Madeline Fairbanks(1900-1989)
- Actress
- Soundtrack
Madeleine (known professionally as Madeline) Fairbanks was born on
November 15, 1900, in New York City. Along with her twin sister
Marion Fairbanks, she began her acting
career on the stage, starring in such productions as "Claudia", "The
Prince Chap", "Mary Jane's Pa", "The Piper", "Snow White", "The Blue
Bird" and countless others at the New Theatre and the Little Theatre in
New York City. The twins first entered films with Biograph around 1910,
but due to Biograph's policy of not revealing the names of their
players, they received little publicity. In 1912 they joined the
Thanhouser Film Corporation (which was conveniently located in New
Rochelle, allowing them to commute each day from their home in New York
City), where they were billed as "The Thanhouser Twins". Their first
film at Thanhouser was (naturally)
The Twins (1912). They continued to
divide their time between stage and screen and in 1917 joined the cast
of the Ziegfeld Follies, where they remained for several years. In
1921, while the twins were appearing at the George M. Cohan Theatre in
"Two Little Girls in Blue", they signed with Cosmopolitan Productions
for parts in the upcoming film
Charlatan (1922), to be
released by Paramount. In 1923 Madeline announced she would devote her
time to the pursuit of serious dramatic roles, while her sister Marion
would remain in musical revues. Madeline appeared in "Mercenary Mary",
"The Grab Bag" and "The Ritz Revue", but by 1924 the twins were eager
to work together again and they reunited for the stage production of
George White's "Scandals". In 1937
Madeline married Leonard Sherman and they had one daughter, Kate. The
couple were divorced in 1947. Madeline Fairbanks died on January 15,
1989, of respiratory failure at the age of 88.
