Douglas Fairbanks was raised in Denver and attended the Colorado School of Mines. He began his dramatic training locally. In 1900, he moved with his mother to the Easy, where Fairbanks joined one of Frederick Warde's repertory theater groups. Next came silent film, because he was photogenic, athletic, and graceful. In 1916, he played in The Americano, and three years later in Knickerbocker Buckaroo. Fairbanks joined with Charlie Chaplin and D.W. Griffith to found the United Artists company, which produced many spectaculars in which he played.