Jerry Fairbanks

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Jerry Fairbanks (* 1. November 1904 in San Francisco , California ; † 21st June 1995 in Santa Barbara , California) was an American film producer - director , cinematographer and television pioneer who in 1945 with an Oscar for the short film Who's Who in Animal Land was awarded, and was nominated for another Oscar in 1948 .

Life

Fairbanks began his film career as a cameraman for silent films, such as John Barrymore's The Sea Beast from 1926. In Howard Hughes’s war film Hellflieger from 1930 he participated on the one hand as a biplane pilot, on the other hand he shot extensive aerial combat scenes in his function as cameraman.

As a producer, Fairbanks turned primarily to short films. He shot his first film series from 1933 to 1934 for Universal Studios under the title Strange As It Seems . Due to the success of this series, he then signed a contract with Paramount Pictures for three new series: Unusual Occupations , Speaking of Animals and Popular Science . He produced the latter series in collaboration with Popular Science magazine of the same name ; it ran from 1935 to 1949. The films presented groundbreaking wonders from the world of science and technology. Paramount received an Academy Award nomination in 1937 for the film he produced, Popular Science J-6-2 (1936), which shows the wonders of modern science . However, the film failed to prevail over Warner Bros. and the short film Give Me Liberty , which is based on Patrick Henry's historic speech . In 1938 and 1942 , other Academy Awards were made for Paramount and the films Popular Science J-7-1 (1937) and Down on the Farm (1941), which were produced by Fairbanks. In 1943 Paramount won an Oscar for the Fairbanks-produced short film And Their Families (1942).

In 1945 , Fairbanks won an Oscar for Best Short Film (1 reel) for Who's Who in Animal Land , in which animals tell jokes and sing . For his film Moon Rockets he received another Oscar nomination in the same category in 1948 , but had to admit defeat to Herbert Moulton and the film Goodbye, Miss Turlock , which casts a nostalgic look at the gradually disappearing country schools.

In the mid-1940s, Fairbanks turned to television, which he was fascinated by. He became one of the first film producers using this new medium. His first television series was the 26-part crime series Public Prosecutor , which he created for NBC Television and led to success. Paramount, however, gave him an ultimatum, either he quit his work on the series, or the collaboration is considered over. Fairbanks decided to do his television work and continued his popular science films there. He was also known as a supporter of the Multi-Cam, which opened up new possibilities in production in 1947. Desi Arnaz and Karl Freund are mostly cited as the inventors of the sitcom I Love Lucy , but it was Arnaz himself who called Fairbanks the inventor and originator of this system.

It was Fairbanks who gave James Dean his first commercial appearance and who produced a propaganda film about the Armstrong Cork Company called Letter to Moscow ; he also produced other successful industrial and advertising films. In 1956 he turned back to feature films and produced Down Liberty Road with Angie Dickinson . Bamboo Saucer , a 1967 movie with Dan Duryea , is a science fiction film of the time. From the late 1960s to the early 1970s, Fairbanks was President of the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce, one of the first presidents in the chamber's 50-year history to come from the entertainment business.

Fairbanks was already married (from 1928 to 1949 to actress Dolores Brinkman) when, as he himself said, he met the love of his life, actress Marjorie Freeman (stage name Marjorie Marlow) in 1945. He converted to marry Freeman in 1950. Together they adopted a daughter. The couple moved to Santa Barbara in 1983. Fairbanks died in 1995 at the age of 90, fifteen years before his wife Marjorie (1921-2010).

Filmography (selection)

producer

  • 1931–1934: Strange As It Seems (short documentaries, 11 films)
  • 1935 The Last Wilderness (short film)
  • 1935–1949: Popular Science (short documentaries, 44 films)
  • 1936: Popular Science J-6-2
  • 1937: Popular Science J-7-1
  • 1937–1948: Unusual Occupations (short documentaries, 33 films)
  • 1937: It's a Living (short documentation)
  • 1938: Unusual Occupations: L – 8–3 (short documentation)
  • 1941: Speaking of Animals Down on the Farm (short film)
  • 1941: Speaking of Animals in a Pet Shop (short film)
  • 1941, 1942: Popular Science No. J – 1–1 + J – 1–2 + J – 1–3 + J – 1–4 + J – 1–5 (short documentation)
  • 1941: Speaking of Animals in the Zoo (short film)
  • 1942: Unusual Occupations L – 1–3, No. 3 (short documentation)
  • 1942: Speaking of Animals And Their Families (short film)
  • 1942: Speaking of Animals in the Circus (short film)
  • 1942: Speaking of Animals in South America (short film)
  • 1942: Speaking of Animals at the Dog Show (short film)
  • 1942: Speaking of Animals at the County Fair (short film)
  • 1943: Speaking of Animals in Current Events (short film)
  • 1944: Who's Who in Animal Land (short film)
  • 1945: The Windjammer
  • 1945, 1946: Unusual Occupations L – 5–2 + L – 5–6 (short documentation)
  • 1946: Speaking of Animals No. Y6–1: Stork Crazy (short film)
  • 1946: The Lonesome Stranger (short film)
  • 1946: On Old chinese Proverb: One Picture Is Worth Ten Thousand Words (short film)
  • 1947: Unusual Occupations: The Stunt Girl (short documentary film)
  • 1947: Moon Rockets (short documentary from the Popular Science Featuring series)
  • 1947: Speaking of Animals No. Y7-1: Dog Crazy (short film)
  • 1947: Doctor Jim
  • 1947–1951: Public Prosecutor (TV series)
  • 1948: Bundle from Brazil (short film)
  • 1948: Unusual Occupations L – 7–3 Modern Pioneers (short film)
  • 1948: Neighbor to the North
  • 1949: Popular Science No. J – 8–4: Air Force Fire Fighters (short film)
  • 1949: The Silver Theater - Silent as the Grave (TV series)
  • 1950–1952: Crusader Rabbit (TV series, 9 episodes)
  • 1951: The Big Red Wagon (short documentary)
  • 1951: Family Theater - Hill Number One: A Story of Faith and Inspiration (TV series)
  • 1951: The Bigelow Theater (television series, 2 episodes)
  • 1951: 1952: Front Page Detective (TV series, 17 episodes)
  • 1953: America for Me (short film)
  • 1956: Down Liberty Road (short film)
  • 1956: Once Upon a Honeymoon (short film)
  • 1958: When Every Minute Counts (short film)
  • 1958: Hi, Grandma! (TV movie)
  • 1960: The Big Bounce (short documentary)
  • 1961: Anatomy of an Accident (short film)
  • 1962: Century 21 Calling (short film)
  • 1965: We Learn About the Telephone (short film)
  • 1965: If an Elephant Answers (short documentation)
  • 1968: The Bamboo Saucer
  • 1972: The Legend of Amaluk: An Arctic Odyssey
  • 1972: Brink of Disaster! (Short film)

Director

  • 1933, 1934: Strange As It Seems # 1, 2, 26 to 33, 37 to 39
  • 1941: Speaking of Animals in a Pet Shop (short film)
  • 1941: Unusual Occupations (short documentation)
  • 1942: Unusual Occupations L – 1–3, No. 3 (short documentation)
  • 1942: Speaking of Animals and Their Families (short film)
  • 1960: The Big Bounce (short documentary)

camera operator

  • 1927: The Thrill Seekers
  • 1927: The Adventurous Soul
  • 1928: No Ordinary Guy
  • 1941: Speaking of Animals in a Pet Shop (short film)
  • 1942: Speaking of Animals and Their Families (short film)
  • 1942: Popular Science No. J – 1-5 (short documentation)
  • 1949: Speaking of Animals No. Y8–4: Hocus Focus (short film)
  • 1952: Family Theater - The World's Greatest Mother (TV series)
  • 1956: Down Liberty Road (short film)
  • 1956: Once Upon a Honeymoon (short film)
  • 1959: The Road to Better Living (short documentation)
  • 1960: Celebrity Golf (TV series)
  • 1960: The Big Bounce (short documentary)

Awards

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d Jerry Fairbanks Productions at oac.cdlib.org, accessed February 7, 2016.
  2. ↑ Jon Krampner: Myths and Mysteries Surround Pioneering of 3-Camera TV: Broadcasting: A popular belief is that Desi Arnaz created the technique for 'I Love Lucy' in 1951, but evidence of the system dates to 1947 In: Los Angeles Times, July 29, 1991 (English). Retrieved February 7, 2016.
  3. ↑ Jerry Fairbanks' “The Inside Story of Modern Gasoline” (1948) at cartoonresearch.com (English), accessed February 7, 2016.
  4. ↑ a b Whatever Happened to Dolores Brinkman? at fuzzjunket.com, accessed February 7, 2016.
  5. ↑ Marjorie Freeman Fairbanks In: Los Angeles Times , May 18, 2010 (English). Retrieved February 7, 2016.
personal data
SURNAME Fairbanks, Jerry
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American film producer, director, and cameraman, and television pioneer
DATE OF BIRTH November 1, 1904
PLACE OF BIRTH San Francisco , California , United States
DATE OF DEATH June 21, 1995
Place of death Santa Barbara , California