Overview (5)

Mini Bio (1)

John Barrymore was born John Sidney Blyth on February 15, 1882 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. An American stage and screen actor whose rise to superstardom and subsequent decline is one of the legendary tragedies of Hollywood. A member of the most famous generation of the most famous theatrical family in America, he was also its most acclaimed star. His father was Maurice Blyth (or Blythe; family spellings vary), a stage success under the name Maurice Barrymore. His mother, Georgie Drew, was the daughter of actor John Drew. Although well known in the theatre, Maurice and Georgie were eclipsed by their three children, John, Lionel Barrymore, and Ethel Barrymore, each of whom became legendary stars. John was handsome and roguish. He made his stage debut at age 18 in one of his father's productions, but was much more interested in becoming an artist.



Briefly educated at King's College, Wimbledon, and at New York's Art Students League, Barrymore worked as a freelance artist and for a while sketched for the New York Evening Journal. Gradually, though, the draw of his family's profession ensnared him, and by 1905, he had given up professional drawing and was touring the country in plays. He survived the 1906 San Francisco earthquake, and in 1909, became a major Broadway star in "The Fortune Hunter". In 1922, Barrymore became his generation's most acclaimed "Hamlet", in New York and London. But by this time, he had become a frequent player in motion pictures. His screen debut supposedly came in An American Citizen (1914), though records of several lost films indicate he may have made appearances as far back as 1912. He became every bit the star of films that he was on stage, eclipsing his siblings in both arenas.



Though his striking matinee-idol looks had garnered him the nickname "The Great Profile", he often buried them under makeup or distortion in order to create memorable characters of degradation or horror. He was a romantic leading man into the early days of sound films, but his heavy drinking (since boyhood) began to take a toll, and he degenerated quickly into a man old before his time. He made a number of memorable appearances in character roles, but these became over time more memorable for the humiliation of a once-great star than for his gifts. His last few films were broad and distasteful caricatures of himself, though in even the worst, such as Playmates (1941), he could rouse himself to a moving soliloquy from "Hamlet". He died on May 29, 1942, mourned as much for the loss of his life as for the loss of grace, wit, and brilliance which had characterized his career at its height.

- IMDb Mini Biography By: Jim Beaver < jumblejim@prodigy.net>

Spouse (4)

Trivia (26)



Had a daughter with Dolores Costello : Dolores Ethel Blyth Barrymore (born April 8, 1930).

His birth certificate lists 14 February as his birth date, which conflicts with the family Bible that says 15 February. His World War I draft record and Social Security records state February 15.





Rebaptized as a Roman Catholic after his mother's secret conversion, of the Barrymore siblings only Ethel Barrymore remained a devout Catholic.



George Bernard Shaw considered his very highly regarded "Hamlet" one of the worst performances of the role he had ever seen, and in a blistering letter accused him of indulging his own ego at the expense of William Shakespeare



Courted showgirl Evelyn Nesbit as her involvement with married architect Stanford White was waning. When she became pregnant, Barrymore proposed marriage, but White intervened and arranged for the still-teenaged Miss Nesbit to undergo an operation for appendicitis. White was later murdered by Nesbit's vengeful husband, Pittsburgh millionaire Harry Thaw.

His sharp wit never left him, even when he was dying. A priest came to administer the last rites, accompanied by an exceedingly homely nurse. When the priest asked him if he had anything to confess, Barrymore replied, "Yes, Father. I am guilty, at this moment, of having carnal thoughts." "About whom?," replied the shocked priest. "About HER!," he replied, indicating the nurse.





The only one of the three Barrymore siblings (John, Ethel Barrymore and Lionel Barrymore ) to never win or even be nominated for an Academy Award; he is now considered the finest actor of the three. Most cinema historians believe this is because he never signed a long term Hollywood contract with any major studio and therefore never had the push and campaigns from any of them on his behalf.



One night, while drunk, he accidentally went into a women's restroom, instead of a men's room, and proceeded to relieve his bladder in a potted plant. A woman standing nearby reminded him that the room was "for ladies exclusively". Turning around, his penis still exposed, Barrymore responded, "So, madam, is this. But every now and again, I'm compelled to run a little water through it." This incident later made its way, verbatim, into Ein Draufgänger in New York (1982), where the Barrymore-inspired character Alan Swann, played by Peter O'Toole , is involved in a similar situation.



His 1922 "Hamlet" was the longest-running Broadway production of the play, with 101 performances, until John Gielgud played the role for 132 performances in 1936.

He was posthumously awarded a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6667 Hollywood Blvd. on February 8, 1960.



Was considered the greatest Hamlet and Richard III of his time, and is still considered the greatest American actor to play those roles.





He left specific instructions that he be cremated and his ashes be buried next to his parents in the family cemetery in Philadelphia. However, as his brother Lionel Barrymore and sister Ethel Barrymore were Catholic and cremation was not sanctioned by the Church, the executors (Lionel and Mervyn LeRoy ) had his remains entombed at Calvary Cemetery in Los Angeles. In 1980 John Drew Barrymore decided to have his father cremated, and recruited his son John Blyth Barrymore to help. They removed the casket from its crypt, drove it to the Odd Fellows Cemetery and made the preparations. John Jr. insisted on having a look inside before they left. After viewing the body, he came out white as a sheet, got in the car and said to his son, "Thank God I'm drunk, I'll never remember it.".



After his death, his friends--including Errol Flynn and Raoul Walsh --gathered at a bar to commiserate on his passing. Walsh, claiming he was too upset, pretended to go home. Instead, he and two friends went to the funeral home and bribed the caretaker to lend them Barrymore's body. Transporting it to Flynn's house, it was propped up in Errol's favorite living room chair. Flynn arrived and described his reaction in his autobiography: "As I opened the door I pressed the button. The lights went on and--I stared into the face of Barrymore . . . They hadn't embalmed him yet. I let out a delirious scream . . . I went back in, still shaking. I retired to my room upstairs shaken and sober. My heart pounded. I couldn't sleep the rest of the night.".



Was originally supposed to play Sheridan Whiteside in Der Mann, der zum Essen kam (1942), but because of the effects of his alcoholism, he could not remember his lines and was fired. The role went to Monty Woolley



Supported his brother Lionel Barrymore when Lionel's wife Irene Fenwick (a long-ago girlfriend of John's) died, and filled in for Lionel as Ebenezer Scrooge in an annual radio production of "A Christmas Carol" on the day after Irene's death (December 25, 1936).



For his performance in Beau Brummel (1924), he was given a special self-created award from Rudolph Valentino

Regardin' the costume romance films he starred in during the 1920s, he jokingly referred to them as "male impersonations of 'Lilyan Tashman'.".



In May 1915 he served as a pallbearer at the funeral of Broadway stage producer 'Charles Frohman' after Frohman's body was recovered from the sinking of the RMS Lusitania on May 7, 1915. Frohman had at various times employed much of Barrymore's family, including his mother Georgie, sister 'Ethel Barrymore', brother 'Lionel Barrymore', uncle John Drew, cousin Georgie Mendum in addition to John himself.



Mentioned in 'The Three Stooges'' Movie Maniacs (1936).



On August 13, 2020, he was honored with a day of his filmography during the Turner Classic Movies Summer Under the Stars.



Personal Quotes (25)

There are lots of methods. Mine involves a lot of talent, a glass and some cracked ice.



If you stay in front of the movie camera long enough, it will show you not only what you had for breakfast but who your ancestors were.



[his feelings about never having been nominated for an Oscar] I think they were afraid I'd show up at the banquet drunk, embarrassing both myself and them. But I wouldn't have, you know.



[last words] Die? I should say not, dear fellow. No Barrymore would allow such a conventional thing to happen to him.



America is the country where you buy a lifetime supply of aspirin for one dollar, and use it up in two weeks.



I like to be introduced as America's foremost actor. It saves the necessity of further effort.



It has been said that every man must properly pay the fiddler. Alas, in my case, it happened that an entire symphony orchestra had to be subsidized.



[after throwing a fish at loudly coughing audience members] Chew on that, you walruses, while the rest of us get on with the libretto!



[on refusing to learn his lines when working in Hollywood] My memory is full of beauty: Hamlet's soliloquies, the Queen Mab speech, King Magnus' monologue from "The AppleCart", most of the Sonnets. Do you expect me to clutter up all that with this horseshit?



A man is not old until regrets take the place of dreams.



The good die young, because they see it's no use living if you have got to be good.



You can't drown yourself in drink. I've tried; you float.



My head is buried in the sands of tomorrow, while my tail feathers are singed by the hot sun of today.



[on viewing rushes] Oh, I LOVE to see the stuff! If I can do it at the end of the day. First thing in the morning it looks like a bad dream.





[to director Tay Garnett ] If you run, they bite you on the ass, Charlie, and if you stand still, they hose you.



[after watching Marlene Dietrich perform] She handles her body like Stradivarius used to handle his violins. And no matter what kind of finish it happens to be wearing at the time, it's still a masterpiece.

The way to fight a woman is with your hat. Grab it and run.



Paper napkins never return from the laundry. Nor love from a trip to the law courts.



When archaeologists discover the missing arms of the Venus de Milo they will find she was wearing boxing gloves.



Happiness often sneaks through a door you didn't know you left open.



[on his friend, playwright 'Edward Sheldon (I)'] I'm not sure that he didn't make me a serious actor.





[on comparing his role in Sherlock Holmes (1922) to his role in Dr. Jekyll und Mr. Hyde (1920)] Holmes is a purely static person: by that I mean a character with practically no emotions. It is naturally more difficult to play a man with no emotions than to play a man with emotions, and one must continually vary the character to make it interesting.

[on his Hamlet] A normal, healthy, lusty young fellow who simply got into a mess that was too thick for him . . . he was a great fencer, an athlete, a man who led an active, healthy life. How can you make a sickly halfwit out of a man like that?





[on third wife Dolores Costello ] I fell in love with her instantly. This time, I knew I was right.

There isn't any romance about how I went on stage. I needed the money.



Salary (15)