Douglas Fairbanks

American actor, producer, and co-founder of United Artists, born in 1883. The great swashbuckler of the silent screen, he starred in The Mark of Zorro (1920), Robin Hood (1922), The Thief of Bagdad (1924), and The Black Pirate (1926), performing his own athletic stunts. With his wife Mary Pickford, Charlie Chaplin, and D.W. Griffith he formed United Artists in 1919 to distribute their own films. He was also a founder of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. His zestful, athletic persona defined the action hero of the silent era. He died in 1939.