William Fairbanks

William Fairbanks

Born: May 24, 1894
Died: April 1, 1945
in Saint Louis, Missouri, USA
From Wikipedia

William Fairbanks (May 24, 1894 – April 1, 1945) was an American actor. He appeared in over 65 silent era motion pictures between 1916 and 1928.

His first film role was as Capt. Pierre Thierry in the war drama Somewhere in France (1916) starring Louise Glaum and Howard C. Hickman. He was then living at 20 Horizon Avenue in Venice, California, where he registered to vote. He appeared in five movies released in 1917, including his role as Dillon in the drama The Little Brother starring Enid Bennett and William Garwood. He was then living at 115 Dudley Avenue in Venice, where he registered for the draft of World War I. He went on to serve as an ensign in the U.S. Navy.

Appearing in only one movie released in 1918, as Stuart Morley in the comedy/drama The Hired Man starring Charles Ray and Charles K. French, he was then absent from the screen for over a year due to the war. In 1920, he lived at 1309 Ocean Front in Santa Monica, and four of his movies were released that year. He was elevated to star status by independent producers Phil Goldstone and Ben F. Wilson. His screen name, taken from that of Douglas Fairbanks, whose real surname happened to be the same as his, came about with the release of his starring role in Goldstone's western Hearts of the West (1920) opposite Frances Conrad.

Although Fairbanks was a busy movie star through the greater part of the 1920s, after playing Long Collins in The Vanishing West (1928), he retired from the screen. In spite of sharing the same last name, William Fairbanks and Douglas Fairbanks Sr. were not related.

Movies for William Fairbanks...

The Vanishing West
Title: The Vanishing West
Character: Long Collins
Released: October 15, 1928
Type: Movie
A boy's father is an unjustly accused fugitive, and the boy's scheming uncle plots to become the youngster's guardian and take over the family fortune.
bee
Under the Black Eagle
Title: Under the Black Eagle
Character: Ulrich Muller
Released: March 24, 1928
Type: Movie
A German Shepherd Dog and the people he loves are entangled in World War One.
bee
Spoilers of the West
Title: Spoilers of the West
Character: Benton
Released: December 10, 1927
Type: Movie
A soldier falls in love with a beautiful settler who has refused his order to leave American Indian land.
bee
Through Thick and Thin
Title: Through Thick and Thin
Character: Don Davis
Released: September 29, 1927
Type: Movie
An undercover agent tracks a gang of drug smugglers to their headquarters in Mexico, a nightclub, where he manages to get a job as a bouncer. There he meets and falls for a pretty young woman, whose father happens to be the man the agent suspects of heading the gang.
bee
The Down Grade
Title: The Down Grade
Character: Ted Lanning
Released: July 25, 1927
Type: Movie
The Down Grade is a 1927 Action film.
bee
One Chance in a Million
Title: One Chance in a Million
Character: Jerry Blaine
Released: April 1, 1927
Type: Movie
Secret Service agent Jerry Blaine is hot on the trail of a gang of jewel thieves, Jerry briefly poses as a crook himself to gain the gang's confidence.
bee
Flying High
Title: Flying High
Character: Roy Cummins
Released: December 20, 1926
Type: Movie
While taking a joyride with his sweetie Patricia, daredevil pilot Roy Cummins witnesses the aerial hijacking of a mail plane.
bee
The Great Sensation
Title: The Great Sensation
Character: Jack
Released: October 1, 1925
Type: Movie
Jack Ruby (William Fairbanks), the son of a wealthy family, pretends to be a chauffeur and goes to work for Peggy Howell (Pauline Garon), a beautiful flapper.
bee
Fighting Youth
Title: Fighting Youth
Character: Dick Covington
Released: July 1, 1925
Type: Movie
Dick Covington is a society athlete who is quick with his fists. His fiancée, Jean Manley, hates his fighting and convinces him to stop. But then his rival tricks him into accepting an offer to fight Murdering Mooney at a charity show. At first Jean is chagrined, but when the rival insults her, she is anxious for Covington to beat his opponent.
bee
The Beautiful Sinner
Title: The Beautiful Sinner
Released: October 1, 1924
Type: Movie
The Beautiful Sinner is a 1924 American silent drama film directed by W.S. Van Dyke and starring William Fairbanks, Eva Novak, and George Nichols.
bee
The Cowboy and the Flapper
Title: The Cowboy and the Flapper
Released: August 25, 1924
Type: Movie
bee
Racing for Life
Title: Racing for Life
Character: Jack Grant
Released: August 8, 1924
Type: Movie
Jack Grant agrees to drive in the big race in order to save his brother Carl from being charged with embezzlement.
bee
The Torrent
Title: The Torrent
Character: Hale Garrison
Released: August 1, 1924
Type: Movie
Hale Garrison, a big game hunter returning from safari in Africa, meets Gloria Manner on shipboard and falls in love with her.
bee
The Battling Fool
Title: The Battling Fool
Character: Mark Jenkins
Released: August 1, 1924
Type: Movie
William Fairbanks stars in this fighting feature about a rural rube who enters the ring to earn prize money to help a crippled girl.
bee
Her Man
Title: Her Man
Released: July 10, 1924
Type: Movie
bee
A Western Demon
Title: A Western Demon
Character: Ned Underwood
Released: May 1, 1922
Type: Movie
bee
The Secret Gift
Title: The Secret Gift
Character: Larry
Released: September 20, 1920
Type: Movie
Jan Saxe and Peter Harlingen, two young men from Holland, arrive in America with little orphan Bertha Kruger whom they have befriended during the trip and whom they both love. Bertha has come to live with her blind Aunt Sophie, and when Jan secretly raises $500 for an operation to restore her aunt's sight, Bertha marries Peter, believing that he was the donor of the "secret gift."
bee
That Something
Title: That Something
Released: May 2, 1920
Type: Movie
bee
The Flame of the Yukon
Title: The Flame of the Yukon
Character: George Fowler
Released: July 1, 1917
Type: Movie
George Fowler arrives at the Mias saloon, and the proprietor, "Blak Jack" Hovey, orders a saloon girl, known only as "The Flame," to fleece him, but he has no money...
bee
Wolf Lowry
Title: Wolf Lowry
Character: Owen Thorpe
Released: May 27, 1917
Type: Movie
William S. Hart was the great solitary Western hero of silent film who rode his horse off to new adventures once his job was done. In WOLF LOWRY, he meets a young settler played by Margery Wilson, herself a director in the early 1920s whose films are all considered lost.
bee
The Little Brother
Title: The Little Brother
Character: Dillon
Released: March 11, 1917
Type: Movie
Jerry Ross dresses as a boy and sells newspapers to make money on the street corner. As the result of a chance meeting with Frank Girard, who is interested in the "Big Brother Movement," Jerry is invited to Girard's farm in the country. Later she is sent to a coeducational institution where she assumes the dress and manners of a girl once more.
bee
Somewhere in France
Title: Somewhere in France
Character: Pierre Thierry
Released: October 29, 1916
Type: Movie
Wicked Frenchwoman Marie Chaumontel is the mistress of Captain Henry Ravignac. She steals some papers from him, which she gives to the Germans. Then she escapes to Berlin while her lover is tried for her wrongdoing. He is found guilty of neglect, and he commits suicide. His brother, Lieutenant Charles Ravignac swears revenge, and he becomes a counterspy by going to work for the Germans.