page_title: Madeline and Marion Fairbanks
section_title: Career
hierarchical_section_title: Madeline and Marion Fairbanks / Career
caption_attribution_description: English: Fairbank Twins
context_page_description: Madeline and her twin sister Marion Fairbanks were American stage and motion picture actresses active in the silent era. The two sisters were seemingly inseparable. However, their Thanhouser filmographies are slightly different, as on occasion one twin appeared in a film without the other.
context_section_description: The twins began their career on the stage in such productions as Alias Jimmy Valentine, Mother, Salomy Jane, Mrs. Wiggs of the Cabbage Patch, and countless others. Starting in 1909 they performed with Nora Bayes in The Jolly Bachelors. Madeline wrote a note to President William Howard Taft, who received the twins at a private reception when they performed in Washington, D.C. After the meeting, he presented them with an autographed picture. At first Marion desired to be a dramatic actress while Madeline aspired to playing comedic roles.
  They entered films with Biograph circa 1910. They joined the Thanhouser Film Corporation in 1912, where they were billed as "The Thanhouser Twins", and remained there until 1916. The Fairbanks sisters appeared with Teddie Gerard in the cast of the Florenz Ziegfeld Midnight Frolic in August 1920.
  In 1923, Madeline decided to pursue dramatic roles, while Marion continued in musical revues, touring in the title role with the "Little Nellie Kelly company". Madeline landed roles in Mercenary Mary, The Grab Bag, and The Ritz Revue. By 1924, the girls had felt their separation too keenly, and they rejoined on stage in George White's Scandals, followed in early 1927 by parts in Oh, Kay.
caption: The Fairbanks twins, Madeline and Marion Fairbanks
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