Douglas Fairbanks Jr. dies at 90

Douglas Fairbanks Jr., 90, the son of Hollywood royalty whose debonair portrayals of cads and good-natured gadabouts in about 80 films gave way in the 1940s to a second career as a television producer and social lion, died yesterday at a hospital in New York. The cause of his death was not disclosed.

Mr. Fairbanks inherited his screen-legend father's broad, rakish smile and trim figure, but he never adopted as a trademark the indefatigable athleticism with which the elder Fairbanks so electrified audiences in silent-film classics.

The younger Fairbanks had a more sophisticated energy that enlivened scores of workmanlike dramas and light comedies of the early 1930s.

With clipped, almost British inflections, a hairline mustache and an expression of gentle world-weariness, he usually played mouthy men about town, sly newspaper columnists and adventure-seeking youths.

Some of his best-known films include the "The Narrow Corner," a 1933 drama based on a W. Somerset Maugham novel, and Howard Hawks' 1930 action movie about World War I flying aces, "The Dawn Patrol." He demonstrated delightful comic timing in William Wellman's "Love Is a Racket" in 1932, and starred with Ginger Rogers in "Having Wonderful Time" in 1938.

In the 1930s he appeared in "Little Caesar," "The Prisoner of Zenda," and "Gunga Din." He also had the male lead in the 1934 period piece "Catherine the Great," playing Grand Duke Peter III of Russia.

His last film was "Ghost Story," a 1981 horror tale with Fred Astaire. The vast majority of his movies were made before 1940, at which point Mr. Fairbanks began devoting his time to World War II efforts.

From the late 1930s, the American government had enlisted the Anglophilic Mr. Fairbanks to facilitate a visit to the United States by King George VI and Queen Elizabeth. From 1939 to 1941, he was a member of the British War Relief Association and became a prominent figure aligned with other relief efforts. In 1941, President Franklin D. Roosevelt appointed him a special envoy to several Latin American counties.

He was called to active Navy duty in 1941 and rose to commander during five years' service. He saw combat in Europe and the Mediterranean. His assignments included serving under British Adm. Lord Louis Mountbatten in a commando operation.

Mr. Fairbanks, whose military awards included the Silver Star and Legion of Merit, retired from the reserve as a captain in 1954. In 1949, King George VI of England gave Mr. Fairbanks an honorary knighthood.

Through his wartime connection to Mountbatten, Mr. Fairbanks entered high British social circles.

After World War II, he formed a new production company. Perhaps his best-known postwar motion picture was 1947's "Sinbad the Sailor," a swashbuckling tale that was a winking throwback to his father's works.

Douglas Elton Fairbanks Jr. was born in New York to Douglas Fairbanks and actress Anna Beth Sully. His parents divorced when he was 9, and he lived with his mother.

His first marriage, to actress Joan Crawford, ended in divorce. His second wife, the former Mary Lee Hartford, with whom he had three daughters, died in 1988.

Survivors include his third wife, the former Vera Shelton.