Letitia Fairbanks

Like Princess April, Letitia Fairbanks (1913-1992) was a woman before her time. Born in Provo, Utah, Letitia, the daughter of Robert and Lorie Eggertsen Fairbanks, spent the first six years of her life amongst the Mormon Danish immigrant community of her mother. It was there that her father, an electrical engineer, started his career, designing and building the hydroelectric dams necessary to power the West. Meanwhile, Robert’s younger brother Douglas Fairbanks, who was already a Broadway actor in New York City, set his sights on Hollywood and the brand-new world of motion pictures. In 1919, Douglas joined forces with Mary Pickford, Charlie Chaplin, and D.W. Griffith to form United Artists. Robert Fairbanks, with his engineering and construction background, was appointed as production manager of the new film studio. The young family relocated to Hollywood, where Letitia and her younger sister, Lucile, came of age alongside the creative energy of her talented uncle and spirited aunt. Pickfair, Douglas and Mary’s lavish Beverly Hills estate, was a frequent and much beloved meeting spot. Early in life, Letitia forged an identity as an artist, specifically as a painter and a writer, leaving theater and film to other members of her family. Following the death of her uncle Douglas on Dec 12, 1939, Letitia began work on an elaborate art installation to honor him: Princess April Morning-Glory. In combining her lifelong loves: painting, writing, illustration, and calligraphy, Letitia created a unique style of graphic novel. The novel's eponymous heroine resembles many a Mary Pickford character: pluckish girl stands up for justice on an unequal playing field, and wins! Similar to her protagonist, Letitia felt determined to forge a life on her own terms, independent from her famous, and at times overbearing, family. One of the sources of longtime disagreement between mother and daughter was Letitia’s refusal to marry among the allotment of Hollywood’s eligible bachelors. Letitia found refuge in Princess April, who came to feel at home in the world not by seeking companionship outside of herself but within herself – ultimately coming to the realization that we are only ever able to grant our own wishes by overcoming our own obstacles. Holding firm to her artistic identity, Letitia gravitated toward portraiture, landscapes, and still lifes. In 1953 Letitia co-authored Douglas Fairbanks: The Fourth Musketeer, a definitive biography of her uncle. With Ralph Hancock as her researcher and editor, together they told how Douglas made the most of his Broadway theatre successes of the 1900s and parlayed his life into an opulent fairy tale of fabulous glamour, fame and fortune. With Mary Pickford as his Queen, Douglas Fairbanks was the King of Hollywood, and together they created the lifestyles of the rich and famous forever-associated with Beverly Hills, the movie business and celebrities. Letitia's marriage to Hal Smoot in 1966 marked the beginning of a particularly joyful and creative period. Needlepoints and annual Christmas cards, which featured a painting from the previous year, not to mention her role as a wife, mother, and grandmother, brought her much fulfillment. Her beloved Hal passed in 1988, and after a life rich in artistic accomplishment, Letitia passed away in September of 1992.