Born in Denver, Colorado, Fairbanks started acting from an early age and established himself as an accomplished stage actor on Broadway by the late 1900s.

Charles met Ella Adelaide Marsh after she married his friend and client John Fairbanks, a wealthy New Orleans sugar mill and plantation owner.

He toured with Warde for two seasons, functioning in dual roles, both as actor and as the assistant stage manager in his second year with the group.

[9] After moving to Los Angeles, Fairbanks signed a contract with Triangle Pictures in 1915 and began working under the supervision of D. W. Griffith.

[10] His athleticism was not appreciated by Griffith, however, and he was brought to the attention of Anita Loos and John Emerson, who wrote and directed many of his early romantic comedies.

In 1917, they joined Fairbanks's friend Charlie Chaplin[10] selling war bonds by train across the United States and delivering pro-war speeches as Four Minute Men.

In 1917, Fairbanks capitalized on his rising popularity by publishing a self-help book, Laugh and Live, which extolled the power of positive thinking and self-confidence in raising one's health, business and social prospects.

Even though the lawmakers objected to the marriage, the public widely supported the idea of "Everybody's Hero" marrying "America's Sweetheart".

Both internationally and at home, the celebrated couple were regarded as "Hollywood Royalty" and became famous for entertaining at "Pickfair", their Beverly Hills estate.

By 1920, Fairbanks had completed 29 films (28 features and one two-reel short), which showcased his ebullient screen persona and athletic ability.

By 1920, he had the inspiration of staging a new type of adventure-costume picture, a genre that was then out of favor with the public; Fairbanks had been a comic in his previous films.

In 1921, he, Pickford, Chaplin, and others, helped to organize the Motion Picture Fund to assist those in the industry who could not work, or were unable to meet their bills.

During the first ceremony of its type, on April 30, 1927, Fairbanks and Pickford placed their hand and footprints in wet cement at the newly opened Grauman's Chinese Theatre in Hollywood.

(In the classic comedy Blazing Saddles, Harvey Korman's villain character sees Fairbanks's prints at Grauman's and exclaims, "How did he do such fantastic stunts ... with such little feet?")

While Fairbanks had flourished in the silent genre, the restrictions of early sound films dulled his enthusiasm for film-making.

[14] On March 29, 1928, at Pickford's bungalow, United Artists brought together Pickford, Fairbanks, Charlie Chaplin, Norma Talmadge, Gloria Swanson, John Barrymore, D. W. Griffith and Dolores del Río to speak on the radio show The Dodge Brothers Hour to prove Fairbanks could meet the challenge of talking movies.

He and Pickford chose to make their first talkie as a joint venture, playing Petruchio and Kate in Shakespeare's The Taming of the Shrew (1929).

During his final years, he lived at 705 Ocean Front (now Palisades Beach Road) in Santa Monica, California, although much of his time was spent traveling abroad with his third wife, Lady Ashley.

"[20] His funeral service was held at the Wee Kirk o' the Heather Church in Glendale's Forest Lawn Memorial Park Cemetery where he was placed in a crypt in the Great Mausoleum.

Two years following his death, his body was removed from Forest Lawn by his widow, Sylvia, who commissioned an elaborate marble monument for him featuring a long rectangular reflecting pool, raised tomb, and classic Greek architecture in Hollywood Forever Cemetery in Los Angeles.

[citation needed] The monument was dedicated in a ceremony held in October 1941, with Fairbanks' close friend Charlie Chaplin reading a remembrance.

[22] In 2002, AMPAS opened the "Fairbanks Center for Motion Picture Study" located at 333 S. La Cienega Boulevard in Beverly Hills.

On April 15, 2012, the festival concluded with a sold-out screening of the Fairbanks film held at the historic Egyptian Theatre in Hollywood.

[28] The nickname for the sports teams of the University of California-Santa Barbara is 'The Gauchos' in honor of Fairbanks's acting in the eponymous film.