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Article: Silent stars.
- Article from:
- Cobblestone
- Article date:
- January 1, 2007
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2007 Carus Publishing Co. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Any celebhe physical beauty of early film actors and actresses drew audiences larger than any celebrities had before. Early motion pictures, with their short, simple stories and their silence, could be enjoyed by almost anyone, anywhere. It didn't matter what country you lived in or what language you spoke. As the fictional silent film star in the movie Sunset Boulevard says, "We didn't need dialogue. We had faces."
Douglas Fairbanks (1883-1939) began acting at age 12 and touring at 15, reaching the Broadway stage in 1902 and breaking into films just as Hollywood began its rapid growth. He starred in all-American roles that had a comedic touch, but Fairbanks is ...