Douglas Fairbanks, Jr.
Fairbanks in 1987, by Allan Warren
Born	Douglas Elton Fairbanks, Jr. (1909-12-09)December 9, 1909 New York City, New York
Died	May 7, 2000(2000-05-07) (aged 90) New York City, New York
Cause of death	heart attack
Occupation	Actor, Naval officer
Years active	1916-1997
Spouse	Joan Crawford (m.1929-1933; divorced) Mary Lee Eppling (m.1939-1988) Vera Shelton (m.1991-2000; his death)
Children	Daphne Fairbanks Victoria Fairbanks Melissa Fairbanks
Parents	Douglas Fairbanks, Anna Beth Sully
Military career
Allegiance	United States of America
Service/branch	United States Navy
Years of service	1941–54
Rank	Captain
Unit	Beach Jumpers
Battles/wars	World War II Operation Husky Operation Dragoon
Awards	Legion of Merit, Italian War Cross, Legion d'Honneur, Croix de Guerre, Distinguished Service Cross, Silver Star, Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire (Honorary)

Douglas Elton Fairbanks, Jr. KBE (December 9, 1909 – May 7, 2000) was an American actor and a highly decorated naval officer of World War II.

Early life[link]

Douglas Fairbanks, Jr. was born in New York City as the only child of actor Douglas Fairbanks, and his first wife, Anna Beth Sully. His parents divorced when he was nine years old, and although both remarried, they had no more children.^[1] He lived with his mother in New York, California, Paris and London.^[2]

Hollywood[link]

Fairbanks' 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 (1925), Esther Ralston in An American Venus (1926) and Pauline Starke in Women Love Diamonds (1927). In the last years of the silent period, he was upped to star billing opposite Loretta Young in several pre-Code films and Joan Crawford in Our Modern Maidens (1929). He supported John Gilbert and Greta Garbo in Woman of Affairs (1929). Progressing to sound, he played opposite Katharine Hepburn in her Oscar-winning role in the film Morning Glory (1933).

With Outward Bound (1930), The Dawn Patrol (1930), Little Caesar (1931), Prisoner of Zenda(1937), and Gunga Din (1939), his movies began to have more commercial success.

Marriages[link]

His first notable relationship was with the actress Joan Crawford, whom he began to date seriously during the filming of Our Modern Maidens. On June 3, 1929, at St Malachy in New York City, Crawford and Fairbanks married. Fairbanks was only 19 and Crawford was four years older.

They went on a delayed honeymoon to England, where he was entertained by Noël Coward, Gertrude Lawrence, Bea 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." A December 2011 eBay auction of a 1977 letter sent by Fairbanks Jr. to Joan Crawford illustrates the fact that the two celebrity ex-spouses remained on friendly terms for the duration of their lives; In the auctioned letter, Fairbanks Jr. mentions that they hadn't met for a drink in over a year.

On April 22, 1939, Fairbanks married Mary Lee Hartford (née Mary Lee Epling), a former wife of Huntington Hartford, the A&P Supermarket heir. They remained together until her death in 1988, and had three daughters: Daphne, Victoria, and Melissa.

On May 30, 1991, Fairbanks wed Vera Lee Shelton, a merchandiser for QVC Network Inc.

World War II[link]

Douglas Fairbanks, Jr., "Father of the U.S. Navy Beach Jumpers"

In 1941, President Franklin D. Roosevelt appointed him a special envoy to South America.

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 Louis Mountbatten's Commando staff in the United Kingdom.

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.

Fairbanks convinced Hewitt of the advantages of such a unit^{[clarification needed]}, 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 (for valor), 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 light cruiser Capriole while in command of a mixed division of American PT Boats and British MGBs.

He was made an Honorary Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire (KBE) in 1949. Fairbanks stayed in the Naval Reserve after the war and ultimately retired a captain in 1954.

Post-war years[link]

Fairbanks with Maureen O'Hara in Sinbad the Sailor (1947)

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. 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.^[3] 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 symbolising 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.^[4]

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, The Salad Days, in 1988.^[5]

Death and legacy[link]

Fairbanks died of a heart attack in New York at the age of 90 and is interred at the Hollywood Forever Cemetery in Hollywood, California, in the same crypt as his father.

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. In 1969 he was inducted into the Hall of Fame of the International Best Dressed List.^[6]

Estate[link]

Fairbanks' estate was auctioned September 13, 2011 by Doyle New York, surpassing estimated proceeds by netting over a half million.

Partial filmography[link]

References[link]

External links[link]

Biography portal

• Douglas Fairbanks, Jr. at the Internet Movie Database
• Douglas Fairbanks Jr – Daily Telegraph obituary
• Photographs of Douglas Fairbanks jr.
• Navy Department History entry

Douglas Fairbanks,Sr.
in Private Life of Don Juan (1934)
Born	Douglas Elton Thomas Ullman (1883-05-23)May 23, 1883 Denver, Colorado
Died	December 12, 1939(1939-12-12) (aged 56) Santa Monica, California
Occupation	Actor, director, producer, screenwriter
Years active	1915–1934
Spouse	Anna Beth Sully (m.1907-1919; divorced) Mary Pickford (m.1920-1936; divorced) Sylvia Ashley (m.1936-1939; his death)
Children	Douglas Fairbanks, Jr. (1909–2000)

Douglas Fairbanks, Sr. (May 23, 1883 – December 12, 1939) was an American actor, screenwriter, director and producer.^[1] He was best known for his swashbuckling roles in silent films such as The Thief of Bagdad, Robin Hood, and The Mark of Zorro.

An astute businessman, Fairbanks was a founding member of United Artists. Fairbanks was also a founding member of The Motion Picture Academy and hosted the first Oscars Ceremony in 1929. With his marriage to Mary Pickford in 1920, the couple became Hollywood royalty and Fairbanks was referred to as "The King of Hollywood",^[2] a nickname later passed on to actor Clark Gable. His career rapidly declined with the advent of the "talkies".

Early life[link]

Fairbanks was born Douglas Elton Thomas Ullman (spelled "Ulman" by Douglas Fairbanks, Jr. in his memoirs) in Denver, Colorado, the son of H. Charles Ullman (born September 15, 1833) and Ella Adelaide Marsh (born 1847). He had a half-brother, John Fairbanks, Jr. (born 1873), and a full brother, Robert Payne Ullman (March 13, 1882 – February 22, 1948).

Douglas Fairbanks' father, Hezekiah Charles Ullman (1833–1915), was born in Berrysburg, Pennsylvania. but raised in Williamsport. He was the fourth child in a relatively well-to-do Jewish family of six sons and four daughters. Charles' parents, Lazarus Ullman and Lydia Abrahams, had immigrated to the U.S. in 1830 from Baden Germany. When he was 17, Charles started a small publishing business in Philadelphia. Two years later he left for New York to study law. He was admitted to the Pennsylvania bar in 1856 and began building a substantial practice. At the onset of the Civil War, Charles joined the Union forces. He engaged in several battles, was wounded, and later became a captain of the 5th Pennsylvania Reserves. Charles left the service in 1864 and returned to his law practice. Subsequently he founded the U.S. Law Association, a forerunner of the American Bar Association.

Charles met Ella Adelaide Marsh (1847–1915) after she married his friend and client John Fairbanks, a wealthy New Orleans sugar mill and plantation owner. The Fairbankses had a son, John, and shortly thereafter John Senior died of tuberculosis. Ella, born into a wealthy southern Catholic family, was overprotected and knew little of her husband's business. Consequently, she was swindled out of her fortune by her husband's partners. Even the efforts of Charles Ullman, acting on her behalf, failed to regain any of the family fortune for her. Distraught and lonely, she met and married a courtly Georgian, Edward Wilcox, who turned out to be an alcoholic. After they had a son, Norris, she divorced Wilcox, and Charles acted as her lawyer in the suit. The pretty southern belle soon became romantically involved with Charles and agreed to move to Denver with him to pursue mining investments. They arrived in Denver in 1881 with her son, John. (Norris was left in Georgia with relatives and was never sent for by his mother.) They were married and had a child, Robert, in 1882, and then a second son, Douglas, a year later. Charles purchased several mining interests in the Rocky Mountains and he re-established his law practice. Charles Ullman abandoned the family when Douglas was five years old, however, and he and his older brother Robert were brought up by their mother, who gave them the family name Fairbanks, after her first husband.

Early career[link]

Douglas Fairbanks began acting on the Denver stage at an early age, doing amateur theatre. He was in summer stock at the Elitch Gardens Theatre, becoming a sensation in his teens. He attended Denver East High School, and was once expelled for dressing up the campus statues on St. Patrick's Day. He left during his senior year. He said he attended Colorado School of Mines for a term but no record of attendance has been found. An article on the matter recounts a professor once saying Fairbanks was asked to leave because of a prank not long after he began. It is also claimed he attended Harvard University. Fairbanks moved to New York in the early 1900s to pursue an acting career, joining the acting troupe of British actor Frederick Warde who had discovered Fairbanks performing in Denver. He worked in a hardware store and as a clerk in a Wall Street office before his Broadway debut in 1902.

On July 11, 1907 in Watch Hill, Rhode Island, he married Anna Beth Sully, the daughter of wealthy industrialist, Daniel J. Sully. They had one son, Douglas Elton Fairbanks, who later became known as actor "Douglas Fairbanks Jr.". The family moved to Hollywood, California in 1915.

Hollywood[link]

D.W. Griffith, Mary Pickford, Charlie Chaplin (seated) and Douglas Fairbanks at the signing of the contract establishing United Artists motion picture studio in 1919. Lawyers Albert Banzhaf (left) and Dennis F. O'Brien (right) stand in the background.

Fairbanks signed a contract with Triangle Pictures in 1915 and began working under the supervision of D.W. Griffith. His first film was titled The Lamb, and in the film, he debuted his remarkable athletic abilities that would gain wide attention among theatre audiences.^[3]

His athleticism was not appreciated by Griffith, however, and he was brought to the attention of Anita Loos and John Emerson, who wrote and directed many of his early romantic comedies. In 1916, Fairbanks established his own company, the Douglas Fairbanks Film Corporation,^[4] and would soon get a job at Paramount.^[4] By 1918, Fairbanks was Hollywood's most popular actor;^[5] within eighteen months of his arrival, Fairbanks' popularity and business acumen raised him up to be the third highest paid.

Fairbanks speaking in front of a crowd at a 1918 war bond drive in New York City

Fairbanks met actress Mary Pickford at a party in 1916 and they began an affair. In 1917, the couple joined Fairbanks' friend Charlie Chaplin^[3] selling war bonds by train across the U.S. Pickford and Chaplin were then the two highest paid film stars in Hollywood. To curtail these stars' astronomical salaries, the large studios attempted to monopolise distributors and exhibitors.

Sully was granted a divorce from Fairbanks in late 1918, the judgement being finalized in early 1919.

To avoid being controlled by the studios and to protect their independence, Fairbanks, Pickford, Chaplin, and D. W. Griffith formed United Artists in 1919, which created their own distributorships and gave them complete artistic control over their films and the profits generated. The company was kept solvent in the years immediately after its formation largely from the success of Fairbanks' films.

The Mark of Zorro

Fairbanks was determined to have Pickford become his wife, but she was still married to actor Owen Moore. He finally gave her an ultimatum. She then obtained a fast divorce in the small Nevada town of Minden, Nevada, on March 2, 1920. Fairbanks leased the Beverly Hills mansion Grayhall and was rumoured to have used it during his courtship of Pickford.

The couple married on March 28, 1920. Pickford's divorce from Moore was contested by Nevada legislators, however, and the dispute was not settled until 1922. Even though the lawmakers objected to the marriage, the public went wild over the idea of "Everybody's Hero" marrying "America's Sweetheart". They were greeted by large crowds in London and Paris during their European honeymoon, becoming Hollywood's first celebrity couple.

During the years they were married, Fairbanks and Pickford were regarded as "Hollywood Royalty," famous for entertaining at their Beverly Hills estate, Pickfair.

Douglas Fairbanks in the title role in Robin Hood (1922).

By 1920, Fairbanks had completed twenty-nine films (twenty-eight features and one two-reel short), which showcased his ebullient screen persona and athletic ability. By 1920, he had the inspiration of staging a new type of adventure-costume picture, a genre that was then out of favor with the public; Fairbanks had previously been a comic in his other films.^[2] In The Mark of Zorro, Fairbanks combined his appealing screen persona with the new adventurous, costume element. It was a smash success and parlayed the actor into the rank of superstar. For the remainder of his career in silent films, he continued to produce and star in ever more elaborate, impressive costume films, such as The Three Musketeers (1921), Douglas Fairbanks as Robin Hood (1922), The Thief of Bagdad (1924), The Black Pirate (1926, the first full-length Technicolor film), and The Gaucho (1927). Fairbanks spared no expense and effort in these films, which established the standard for all future swashbuckling films.

In 1921, he, Pickford, Chaplin, and others, helped to organize the Motion Picture Fund to assist those in the industry who could not work, or were unable to meet their bills.

During the first ceremony of its type, he and Pickford placed their hand and foot prints in wet cement at the newly opened Grauman's Chinese Theatre in Hollywood on April 30, 1927. Fairbanks was elected first President of the Motion Picture Academy of Arts and Sciences that same year, and he presented the first Academy Awards at the Roosevelt Hotel. Fairbanks also has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 7020 Hollywood Boulevard.

His last silent film was the lavish The Iron Mask (1929), a sequel to 1921's The Three Musketeers which included an introductory prologue spoken by Fairbanks. While Fairbanks had flourished in the silent genre, the restrictions of early sound films dulled his enthusiasm for film-making. Also, his athletic abilities and general health began to decline, in part due to years of heavy chain-smoking. Hollywood panicked by the impending arrival of the talkies. On 29 March, 1929 at the bungalow of Pickford at United Artists brought together Pickford, Fairbanks, Charles Chaplin, Norma Talmadge, Gloria Swanson, John Barrymore, D.W. Griffith and Dolores del Rio to speak on the radio show The Dodge Brothers Hour to prove he could meet the challenge of talking movies. ^[6]

He and Pickford chose to make their first talkie as a joint venture, playing Petruchio and Kate in Shakespeare's The Taming of the Shrew (1929). This film, and his subsequent sound films, were poorly received by Depression era audiences. The last film he acted in was the British production The Private Life of Don Juan (1934), after which he retired from acting.

Final years[link]

Fairbanks' tomb at Hollywood Forever Cemetery

Fairbanks and Pickford separated in 1933, after he began an affair with Sylvia, Lady Ashley. They divorced in 1936, with Pickford keeping the Pickfair estate. Within months Fairbanks and Ashley were married in Paris.

He continued to be marginally involved in the film industry and United Artists, but his later years lacked the intense focus of his film years. His health continued to decline, and in his final years he lived at 705 Ocean Front (now Pacific Coast Highway) in Santa Monica, California, although much of his time was spent traveling abroad with Sylvia.

In December 1939, at 56, Fairbanks had a heart attack in his sleep and died a day later at his home in Santa Monica. By some accounts^{[citation needed]}, he had been obsessively working out against medical advice, trying to regain his once-trim waistline. Fairbanks's famous last words were, "I've never felt better."^[7] His funeral service was held at the Wee Kirk o' the Heather Church in Glendale's Forest Lawn Memorial Park Cemetery where he was placed in a crypt in the Great Mausoleum. He was deeply mourned and honored by his colleagues and fans for his contributions to the film industry and Hollywood.

Two years following his death, he was removed from Forest Lawn by his widow, who commissioned an elaborate marble monument for him featuring a long rectangular reflecting pool, raised tomb, and classic Greek architecture in Hollywood Forever Cemetery in Los Angeles. The monument was dedicated in a ceremony held in October 1941, with Fairbanks' close friend Charles Chaplin reading a remembrance. The remains of his son, Douglas Fairbanks, Jr., were also interred here upon his death in 2000.

Legacy[link]

Reissue poster for 1916 cocaine comedy

In 1998, a group of Fairbanks fans started the Douglas Fairbanks Museum in Austin, Texas. The museum building was temporarily closed for mold remediation and repairs in February 2010.^[8] Plans and fundraising efforts are underway to re-open the museum to the public. In the meantime an online virtual museum project makes parts of the collections and past exhibits available for viewing on the museum's website.^[9]

In 2002, AMPAS opened the "Fairbanks Center for Motion Picture Study" located at 333 S. La Cienega Boulevard in Beverly Hills. The building houses the Margaret Herrick Library.^[10]

On January 24, 2009, AMPAS opened an exhibition at their Fourth Floor Gallery dedicated to Fairbanks titled, "Douglas Fairbanks: The First King of Hollywood". The exhibit featured costumes, props, pictures, and documents from his career and personal life. The exhibit ran until April 2009.^[11] In addition to the exhibit, AMPAS screened Thief of Bagdad and The Iron Mask in March 2009. Recently, due to his involvement with the USC Fencing Club, a bronze statue of Fairbanks was erected in the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences Courtyard of the new School of Cinematic Arts building on the University of Southern California campus. Fairbanks was a key figure in the film school's founding in 1929, and in its curriculum development.

The 2011 film The Artist was loosely based on Fairbanks, with the film's lead portraying Zorro in a silent movie featuring a scene from the Fairbanks version. While thanking the audience in 2012 for a Golden Globe award as Best Actor for his performance in the film, actor Jean Dujardin added, "As Douglas Fairbanks would say," then moved his lips silently as a comedic homage. When Dujardin accepted the 2012 Academy Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role, Fairbanks was cited at length as the main inspiration for Dujardin's performance in The Artist.

Filmography[link]

See also[link]

Biography portal

• Takeichi Nishi

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Douglas Fairbanks

• Douglas Fairbanks at the Internet Movie Database
• Douglas Fairbanks at the Internet Broadway Database
• The Douglas Fairbanks Museum
• AFI Catalog Silent Films entry for Douglas Fairbanks
• Works by Douglas Fairbanks at Project Gutenberg
• Douglas Fairbanks(exclusively a stage star in 1910); PeriodPaper.com

Danielle Darrieux
from 5 Fingers (1952)
Born	Danielle Yvonne Marie Antoinette Darrieux (1917-05-01) 1 May 1917 (age 95) Bordeaux, France
Years active	1931–present
Spouse	Henri Decoin (1935–1941) Porfirio Rubirosa (1942–1947) Georges Mitsikidès (1948–1991)

Danielle Yvonne Marie Antoinette Darrieux (French pronunciation: [da.niɛl i.vɔn ma.ʁi ɑ̃.twa.nɛt daʁ.jø]) (born 1 May 1917) is a French actress and singer, who has appeared in more than 110 films since 1931. She is one of France's great movie stars and her eight-decade career is among the longest in film history.

Biography[link]

She was born in Bordeaux, France during World War I to a physician who was serving in the French Army. Her father died when she was seven years old. Raised in Paris, she studied the cello at the Conservatoire de Musique. At 13, she won a part in the musical film Le Bal (1931). Her beauty combined with her singing and dancing ability led to numerous other offers, and the film Mayerling (1936) brought her to fame.

In 1935, Darrieux married director/screenwriter Henri Decoin, who encouraged her to try Hollywood. She signed with Universal Studios to star in The Rage of Paris (1938) opposite Douglas Fairbanks, Jr. Afterwards, she elected to return to Paris.

Under the German occupation of France during World War II, she continued to perform, a decision that was severely criticized by her compatriots. However, it is reported that her brother had been threatened with deportation by Alfred Greven, the manager of the German run film production company in occupied France, Continental. She got a divorce and then fell in love with Porfirio Rubirosa, a Dominican Republic diplomat and notorious womanizer. They married in 1942. His anti-Nazi opinions resulted in his forced residence in Germany. In exchange for Rubirosa's freedom, Darrieux agreed to make a promotional trip in Berlin. The couple lived in Switzerland until the end of the war, and divorced in 1947. She married scriptwriter Georges Mitsikidès in 1948, and they lived together until his death in 1991.

She gave a good performance in the 1951 MGM musical, Rich, Young and Pretty. Joseph L. Mankiewicz lured her back to Hollywood to star in 5 Fingers (1952) opposite James Mason. Upon returning to France, she appeared in Max Ophüls' The Earrings of Madame de... (1953) opposite Charles Boyer, and The Red and the Black (1954) opposite Gérard Philippe. The next year she starred in Lady Chatterley's Lover, whose theme of uninhibited sexuality led to its being proscribed by Catholic censors in the United States.

Approaching 40, she played a supporting role in her last American film to date, United Artists' epic Alexander the Great (1956) starring Richard Burton and Claire Bloom. In 1961 she went to England at the request of director Lewis Gilbert to star in The Greengage Summer opposite Kenneth More. In 1963, she starred in the romantic comedy La Robe Mauve de Valentine at the Chatelet Theatre in Paris. The play was adapted from the novel by Françoise Sagan. During the 1960s she also was a concert singer.

In 1970, Darrieux replaced Katharine Hepburn in the Broadway musical, Coco, based on the life of Coco Chanel,^[1] but the play, essentially a showcase for Hepburn, soon folded without her. In 1971–72 she also appeared in the short-lived productions of Ambassador. For her long service to the motion picture industry, in 1985 she was given an Honorary César Award. She has continued to work, her career now spanning eight decades, most recently providing the voice of the protagonist's grandmother in the animated feature, Persepolis (2007), which deals with the impact of the Iranian Islamic revolution on a girl's life as she grows to adulthood.

She was paid homage to in Quentin Tarantino's 'Inglourious Basterds' (2009) when Shosanna Dreyfus is preparing to take the Nazis down, her assistant calls her Danielle Darrieux.

Selected filmography[link]

Le Bal (1931) The Lackered Box (1932) L'Or dans la rue (1934) Mauvaise Graine (also known as Bad Seed) (1934) The Depression Is Over (1934) Mon coeur t'appelle (1934) Mademoiselle Mozart (1935) Dédé (1935) Quelle drôle de gosse! (1935) Inspector of the Red Cars (1935) I Like All the Women (1935) Le Domino vert (1935) Un mauvais garçon (1936) Mademoiselle ma mère (1936) Mayerling (1936) Tarass Boulba (1936) Club de femmes (1936) She Returned at Dawn (1938) Abused Confidence (1938) The Rage of Paris (1938) Katia (1938) Beating Heart (1940) Premier rendez-vous (1941) Caprices (1942) La fausse maîtresse (1942) Happy Go Lucky (1946) Goodbye Darling (1946) Ruy Blas (1947) Keep an Eye on Amelia (1949) La Ronde (1950) Rich, Young and Pretty (1951) La Vérité sur Bébé Donge (1952) Le Plaisir (1952) 5 Fingers (1952) Adorable Creatures (1952) The Earrings of Madame de... (1953) Le Bon Dieu sans confession (1953) The Red and the Black (1954) One Step to Eternity (1954) Napoléon (1955)

The Case of Poisons (1955) Lady Chatterley's Lover (1955) Si Paris nous était conté (1956) Alexander the Great (1956) Le Salaire du péché (1956) Typhon sur Nagasaki (1957) Pot-Bouille (1957) The Night Affair (1957) Un drôle de dimanche (1958) La Vie à deux (1958) Marie-Octobre (1959) The Greengage Summer (1961) Les Lions sont lâchés (1961) Le Crime ne paie pas (1962) The Devil and the Ten Commandments (1962) Landru (1963) Méfiez-vous, mesdames! (1963) Patate (1964) The Young Girls of Rochefort (1967) 24 Hours in the Life of a Woman (1968) Les oiseaux vont mourir au Pérou (Birds in Peru) (1968) L'Année sainte (1976) Le Cavaleur (1978) Une chambre en ville (1982) At the Top of the Stairs (1983) Scene of the Crime (1986) Corps et biens (1986) A Few Days with Me (1988) Jalna (1994) TV mini-series Tomorrow's Another Day (2000) Emilie est partie (2011, short) 8 Women (2002) Les Liaisons dangereuses (TV) (2003, by Josée Dayan) Nouvelle chance (2006) L'Heure zéro (2007) Persepolis (2007, voice) Elles et moi (TV) (2009) Pièce montée (2010) C'est toi, c'est tout (TV) (2011)

Danielle Darrieux in 2008

References[link]

Bibliography[link]

• Darrieux, Danielle; Jean-Pierre Ferrière (1995). Danielle Darrieux – Filmographie commentée par elle-même. Paris: Ramsay Cinéma. ISBN 2-84114-113-6. 

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Danielle Darrieux

• Danielle Darrieux at the Internet Movie Database
• Danielle Darrieux at the TCM Movie Database
• Danielle Darrieux at AllRovi
• Danielle Darrieux at AlloCiné (French)
• Danielle Darrieux at filmsdefrance.com
• Photographs of Danielle Darrieux
• L'Encinémathèque at Encinémathèque (French)

Mischa Auer
from the trailer for the film Sweethearts (1938).
Born	(1905-11-17)17 November 1905 St. Petersburg, Russia
Died	5 March 1967(1967-03-05) (aged 61) Rome, Italy

Mischa Auer (17 November 1905 – 5 March 1967) was a Russian-born American actor.

Early life[link]

Auer was born Mikhail Semyonovich Unskovsky (Михаил Семёнович Унсковский) in St. Petersburg, Russia. His name is usually seen as Mischa Ounskowsky, Mischa being the German transliteration of Misha (the diminutive form of Mikhail), and Ounskowsky being the French transliteration of his surname. Auer's maternal grandparents were Hungarian-born violinist Leopold Auer, and his Russian wife, Nadine Pelikan. Mischa renamed himself after his grandfather.

Career[link]

He began stage work in the 1920s, then moved to Hollywood, where he first appeared in 1928 in Something Always Happens. He appeared in several small and mostly uncredited roles into the 1930s, appearing in such films as Rasputin and the Empress, Viva Villa!, The Yellow Ticket, the George Gershwin musical Delicious, the Paramount Pictures all-star revue Paramount on Parade and The Lives of a Bengal Lancer.

In 1936, Auer was cast as Alice Brady's protégé in the comedy My Man Godfrey, for which he was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor. From then on, he was regularly cast in zany comedy roles. Auer is at his zenith in such roles as the ballet instructor, Kolenkov, in the Best Picture-winning You Can't Take It with You (wherein he instructs Ann Miller with the line, "Ah, my little Pavlowa!") and the prince-turned-fashion designer in Walter Wanger's Vogues of 1938.

Auer can also be seen cavorting in such films as: Arsène Lupin (1932), One Hundred Men and a Girl, Hold That Ghost, Destry Rides Again, Spring Parade, Hellzapoppin', Cracked Nuts, Lady in the Dark, and Up in Mabel's Room (1944).^[1] He was also one of the large cast of And Then There Were None, as well as the vehicles for Lily Pons.

In the 1950s, Auer appeared on several episodic television series, like Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse, Studio One, Broadway Television Theatre and The Chevrolet Tele-Theatre as well as in Orson Welles' Mr. Arkadin. In the 1960s, he made several films in France and Italy, including The Christmas That Almost Wasn't.

Death[link]

Auer married four times and had three children. He died of cardiovascular disease in Rome in 1967 and was interred at Prospect Hill Cemetery in Gloversville, New York.

Filmography[link]

• That Girl from Paris (1936)
• Pick a Star (1937)
• Spring Parade (1940)
• Hellzapoppin' (1941)
• Hold That Ghost (1941)
• A Night of Fame (1949)
• Song of Paris (1952)
• L'impossible Monsieur Pipelet (1955)
• Frou-Frou (1955)
• Futures vedettes (1955)
• Broadway Television Theatre

References[link]

1939. East Side of Heaven, with Bing Crosby and Joan Blondell. One of his best comedy roles

External links[link]

Biography portal

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Mischa Auer

• Mischa Auer at the Internet Movie Database
• Mischa Auer at the Internet Broadway Database
• Mischa Auer at Find a Grave

Merv Griffin
Born	Mervyn Edward Griffin, Jr. (1925-07-06)July 6, 1925 San Mateo, California, United States
Died	August 12, 2007(2007-08-12) (aged 82) Los Angeles, California, United States
Cause of death	Prostate cancer
Resting place	Westwood Village Memorial Park, United States 34°03′30″N 118°26′28″W / 34.0583468°N 118.4411348°W / 34.0583468; -118.4411348
Occupation	Actor, talk show host, entertainer, business magnate
Years active	1944–2007
Spouse	Julann Wright (1958–1976; divorced)
Children	Tony Griffin (b. 1959)[1]

Mervyn Edward "Merv" Griffin, Jr. (July 6, 1925 – August 12, 2007) was an American television host, musician, actor, and media mogul.^[2] He began his career as a radio and big band singer who went on to appear in movies and on Broadway. From 1965 to 1986 Griffin hosted his own talk show, The Merv Griffin Show on Group W (Westinghouse) Broadcasting. Griffin created the game shows Jeopardy!, Wheel of Fortune, Click, and Merv Griffin's Crosswords with his own "Merv Griffin Enterprises" television production company. During his life Griffin was considered an entertainment business magnate.

Early life[link]

Griffin was born into an Irish-American family on July 6, 1925, in San Mateo, California, to Mervyn Edward Griffin, Sr., a stock broker, and Rita Elizabeth Griffin (née Robinson),^[3] a homemaker. Raised as a Roman Catholic, Griffin started singing in his church choir as a boy, and by his teens was earning extra money as a church organist. This is one of the reasons he got into show business early; he was considered a piano prodigy. He attended San Mateo High School, class of 1942, and continued to aid in financing the school.^[4]

During World War II, Merv was declared 4F after failing several military physical exams due to having a slight heart murmur.^[5] Drafted for service during the Korean War, he was then deemed fit for service, but was considered too old as the draft limit was 26 and he had just turned 27.

Career[link]

Singing at 19[link]

Griffin started as a singer on radio at age 19, appearing on San Francisco Sketchbook, a nationally syndicated program based at KFRC. Griffin was overweight as a teenager, which disappointed his radio fans.^[5] Embarrassed by their reaction, Griffin resolved to lose weight and change his image, losing 80 pounds in four months. Freddy Martin heard him on the radio show and asked Griffin to tour with his orchestra,^[1] which he did for four years.^[6]

He also had an uncredited role as a radio announcer in the 1953 horror/science fiction classic The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms.

By 1945, Griffin earned enough to form his own record label, Panda Records, which produced Songs by Merv Griffin, the first American album ever recorded on magnetic tape.^[7] He became increasingly popular with nightclub audiences, and his fame soared among the general public with his 1950 hit I've Got a Lovely Bunch of Coconuts. The song reached the number one spot on the Hit Parade and sold three million copies.^[8]

At one of his nightclub performances, Griffin was discovered by Doris Day. Day arranged for a screen test at Warner Brothers Studios for a role in By the Light of the Silvery Moon. Griffin didn't get the part, but the screen test led to supporting roles in other musical films such as So This is Love in 1953.^[9] The film caused a minor controversy when Griffin shared an open-mouthed kiss with Kathryn Grayson. The kiss was a first in Hollywood film history since the introduction of the Production Code in 1934.^[10]

Griffin would go on to film more pictures, namely, The Boy from Oklahoma and Phantom of the Rue Morgue, but soon became disillusioned with movie making. Griffin bought his contract back from Warner Brothers and decided to focus on a new medium: television.^[4]

Game show host[link]

From 1958 to 1962, Griffin hosted a game show produced by Mark Goodson and Bill Todman called Play Your Hunch. The show appeared on all three networks, but primarily on NBC. He also hosted a prime time game show for ABC called Keep Talking. Additionally, he also substituted for a week for the vacationing Bill Cullen on The Price Is Right, and also for Bud Collyer on To Tell The Truth. In 1963, NBC offered him the opportunity to host a new game show, Word for Word, which Griffin produced. He also produced Let's Play Post Office for NBC in 1965; Reach for the Stars for NBC in 1967; and One in a Million for ABC in 1967.

Talk show host[link]

Griffin scored a coup when Jack Paar accidentally emerged onto the set of Play Your Hunch during a live broadcast, and Griffin got him to stay for a spontaneous interview. The interview led to a guest-hosting spot on The Tonight Show, then hosted by Paar.

While Johnny Carson finished his CBS contract before taking over Tonight after Paar in October 1962, Griffin was one of the many guest hosts NBC used. He found hosting a live show very uncomfortable and attempted to quit after only a few minutes on camera. His producer forced him back onto the stage, however, and Griffin was considered the most successful of the guest hosts,^[11] with his own daytime talk show on NBC in 1962.

By the mid 1960s, many other big band singers (such as Dinah Shore and Mike Douglas), had reinvented themselves as talk show hosts. In 1965, Griffin launched a syndicated talk show for Group W (Westinghouse Broadcasting): The Merv Griffin Show. The show aired in a variety of time slots throughout North America; many stations ran it in the daytime, some broadcast it opposite Johnny Carson's The Tonight Show. Griffin's announcer/sidekick was the veteran British character actor Arthur Treacher, who had been his mentor. After Treacher left the show, Griffin would do the announcing himself, and walk on stage with the phrase: "And now..., here I come!" According to an obituary article on August 24, 2007 in Entertainment Weekly, The Merv Griffin Show was on the air for 21 years and won eleven Emmy Awards during its run.

Griffin was not shy about tackling controversial subjects, especially the Vietnam War. The guests on the Westinghouse show were an eclectic mix of entertainers, authors, politicians, and "personality" performers like Zsa Zsa Gabor. Griffin also booked controversial guests like George Carlin, Dick Gregory, Richard Pryor, Norman Mailer, and Bertrand Russell. Griffin received critical acclaim for booking such guests, but was also widely criticized for it. When philosopher and anti-war activist Bertrand Russell used Griffin's show to condemn the war in Vietnam, Griffin was criticized for letting Russell have his say. Arnold Schwarzenegger made his talk show debut in the United States on Griffin's talk show in 1974 after moving from Austria and becoming a bodybuilder.

Griffin dedicated two shows to the topic of Transcendental Meditation and its founder Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, one in 1975, the other in 1977. Griffin himself was an enthusiastic student of the practice.^[12]

Griffin and sidekick Arthur Treacher in 1969.

Griffin would also frequently chat with audience members.^[4] One regular audience member, Lillian Miller, would become a fixture on Griffin's program throughout its run.

Merv's best friend since the sixth grade, Robert (Bob) Murphy, was the producer of The Merv Griffin Show, and eventually became president of Merv Griffin Enterprises.

Late-night host[link]

CBS gave Griffin a late-night show opposite Johnny Carson in 1969, a move which proved disastrous. The network was uncomfortable with the guests Griffin wanted, who often spoke out against the Vietnam War and on other taboo topics. When political activist Abbie Hoffman was Griffin's guest in April 1970, CBS blurred the video of Hoffman so viewers at home would not see his trademark American flag pattern shirt even though other guests had worn the same shirt in the past, uncensored. Griffin disliked the censorship imposed by CBS and complained.^[4]

Sensing that his time at CBS was ending, and tired of the restrictions imposed by the network, Griffin secretly signed a contract with rival company Metromedia. The contract with Metromedia would give him a syndicated daytime talk show deal as soon as CBS canceled Griffin's show. Within a few months, Griffin was fired by CBS. His new show began the following Monday and ran until the mid 1980s. By 1986, Griffin was ready to retire and ended his talk show run. Due to profits from his highly successful game shows, Griffin had become one of the world's wealthiest entertainers.^[4]

Game show creator[link]

Griffin created and produced the successful television game show Jeopardy! in 1964; in an Associated Press profile released right before the show premiered, Griffin talked about the show's origins:^[1]

My wife Julann just came up with the idea one day when we were in a plane bringing us back to New York from Duluth. I was mulling over game show ideas, when she noted that there had not been a successful 'question and answer' game on the air since the quiz show scandals. Why not do a switch, and give the answers to the contestant and let them come up with the question.

She fired a couple of answers to me: '5,280' and the question of course was how many feet in a mile. Another was '79 Wistful Vista.' That was Fibber and Mollie McGee's address. I loved the idea, went straight to NBC with the idea, and they bought it without even looking at a pilot show. Merv's Califon Productions was named for the New Jersey town in which he and wife lived.

The show premiered on NBC on March 30, 1964, hosted by Art Fleming, and lasted for 11 years. Merv wrote the 30-second piece of music heard during the show's Final Jeopardy! Round, and which later became the melody of the theme for the show in the first part of Alex Trebek era.

In 1975, NBC canceled Jeopardy! after moving it twice on their daytime schedule and despite having an additional year on its network contract left to fulfill. Griffin produced the show's successor, Wheel of Fortune. Premiering on January 6, 1975, Wheel with Chuck Woolery and Susan Stafford as host and hostess, had mediocre ratings throughout its network run, yet was expanded to an hour, in response to the successful 60-minute version of The Price Is Right on CBS. It barely escaped cancellation in 1980, when NBC replaced all its other game shows with a daytime talk show starring David Letterman; NBC finally cancelled it in 1989, when CBS picked it up for a year, only to return to NBC, when the daytime version was finally cancelled for good in 1991. It became a phenomenon when on September 19, 1983, Wheel of Fortune hit the syndication market with Pat Sajak and Vanna White as hosts. Two different revivals of Jeopardy! would be produced: one on NBC that ran for five months in late 1978/early 1979 with Art Fleming returning as host, and the other airing in first-run syndication beginning on September 10, 1984, starring Alex Trebek. Both Jeopardy! and the night version of Wheel of Fortune remain on the air today in syndication.

In 1990, Griffin had an ambitious but unsuccessful attempt at adapting the venerable board game Monopoly into a game show of the same name. His biggest failure was a wild game show called Ruckus, which emanated from the Resorts International Hotel & Casino in Atlantic City, which he owned at the time. Involving slapstick stunts and a somewhat truncated version of his old Reach For the Stars, the show initially aired locally in New York, with the intent of national syndication early the following year. But the ratings were abysmal, and the plug was pulled on the show after several weeks. A national audience did get a look at it, via reruns that aired for a time on GSN.

Upon his retirement, Griffin sold his production company, Merv Griffin Enterprises, to Columbia Pictures Television unit for US$250 million on May 6, 1986, the largest acquisition of an entertainment company owned by a single individual at that time. Following the sale, Forbes named him the richest Hollywood performer in history. He retained the title of creator of both shows.

The two powerhouses spun off numerous programs, and Griffin often would sign on as a creative consultant. The spin-offs included Wheel 2000 on CBS in 1997 and the short lived Jep! on GSN in 1998, both for children; Rock & Roll Jeopardy! on VH1 in 1998 for purveyors of pop music trivia; a teen-oriented game called Click!, which introduced a youngster named Ryan Seacrest as its host, and in association with Wink Martindale, Headline Chasers in 1985.

On May 14, 2003, Griffin was honored with the BMI President's Award at the annual BMI Film and Television Awards ceremony. Among his other achievements, Griffin created what has to be one of America's best-known melodies: the immortal theme to his game show, "Jeopardy!"^[13]

In 2007, Griffin's production company, Merv Griffin Entertainment, began pre-production on a new syndicated game show Merv Griffin's Crosswords (originally titled Let's Play Crosswords and Let's Do Crosswords). The show taped in Los Angeles after initial reports that it would be produced at WMAQ-TV in Chicago. The show was produced in association with Program Partners and the William Morris Agency and began airing September 10, 2007. NBC-owned-and-operated stations in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, San Francisco and Dallas carried the show, with many stations airing two episodes per day.

Business ventures[link]

Griffin ventured into real estate, purchasing the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills. He also purchased Resorts Hotel and Casino, formerly Chalfonte-Haddon Hall Hotel in Atlantic City from Donald Trump in 1988. An active desert resident, he was a supporter of the La Quinta Arts Festival and the owner of the Merv Griffin Givenchy Resort & Spa in Palm Springs, now The Parker. He owned a ranch near La Quinta, California where he raised thoroughbred racehorses, as well as St. Clerans Manor, a boutique hotel, set in an eighteenth-century estate once owned by director John Huston, near Craughwell, County Galway Galway, Ireland. In the 1980s, Griffin purchased Paradise Island in the Bahamas for US$400 million from Donald Trump, but he later sold it for just US$125 million. Merv Griffin sold his empire for $250 million to Coca-Cola in 1986, he then went on a buying spree of hotels and his wealth in 2003 was said to be around $1.2 billion.^[14][15]

In March 2001, Griffin returned to singing with the release of the album It's Like a Dream.

Personal life[link]

Griffin kept many details of his personal and business life private. On being wealthy he said that "if people know you're rich they don't talk with you when you walk down the street." He kept his wealth as an open secret, amassing media outlets, hotels and casinos with a net worth widely estimated at more than a billion dollars. Griffin stated he didn't really know his worth because it “would keep me from sleeping at night.”^[16] He and former First Lady Nancy Reagan exchanged birthday greetings each July 6, for they shared the same birthday. Griffin was also an honorary pallbearer at the funeral of President Ronald Reagan in 2004. He was friends with both of the Reagans for many years.^[17] He remained friends with his ex-wife, whom he credited with creating the premise of Jeopardy!.

Illness and death[link]

Merv Griffin's grave

Griffin's prostate cancer, treated originally in 1996, returned and he was admitted to Cedars Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, where his condition deteriorated, leading to his death on August 12, 2007.^[18][19] Griffin is survived by his son, Tony, born in 1959 during Griffin's marriage to Julann Wright from 1958 to 1976. He is also survived by two grandchildren.^[20]

Funeral services were held for Griffin on August 17, 2007 at the Church of the Good Shepherd in Beverly Hills. The well attended service included former First Lady and longtime friend Nancy Reagan, California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger (who gave the eulogy along with Griffin's son Tony), Maria Shriver, actors, television stars, employees and friends including Pat Sajak, Vanna White, Alex Trebek, Dick Van Dyke, Jack Klugman, Dick Van Patten, Ellen DeGeneres and partner Portia de Rossi, Ryan Seacrest, and Catherine Oxenberg and husband Casper Van Dien. Pallbearers included Ron Ward, Vice Chairman of the Griffin Group, Griffin Group President Robert Pritchard, Griffin Group Vice President Michael Eyre, and Griffin's son Tony. His 7-year-old grandson Donovan Mervyn was an honorary pallbearer as was Nancy Reagan. His 12-year-old granddaughter Farah gave a reading. A post-burial reception was held at the Beverly Hilton, a property owned by Griffin from 1987 to 2003.^[21] He was buried in Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery and his headstone epitaph (even though in his book "Merv", written with David Bender in 2003, states it would be "Stay Tuned") reads "I will not be right back after this message," an epitaph Griffin announced on The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson.

Game Show Network (GSN) honored Griffin by airing ten-episode marathons of Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy! during the weekend of August 18–19, 2007. The Wheel marathon included two episodes with cameo appearances by Griffin: Pat Sajak's departure from the daytime version in 1989 and a 1992–93 episode that ended with Griffin, the MervTones, and Vanna White singing at a dinner club in Orlando, Florida. The Jeopardy! marathon consisted of a rerun of the Jeopardy! Million Dollar Masters Tournament from 2002.

Selected popular songs[link]

• "I've Got a Lovely Bunch of Coconuts"
• "Wilhelmina"
• "Never Been Kissed"
• "The Charanga" (#69, Pop Charts, 1961)
• "Banned In Boston" (#101, Pop Charts, 1961)
• "Happy To Know You" (Radio Hit, 1973)
• "Jeopardy! theme music"
• "Changing Keys" (the Wheel of Fortune Theme)

References[link]