(15 February 1882 - 19 May 1942)
A very popular American theatre and film actor, John Barrymore was most famously known for his Shakespearean performances. His portrayals of the titular characters in Hamlet and Richard III gained him much critical and popular acclaim, but his career ultimately included a wide variety of roles.
John Barrymore was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on February 15, 1882. The Barrymore family was filled with notable thespians. John's brother Lionel and his sister Ethel were also popular actors during the early 1900s. John's parents were Maurice Barrymore and Georgiana Drew, two acclaimed Broadway performers. Georgiana's family members included father John Drew and mother Louisa Lane Drew and siblings John Drew, Jr., Louisa Drew, and Sidney Drew, all of whom were also famous performers. John Barrymore clearly came from very illustrious stock.
Barrymore's performing career began in 1906 with a performance detailing the San Francisco earthquake, of which he happened to be a survivor. At the time, however, none of his spectators were aware that his "reports" were fictional. He soon turned toward more reputable productions, performing in a number of Broadway plays. In 1916 he performed at the Valentine Theater in Toledo. His biggest break came as Richard III in 1920. From that point on, John Barrymore was a household name.
His 1922 run of Hamlet, at 101 performances, set a record for being the longest-running Broadway production of that play. This stood until 1936 when it was eclipsed by John Gielgud. Around this same time, John Barrymore began doing film roles. One role was that of Sherlock Holmes in a movie by the same name. This performance in particular was widely lauded by critics, and a review in the Toledo Blade stated, "Sherlock Holmes could have had no more enthusiastic or sympathetic interpreter. It is a remarkable picture." 1 By the time he had retired, he had been in more than 60 films over the course of a 25-year career.
Throughout his career Barrymore was known as being both a womanizer and an alcoholic. The former led to four marriages, each of which ended in divorce. The latter ultimately undid his great acting career, as alcoholism eventually began to strain his ability to remember lines. His brother Lionel tried to help John by moving him out of the public eye in the late '30s, but on May 29, 1942, John Barrymore succumbed to a combination of pneumonia and a failing liver.
Barrymore's legacy, however, continues: he was the father of actor John Drew Barrymore and the grandfather of actress Drew Barrymore, and earned a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
1. http://www.holmesonscreen.com/indexSBarrymore.htm
Resources
Fowler, Gene. Good Night, Sweet Prince. New York: Viking Press, 1944
One of the most complete biographies of Barrymore, this is also an excellent and easily readable resource on one of Hollywood's first big film stars.
"John Barrymore." IMDb. http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000858/ 7 Oct. 2007.
"John Barrymore." Wikipedia. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Barrymore 7 Oct. 2007.
Morrison, Michael A. John Barrymore: Shakespearean Actor. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1997.
As the title suggests, this book focuses on Barrymore's career as a Shakespearean performer. It also includes excellent information on other parts of his career.
"Sherlock Holmes." http://www.holmesonscreen.com/indexSBarrymore.htm 10 Oct. 2007.