NEW YORK (AP) -- He earned a chestful of medals, wrote stories, acted in some 75 movies, produced television shows, and served as President Franklin Delano Roosevelt's special envoy.
The rakishly handsome Douglas Fairbanks Jr., the son of the swashbuckling superstar of silent films, didn't just glide on his father's coattails: He made his own mark.Fairbanks, the star of such films as "Catherine the Great," "The Prisoner of Zenda" and "Gunga Din," died Sunday, said his widow, Vera Shelton Fairbanks. He was 90.
"I never tried to emulate my father. Anyone trying to do that would be a second-rate carbon copy," he once said. "I was determined to be my own man, although having the Fairbanks name did make it easier to get into an office to see someone."
Film director Michael Winner, who once met Fairbanks while working for a local newspaper, remembered the actor as "a wonderful representative of a bygone era."
"He was a gentleman adventurer," Winner said. "His was a cinema where people played by the rules, where the hero was always well-dressed, well-spoken and impeccably mannered. He typified that type of leading man."
Fairbanks was born in New York City on Dec. 9, 1909 -- the only son of Douglas Fairbanks and his first wife, Anna. His parents divorced when he was 9 and he lived with his mother.
His movie career began at age 13 with an appearance in "Stephen Steps Out." In 1925 he made several more films, and the influential movie magazine "Photoplay" said that at his studio, "he is considered a real bet, with much of his father's charm and artistry."
He made his stage debut in Los Angeles in 1927, winning good reviews. He began getting better movie roles, appearing with Greta Garbo in "A Woman of Affairs" and in a Frank Capra film, "The Power of the Press," both 1928.
His career picked up with the coming of sound. In the early 1930s he had a string of film successes, including a showy role in "Little Caesar," and was able to write his own ticket. "I demanded and received approval of cast, story and director. I don't know how I got away with it, but I did!" he recalled.
At age 19 he married Joan Crawford, then the quintessential flapper in films such as "Our Dancing Daughters." They divorced four years later in 1933.
But he said they remained friendly up to her death in 1977. "The Joan Crawford that I've heard about in 'Mommie Dearest' is not the Joan Crawford I knew back when," he once said.
In 1939, he married Mary Lee Epling Hartford, former wife of A&P supermarket heir Huntington Hartford. They had three daughters.
A lieutenant, j.g., in the U.S. Navy Reserve, he was called to active service later that year and served until 1946. He earned an American Silver Star, the British Distinguished Service Cross and the French Legion of Honor.
He became the first American officer to command a British flotilla of raiding craft during a commando operation in World War II. He served under Adm. Lord Louis Mountbatten, who later introduced him to his nephew, Prince Philip, the husband of Queen Elizabeth.
Fairbanks became a favorite of the royal couple, entertaining them at his home, much to the chagrin of Mayfair society. The first time they came he had a couple of singers to entertain them -- Maurice Chevalier and Cab Calloway. In 1941 President Roosevelt appointed him a special envoy to Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Peru, Uruguay and Panama. After the war, Fairbanks was chairman of the fund-raising committee for CARE, which sent more than $150 million worth of food parcels and other goods to Europe.
He resumed his film career with "Sinbad the Sailor" -- one of the biggest hits of 1946. His last movie was "Ghost Story" in 1981.
Besides acting, he was involved in a variety of business enterprises -- from ball point pens to land development, theatrical copyrights to film production. In the 1950s, he produced 160 episodes of a television anthology series called "Douglas Fairbanks, Jr., Presents." He starred in approximately a quarter of the 30-minute programs, which were filmed in England.
In his 50s and 60s he appeared in revivals of "My Fair Lady" and "The Pleasure of His Company" as well as a variety of TV specials and guest appearances on shows ranging from "Laugh-In" to "Love Boat."
He once said of all his accomplishments he was proudest of the articles and stories he published over the years. He published the first volume of his autobiography, "The Salad Days," in 1988. His second wife died of cancer in 1988. In May 30, 1991, Fairbanks married merchandiser Vera Shelton.
In addition to his wife, Fairbanks is survived by three daughters, eight grandchildren and six great grandchildren. Mrs. Fairbanks said her husband will be buried alongside his father at the Hollywood Forever Cemetery, although funeral arrangements were incomplete.
"I've led an enormously lucky life," Fairbanks reflected in 1989. "I've done what I wanted to do. I worked hard and played hard, and it was all tremendously rewarding. I just wish it could go on and on and on."