Douglas Elton Fairbanks Jr. was born in New York City; he was the only child of actor Douglas Fairbanks and his first wife, Anna Beth Sully. His paternal grandfather was Jewish. His parents divorced when he was nine years old, and both remarried. He lived with his mother in New York, California, Paris and London.\n', '

Fairbanks\'s 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. Fairbanks had small roles in his father\'s films American Aristocracy (1916) and The Three Musketeers (1921).\n', '

Largely on the basis of his father\'s name, Fairbanks Jr. was given a contract with Paramount Pictures at age 14, appearing in Stephen Steps Out (1923). His pay was $1,000 a week. The film was not a hit. Paramount fired him, then hired him back a year later at what Fairbanks called "starvation wages" also having him work as a camera assistant. They gave him supporting roles in The Air Mail (1925) and Wild Horse Mesa (1925).\n', '

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