Greatest Swashbucker of All Time?

[Geezer57]

Errol Flynn may be the most often mentioned, but Douglas Fairbanks Sr. (not Jr.) pioneered the whole genre: he was the first film Robin Hood (1922), the first Zorro (1920), did The Three Musketeers (1921), The Thief of Bagdad (1924), The Black Pirate (1926), etc.

He was a talented amateur gymnast who did all his own stunts, conducted a secret love affair with Mary Pickford (known at the time as "America's Sweetheart") and later married her. He was a founder of United Artists Corporation, whose goal was to provide independent distribution for artists who produced their own movies. He wrote and published books, did his own screenplays, produced his own films.

Truly something of a Renaissance Man, he practically invented the swashbuckling movie on his own. A true pioneer in the industry. See more at: http://douglasfairbanks.org/