His rise from obscurity to fame, from poverty to wealth, has no larger foundation than his ever-ready willingness to let the whole world see every tooth in his head.
Good looks?
Artistry?
Bosh! The Fairbanks features were evidently picked out by a utilitarian mother who preferred use to ornament; and as for his acting, critics of the drama, imbued with the traditions of Booth and Barrett, have been known to sob like children after witnessing a Fairbanks performance.
It is the joyousness of the man that gets him over.

It's the 100 per cent interest that he takes in everything he goes at that lies at the back of his success.

He does nothing by halves, is never indifferent, never lackadaisical.
At various stages in his brief career he has been a Shakespearean actor, Wall Street clerk, hay steward on a cattle-boat, vagabond, and business man, knowing poverty, hunger, and discomfort at times, but never, _never_ losing the grin.

Things began to move for him when he left a Denver high school back in 1900 for the purpose of entering college.

As he says, "A man can't be too careful about college." He started for Princeton, but met a youth on the train who was going to Harvard.