Academy Founders 2

 N.B. The member numbers follow The Internet Movie Database's list order announcing the Academy in January 1927. 

2. Douglas Fairbanks (Sr.) (Douglas Elton Thomas Ullman, 1883-1939) of the Actors Branch (and first president of the Academy, 1927-29), shown here with his son Douglas Fairbanks Jr. (1909-2000).

The star of THE MYSTERY OF THE LEAPING FISH (1916) as Coke Ennyday -- not to mention 1918's SWAT THE KAISER -- by the end of the decade he had become a top film star. A founder of United Artists with Mary Pickford, Charlie Chaplin, and D.W. Griffith, during the 1920s Fairbanks went from strength to strength as an action/comedy star (THE MARK OF ZORRO, THE THREE MUSKETEERS, ROBIN HOOD, and THE IRON MASK, among others). Like Richard Barthelmess, his star waned during the 1930s.

He was married to Mary Pickford 1920-36.

Academy Founders

Just as I have collected photos of many of the performers in Florenz Ziegfeld’s FOLLIES, I have put together a group of images of the founders of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. The numbers follow The Internet Movie Database's list order announcing the Academy in January 1927. 

1. Richard Barthelmess (1895-1963) of the Actors Branch. 

Barthelmess made his debut in Alla Nazimova's WAR BRIDES (1916) and played opposite Lillian Gish in BROKEN BLOSSOMS (1919) and WAY DOWN EAST (1920). He was nominated for Academy Awards for both THE PATENT LEATHER KID (1927) and THE NOOSE (1928). His career waned in the early sound era, although he made a comeback with ONLY ANGELS HAVE WINGS (1939).