Among the passengers who boarded the SS Olympic at Southampton on July 21, 1920, were Hollywood honeymooners Douglas Fairbanks and Mary Pickford. Traveling on the same ship, in a less luxurious compartment, was an unknown British actor named Archibald Leach.
In his autobiography Cary Grant recalled the meeting: 'Among the fellow passengers were newlyweds Douglas Fairbanks Sr. and Mary Pickford, the world's most popular honeymooners and the first film stars I ever met.The passenger list on which their names appear is among those to be digitized and indexed by findmypast.com. Their arrival in New York was recorded here and here.
'They were gracious and patient in face of constant harassment, by people with cameras and autograph books, whenever they appeared on deck; and once even I found myself being photographed with Mr. Fairbanks during a game of shuffleboard. 'As I stood beside him I tried with shy, inadequate words to tell him of my adulation.
He was a splendidly trained athlete and acrobat, affable and warmed by success and well-being. A gentleman in the true sense of the word.' [Link]
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