Maude, 15–16, 44

  Federal Trade Commission (FTC), 265

  Fenn, Arthur, 478–479

  Ferber, Edna, 79n

  Feud in the Kentucky Hills, A, 57n

  Fifth Regiment of Pennsylvania Reserves, 3–4

  fight scenes, 59–60, 66, 109, 263

  Fildew, William, 84

  Film Daily, 321

  film study curriculum, 365–366

  finances, personal, 470

  Fine Arts, 77, 78–79, 82–84, 107, 110, 132

  Fineman, Bernie, 308

  Firefall Rock, 161

  First National Exhibitors Circuit, 207–208, 209–211, 217

  Charlie Chaplin and, 326, 328

  Mary Pickford and, 215, 252

  Fischer, Alice, 32

  Fiske, Minnie Madden, 43

  Fitzgerald, F. Scott, 254n

  Fitzmaurice, George, 145

  Flagg, James Montgomery, 85

  Fleming, Kid, 168

  Fleming, Rhonda, 345n

  Fleming, Victor, 102n, 114, 117, 124, 162, 165, 221, 426, 481

  Around the World in Eighty Minutes and, 421, 422, 423, 424–425

  contract arrangements with, 136

  The Mollycoddle and, 227

  returns from active duty, 220

  serious illness of, 424, 425

  When the Clouds Roll By and, 223–224

  Flirting with Fate (1916), 112–113, 113n, 177–178

  Florey, Robert, 283–284, 286–289, 291, 295, 367

  DF suggests Roman story line to, 305–306

  on DF’s French mannerisms, 31–32, 262

  on DF’s preparations for Robin Hood, 284

  Flynn, Emmett, 367

  Flynn, Maurice Bennett “Lefty,” 290–291

  Follies Bergère, 275

  Ford, Henry, 215

  Forest Lawn cemetery, 442, 481

  Forever Yours. See Secrets (1933)

  Fort Hamilton Division of the United States Volunteer Life Saving Corps, 38

  Fort Worth Morning Register, 26

  Fortnight Club, 180

  Fox, William, 365n

  Foy, Eddie, 77

  freelance workers, 365

  freemas
onry, 408

  French mannerisms, 31–32, 262

  Frenzied Finance. See Case of Frenzied Finance, A (1905)

  Frin. See nicknames, private, of Pickford

  Frohman, Charles, 61

  FTC. See Federal Trade Commission (FTC)

  Furst, William, 85

  Ga-Ga (monkey), 433n, 437, 437n

  Garbo, Greta, 386

  Gaucho, The (1927), 368, 369–370, 375–376

  geisha girls, 404

  Gem Collector, The (Wodehouse), 60

  Gentleman from Mississippi, A (1908), 51–54

  Gentleman of Leisure, A (1911), 57, 60–61, 62

  Gentleman of Leisure, A (Wodehouse), 62

  Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (Loos), 150, 169

  George, Grace, 39, 44

  George Eastman House, 345

  Geraghty, Thomas “Tom,” 147, 225, 226–227, 229, 368, 433, 434, 447–449, 450, 453, 482

  Gest, Morris, 321

  gestures, trademark, 40

  Giannini, Attilio Henry, 471–472, 476

  Gibbons, Floyd, 354

  Gibson, Hoot, 176

  Giebler, A. H., 213

  Gillette, William, 15, 18

  Ginger (dog), 176

  Gish, Lillian, 256

  Glass, Montague, 269

  Globe Theatre (New York City), 336

  Glorious Adventure, The (1922), 343n

  Goebbels, Joseph, 476

  Goldwyn, Samuel, 76, 106, 134, 215, 349n, 358, 365n, 407, 437n, 463, 471–472, 476–477

  buys rights to Marco Polo project, 469

  on DF’s love for Pickford, 302

  on founding of United Artists, 215

  tears down sets at Pickford-Fairbanks lot, 471

  United Artists and, 463, 476–477

  Goldwyn Pictures Corporation, 134

  golf, passion for, 406, 410, 426, 427–428, 439

  Good Bad Man, The (1916), 105, 106, 151n

  Goulding, Edmund, 416–417

  Grand Opera House (Chicago), 65

  Grauman, Sid, 474n, 482

  Grauman’s Chinese Theatre (Hollywood), 375, 428, 474n

  Grauman’s Egyptian Theatre (Hollywood), 428

  Grauman’s Million Dollar Theatre (Los Angeles), 190–191

  Great Train Robbery, The (1903), 35

  Green, Walter, 107

  Gregory, Jackson, 160, 368

  Grey, Albert, 330

  Griffith, D. W., 48–49, 57n, 76n, 78, 79–82, 84, 86n, 254, 256

  animosity towards DF and Pickford, 326–327

  Anita Loos scripts and, 169

  as founding member of United Artists, 206, 216, 216n

  growth of Hollywood and, 81

  Joseph Schenck and, 330

  Mary Pickford and, 94, 95

  protests tearing down of sets, 471

  relationship with DF, 74, 79–80, 100

  signs deal with First National Exhibitors Circuit, 217

  signs three-picture deal with Paramount, 325–328

  on theatrical versus stock stars, 80

  Triangle Film Corporation and, 77, 79n, 129

  visits Exposition, 79–81

  wooed away from Biograph, 76

  Griffith, Raymond “Ray,” 367

  Gulf Between, The (1917), 343n

  Habit of Happiness, The (1916), 99, 100–101, 103

  Hale, Alan, 291

  Hale’s Tours, 35

  Half Breed, The (1916), 111n, 113–116, 121

  Hall, Frank, 14

  Hampton Studio, 283, 284

  Hand, Learned, 137n

  Happy Pair, The (1898), 17

  Hardrock (prospector), 11–12

  Harrington, Tom, 303

  Harris, Sam, 63. See also Cohan & Harris

  Hart, William S., 181, 212, 213, 358, 358n

  Harte, Bret, 113

  Hartmann, Sadakichi, 311–313

  Harvard University, myth of attendance at, 23, 52, 316

  haunted residence, stay at, 434–435

  Hawkes, Edith Louisa Sylvia. See Fairbanks, Sylvia Ashley

  Hawks, Howard, 162, 429

  Hawthorne of the U.S.A. (1912), 65–67, 129n

  Hayakawa, Sessue, 310, 422

  Hays, Will, 273, 298, 329, 364

  He Comes Up Smiling (1914), 69–71

  He Comes Up Smiling (1918), 194–196, 473

  Headin’ South (1918), 175–177, 191, 268

  Hearst, William Randolph, 85, 215, 450, 482

  Heifetz, Jascha, 325

  Hell’s Angels (1930), 400

  Hemmer, Edward, 141, 143

  Henabery, Joseph, 164, 192, 198

  on Cabanne, 84n

  His Majesty the American and, 220–224

  The Man from Painted Post and, 160–163

  reaction to marriage of DF and Pickford, 234–235

  and Say! Young Fellow, 176–177, 189–191

  turns over Reaching for the Moon to Loos and Emerson, 165

  on Wild and Woolly, 151–152

  as writer of The Man from Painted Post, 159n

  Henrietta, The (1887), 68

  Her Lord and Master (1901), 29–30

  Herald Tribune, 375

  Herndon, Booton, 171n, 227, 248, 347, 438n

  Higby, Wilbur, 130

  His Majesty the American (1919), 65, 220–224, 226, 327

  His Picture in the Papers (1916), 88–89, 90, 169

  Hitchcock, Raymond, 77, 85

  Hodges, Graham Russell Gao, 311

  Hollywood, 81–82, 428

  Hollywood Hotel, 81

  Holt, George, 345–346

  Home, George, 337

  Hoover, Herbert, 192n

  Hopper, DeWolf, 77, 116

  horoscope, 411–412, 452

  House That Shadows Built, The, 175–176

  Houseboat on the Styx, A (Bangs), 367

  Howe, Herbert, 335

  Hughes, Rupert, 269

  Humberstone, Bruce “Lucky,” 284, 372, 374n, 381–382, 396, 398

  Hume, Benita, 461

  Hunne, Maude, 16

  In Again, Out Again (1917), 144–146, 147, 149

  “In the Carquinez Woods” (Harte), 113

  In the Limelight (1914), 71

  Ince, Thomas H., 77

  Independent Motion Picture Company, 74, 95

  India, 424–426

  influenza, impact on motion picture industry, 199–200

  Institute of the American Musical, 416n

  International Film Service Company, 215

  Intolerance (1915), 80n, 129n

  Intrusion of Jimmy, The (Wodehouse), 60, 62

  Invader (yacht), 433

  Iron Mask, The (1929), 380–381, 386–387, 391, 392–393

  Iron Strain, The (1915), 85

  Iroquois Theatre fire, 36

  IRS (Internal Revenue Service), 388

  Irving, Henry, 15, 393

  Irving, Laurence, 385

  Irwin, Will, 211–212

  Isn’t Life Wonderful (1924), 328, 330

  Jack Spurlock, Prodigal (1908), 61

  Jacobs, Joe, 453

  Jacobs, Lewis, 35

  Janis, Elsie, 91–92, 97, 117, 118

  Jarvis Hall Military Academy (Montclair, Colorado), 13, 14

  Jazz Singer, The (1927), 376, 377

  Jesse Hampton Studio, 283, 284

  Jessup, Mrs., 11–12

  Joan the Woman (1916), 342

  Johnston, Julanne, 310, 312

  Jolson, Al, 377, 383, 386

  Jones, Aaron J., 207

  Jones, Bobby, 410, 410n

  Jones, Julia, 6

  Julius Caesar (1916), 116

  “Just My Style” (song), 39

  juvenile jump, 79n

  Kahanamoku, Duke, 405

  Kahn, Robert, 251

  Kalmus, Herbert Thomas, 342, 343

  Kamiyama, Sôjin, 313, 422

  Kane, Bob, 251

  Kaufman, Al, 198

  Keaton, Buster, 110–111, 191, 196, 329, 414

  Kenneth Ridge (Watch
Hill, RI), 45, 122, 471

  Keystone Kops, 81

  Kiki (1931), 416

  Kinemacolor, 75, 341–342

  King of Kings (1927), 367–368

  Kirkwood, James, 141

  Kirmess (1897), 15

  Kiss from Mary Pickford, A (1927), 356

  Kitchen, Karl, 147, 197, 217, 351, 452

  Klaw and Erlanger, 68, 69

  Klein, Arthur, 63

  Knickerbocker Buckaroo, The (1919), 204–206, 219

  Knoblock, Edward, 148–149, 233n, 257, 259–260, 308, 383, 439n

  Knocking Knockers (1919), 192

  Kobe, Japan, crowd control in, 404

  Korda, Alexander, 449, 456, 472

  Koszarski, Richard, 89n

  Krueger, Miles, 419

  Kruger, “Stubby,” 345

  Lackaye, Wilton, 37

  Ladies’ Home Journal, 165

  Laemmle, Carl, 209n

  Lafayette Flying Corps, 205

  Lahue, Kalton, 77

  Lalor, Frank, 145

  Lamb, The (1915), 78–79, 82–83, 84–85

  Lambs Club, 27, 179

  Lambs Gambol, 143

  Lanvin, Jeanne, 278

  Lasky, Jesse, 76, 124, 132, 133, 137, 208, 315–317, 323, 343, 364

  Lasky, Jesse, Jr., 123–124, 315, 317

  Laugh and Live (Fairbanks), 146

  law career, 3n, 34

  Lee, Lila, 97

  Leisen, Mitchell, 291–292, 292n, 293

  Leloir, Maurice, 380–381

  Leni, Paul, 306

  Less Than the Dust (1916), 117

  Levy, Moe, 71n

  Lewis, Chuck, 147, 295, 345, 401, 404, 421, 433, 444, 479

  as pallbearer, 482

  sliding down the sails stunt and, 347

  Lewis, Ed “Strangler,” 168

  Liberty Loan films, 191–192, 219

  Liberty Loan tours, 181–188, 199–202

  Liberty Theatre (New York City), 72

  Lichtman, Al, 462, 463

  Lieber, Robert, 207

  Life of an American Fireman, The (1902), 35

  Lights o’ London, The (1911), 57–60

  Lion’s Mouth, The (1900), 27

  Little Annie Rooney (1925), 332, 352, 353

  Little Lord Fauntleroy (1921), 256, 326

  Llewellyn J. Morse (vessel), 348–349

  Lloyd, Harold, 252n, 335

  Lockwood, Harold, 199

  Loew, Marcus, 329

  Loew’s Inc., 329

  Lombardi, Frederic, 197, 288n

  London Films, 449, 455

  London Times, 351

  Loos, Anita, 83, 101, 127, 128, 131

  asked by DF about crowd cheering, 240n

  compensation, 136

  contract termination, 168–169

  contribution to American Aristocracy, 125

  on DF’s aversion to love scenes, 248

  on DF’s vices, 98

  on Eileen Percy, 149–150

  first screenplay, 95

  friction between DF and, 159–160, 163, 164–165

  on making DF a star, 169–170

  racism of, 90, 159