Georgie Drew Barrymore with Ethel, Lionel, and Jack Barrymore

Ethel Barrymore (born Ethel Mae Blythe; August 15, 1879 – June 18, 1959) was an American actress and a member of the

Barrymore family The Barrymore family is an American acting family. The Barrymores are also the inspiration of a Broadway play called ''The Royal Family'', which debuted in 1927. Many members of the Barrymore family are not mentioned in this article. The surnam ...

of actors. Barrymore was a stage, screen and radio actress whose career spanned six decades, and was regarded as "The First Lady of the American Theatre". She received four nominations for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress, winning for '' None but the Lonely Heart'' (1944).

Early life

Barrymore was born Ethel Mae Blythe in

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

, the second child of the actors

Maurice Barrymore Herbert Arthur Chamberlayne Blythe (21 September 1849 – 25 March 1905), known professionally by his stage name Maurice Barrymore, was an Indian-born British stage actor. He is the patriarch of the Barrymore acting family, father of John, Li ...

(whose real name was Herbert Blythe) and

Georgiana Drew Georgiana Emma Drew (July 11, 1856 – July 2, 1893), Georgie Drew Barrymore, was an American stage actress and comedian and a member of the Barrymore acting family. Life and career Born in Philadelphia, her family — parents John Drew and L ...

. She was named for her father's favorite character—Ethel in

William Makepeace Thackeray William Makepeace Thackeray (; 18 July 1811 – 24 December 1863) was a British novelist, author and illustrator. He is known for his satirical works, particularly his 1848 novel ''Vanity Fair'', a panoramic portrait of British society, and t ...

's ''

The Newcomes ''The Newcomes: Memoirs of a Most Respectable Family'' is a novel by William Makepeace Thackeray, first published in 1854 and 1855. Publication ''The Newcomes'' was published serially over about two years, as Thackeray himself says in one of t ...

.'' She was the sister of actors

John John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Secon ...

and Lionel Barrymore, the

aunt An aunt is a woman who is a sibling of a parent or married to a sibling of a parent. Aunts who are related by birth are second-degree relatives. Known alternate terms include auntie or aunty. Children in other cultures and families may refer ...

of actor

John Drew Barrymore John Drew Barrymore (born John Blyth Barrymore Jr.; June 4, 1932 – November 29, 2004) was an American film actor and member of the Barrymore family of actors, which included his father, John Barrymore, and his father's siblings, Lionel and E ...

and

grand-aunt An aunt is a woman who is a sibling of a parent or married to a sibling of a parent. Aunts who are related by birth are second-degree relatives. Known alternate terms include auntie or aunty. Children in other cultures and families may refer ...

of actress

Drew Barrymore Drew Blythe Barrymore (born February 22, 1975) is an American actress, director, producer, talk show host and author. A member of the Barrymore family of actors, she is the recipient of several accolades, including a Golden Globe Award and a ...

. She was also a

granddaughter Family (from la, familia) is a group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its members and of society. Ideal ...

of actress and theater-manager

Louisa Lane Drew Louisa Lane Drew (January 10, 1820 – August 31, 1897) was an English-born American actress and theatre owner and an ancestor of the Barrymore acting family. Professionally she was often known as Mrs. John Drew. Life and career Louisa L ...

(Mrs. John Drew), and

niece In the lineal kinship system used in the English-speaking world, a niece or nephew is a child of the subject's sibling or sibling-in-law. The converse relationship, the relationship from the niece or nephew's perspective, is that of an ...

of Broadway

matinée idol Matinée idol is a term used mainly to describe film or theatre stars who are adored to the point of adulation by their fans. The term almost exclusively refers to adult male actors. Matinée idols often tend to play romantic and dramatic lead ...

John Drew Jr John Drew Jr. (November 13, 1853 – July 9, 1927), commonly known as John Drew during his life, was an American stage actor noted for his roles in Shakespearean comedy, society drama, and light comedies. He was the eldest son of John Drew ...

and early

Vitagraph Studios Vitagraph Studios, also known as the Vitagraph Company of America, was a United States motion picture studio. It was founded by J. Stuart Blackton and Albert E. Smith in 1897 in Brooklyn, New York, as the American Vitagraph Company. By 1907, ...

stage and screen star

Sidney Drew Mr. & Mrs. Sidney Drew were an American comedy team on stage and screen. The team initially consisted of Sidney Drew (August 28, 1863 – April 9, 1919) and his first wife Gladys Rankin (October 8, 1870 – January 9, 1914). After Gladys died in 19 ...

. She spent her childhood in Philadelphia and attended

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

schools there. In 1884, the family sailed to

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

and stayed two years. Maurice had inherited a substantial amount of money from an aunt and decided to exhibit a play and star in some plays at

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

's Haymarket Theatre.''House of Barrymore, The'' by Margot Peters c.1990] Retrieved April 6, 2016 Ethel recalled being frightened on first meeting

Oscar Wilde Oscar Fingal O'Flahertie Wills Wilde (16 October 185430 November 1900) was an Irish poet and playwright. After writing in different forms throughout the 1880s, he became one of the most popular playwrights in London in the early 1890s. He is ...

when handing him some cakes and later being reprimanded by her parents for showing fear of Wilde. Returning to the U.S. in 1886, her father took her to her first

baseball game Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

. She established a lifelong love of baseball and wanted to be a

concert pianist A pianist ( , ) is an individual musician who plays the piano. Since most forms of Western music can make use of the piano, pianists have a wide repertoire and a wide variety of styles to choose from, among them traditional classical music, ja ...

. The years in England were the happiest of her childhood years due to the fact the Barrymores were more of a nuclear family in London than in the United States.

Career

In the summer of 1893, Barrymore was in the company of her mother Georgie, who had been ailing from

tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease usually caused by '' Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can also affect other parts of the body. Most infections show no symptoms, in ...

and took a curative sabbatical to

Santa Barbara, California Santa Barbara ( es, Santa Bárbara, meaning "Saint Barbara") is a coastal city in Santa Barbara County, California, of which it is also the county seat. Situated on a south-facing section of coastline, the longest such section on the West Coas ...

, not far from where family friend Helena Modjeska had a retreat. Georgie did not recover and died in July 1893 a week before her 37th birthday. Essentially Ethel's and Lionel's childhood ended when Georgie died; they were forced to go to work in their teens with neither finishing high school. John, a few years younger, stayed with their

grandmother Grandparents, individually known as grandmother and grandfather, are the parents of a person's father or mother – paternal or maternal. Every sexually-reproducing living organism who is not a genetic chimera has a maximum of four genetics, ge ...

and other relatives. Barrymore's first appearance on

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street **Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...

was in 1895, in a play called ''

The Imprudent Young Couple ''The Imprudent Young Couple'' is a play written by Henry Guy Carleton. It premiered on Broadway in 1895 and was produced by Charles Frohman. It starred Maude Adams and John Drew, Jr., and featured Arthur Byron. The production marked the Broadway d ...

'' which starred her uncle

John Drew, Jr. John Drew Jr. (November 13, 1853 – July 9, 1927), commonly known as John Drew during his life, was an American stage actor noted for his roles in Shakespearean comedy, society drama, and light comedies. He was the eldest son of John Drew ...

, and

Maude Adams Maude Ewing Adams Kiskadden (November 11, 1872 – July 17, 1953), known professionally as Maude Adams, was an American actress who achieved her greatest success as the character Peter Pan, first playing the role in the 1905 Broadway production ...

. She appeared with Drew and Adams again in 1896 in ''

Rosemary ''Salvia rosmarinus'' (), commonly known as rosemary, is a shrub with fragrant, evergreen, needle-like leaves and white, pink, purple, or blue flowers, native plant, native to the Mediterranean Region, Mediterranean region. Until 2017, it was kn ...

''. In 1897 Ethel went with

William Gillette William Hooker Gillette (July 24, 1853 – April 29, 1937) was an American actor-manager, playwright, and stage-manager in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. He is best remembered for portraying Sherlock Holmes on stage and in a 1916 ...

to London to play Miss Kittridge in Gillette's ''Secret Service''. She was about to return to the States with Gillette's troupe when

Henry Irving Sir Henry Irving (6 February 1838 – 13 October 1905), christened John Henry Brodribb, sometimes known as J. H. Irving, was an English stage actor in the Victorian era, known as an actor-manager because he took complete responsibility ( ...

and

Ellen Terry Dame Alice Ellen Terry, (27 February 184721 July 1928), was a leading English actress of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Born into a family of actors, Terry began performing as a child, acting in Shakespeare plays in London, and tour ...

offered her the role of Annette in ''The Bells''. A full London tour was on and, before it was over, Ethel created, on

New Year's Day New Year's Day is a festival observed in most of the world on 1 January, the first day of the year in the modern Gregorian calendar. 1 January is also New Year's Day on the Julian calendar, but this is not the same day as the Gregorian one. Wh ...

1898, Euphrosine in ''Peter the Great'' at the

Lyceum The lyceum is a category of educational institution defined within the education system of many countries, mainly in Europe. The definition varies among countries; usually it is a type of secondary school. Generally in that type of school the t ...

, the play having been written by Irving's son, Laurence. Men everywhere were smitten with Ethel, most notably

Winston Churchill Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 187424 January 1965) was a British statesman, soldier, and writer who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom twice, from 1940 to 1945 Winston Churchill in the Second World War, dur ...

, who asked her to marry him. Not wishing to be a politician's wife, she refused. Winston, years later, married Clementine Hozier, a ravishing beauty who looked very much like Ethel. Winston and Ethel remained friends until the end of her life. EthelBarrymoreCarrots

After her season in London, Ethel returned to the U.S.

Charles Frohman Charles Frohman (July 15, 1856 – May 7, 1915) was an American theater manager and producer, who discovered and promoted many stars of the American stage. Notably, he produced ''Peter Pan'', both in London and the US, the latter production ...

cast her first in ''Catherine'' and then as Stella de Grex in ''His Excellency the Governor''. After that, Frohman finally gave Ethel the role that would make her a star: Madame Trentoni in ''Captain Jinks of the Horse Marines'', which opened at the

Garrick Theatre The Garrick Theatre is a West End theatre, located in Charing Cross Road, in the City of Westminster, named after the stage actor David Garrick. It opened in 1889 with ''The Profligate'', a play by Arthur Wing Pinero, and another Pinero play ...

in London's West End on February 4, 1901. Unbeknownst to Ethel, her father Maurice had witnessed the performance as an audience member and walked up to his daughter, congratulated her and gave her a big hug. It was the first and only time he saw her on stage professionally. When the tour concluded in

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

in June, she had out-drawn two of the most prominent actresses of her day, Mrs. Patrick Campbell and

Minnie Maddern Fiske Minnie Maddern Fiske (born Marie Augusta Davey; December 19, 1865 – February 15, 1932), but often billed simply as Mrs. Fiske, was one of the leading American actresses of the late 19th and early 20th century. She also spearheaded the fig ...

. Following her triumph in ''Captain Jinks'', Ethel gave sterling performances in many top-rate productions and it was in Thomas Raceward's ''Sunday'' that she uttered what would be her most famous line, "

That's all there is, there isn't any more "That's all there is, there isn't any more" was a phrase Ethel Barrymore used to rebuff curtain calls. The line entered the national consciousness of the United States in the 1920s and 1930s and has often been referenced and parodied. Origins A ...

." She portrayed Nora in ''

A Doll's House ''A Doll's House'' ( Danish and nb, Et dukkehjem; also translated as ''A Doll House'') is a three-act play written by Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen. It premiered at the Royal Theatre in Copenhagen, Denmark, on 21 December 1879, having be ...

'' by Ibsen (1905), and Juliet in ''

Romeo and Juliet ''Romeo and Juliet'' is a Shakespearean tragedy, tragedy written by William Shakespeare early in his career about the romance between two Italian youths from feuding families. It was among Shakespeare's most popular plays during his lifetim ...

'' by

Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...

(1922).

Actors' Equity strike

Barrymore, along with friend

Marie Dressler Marie Dressler (born Leila Marie Koerber, November 9, 1868 – July 28, 1934) was a Canadian stage and screen actress, comedian, and early silent film and Depression-era film star. In 1914, she was in the first full-length film comedy. She ...

, was a strong supporter of the

Actors' Equity Association The Actors' Equity Association (AEA), commonly referred to as Actors' Equity or simply Equity, is an American labor union representing those who work in live theatrical performance. Performers appearing in live stage productions without a boo ...

and had a high-profile role in the 1919 strike. AEA came into being primarily to allow performers to have a bigger share in the profits of stage productions and to provide benefit to elderly or infirm actors. Barrymore's involvement in AEA may have been motivated by the fate of both of her parents, both long standing actors, her mother who had needed proper medical care and her father who required years of institutionalized care. Her support for the strike angered many producers and cost Barrymore her friendship with

George M. Cohan George Michael Cohan (July 3, 1878November 5, 1942) was an American entertainer, playwright, composer, lyricist, actor, singer, dancer and theatrical producer. Cohan began his career as a child, performing with his parents and sister in a vaudev ...

, an actor, songwriter and producer.

1920–1930s

In 1926, she scored one of her greatest successes as the sophisticated spouse of a philandering husband in

W. Somerset Maugham William Somerset Maugham ( ; 25 January 1874 – 16 December 1965) was an English writer, known for his plays, novels and short stories. Born in Paris, where he spent his first ten years, Maugham was schooled in England and went to a German un ...

's comedy, ''

The Constant Wife ''The Constant Wife'', a play written in 1926 by W. Somerset Maugham, is a comedy whose modern and amusing take on marriage and infidelity gives a quick-witted, alternative view on how to deal with an extramarital affair. A “sparkling comedy o ...

'' (Maugham counted himself among her admirers, saying that during

rehearsal A rehearsal is an activity in the performing arts that occurs as preparation for a performance in music, theatre, dance and related arts, such as opera, musical theatre and film production. It is undertaken as a form of practising, to ensure t ...

s for the play he had "fallen madly in love with her.") She starred in ''Rasputin and the Empress'' (1932), playing the czarina married to Czar Nicholas. In July 1934, she starred in the play ''Laura Garnett'', by Leslie and

Sewell Stokes Francis Martin Sewell Stokes (16 November 1902, London – 2 November 1979, London) was an English novelist, biographer, playwright, screenwriter, broadcaster and prison visitor. He collaborated on a number of occasions with his brother, Leslie ...

, at

Dobbs Ferry, New York Dobbs Ferry is a village in Westchester County, New York, United States. The population was 10,875 according to the 2010 United States Census. In 2019, its population rose to an estimated 11,027. The village of Dobbs Ferry is located in, and is a p ...

. After she became a stage star, she would often dismiss adoring audiences who kept demanding curtain calls by saying "That's all there is—there isn't any more!" This became a popular catch phrase in the 1920s and 1930s. Many references to it can be found in the media of the period, including the

Laurel and Hardy Laurel and Hardy were a British-American Double act, comedy duo act during the early Classical Hollywood cinema, Classical Hollywood era of American cinema, consisting of Englishman Stan Laurel (1890–1965) and American Oliver Hardy (1892–19 ...

1933 film '' Sons of the Desert'', and Arthur Train's 1930 Wall Street Crash novel ''Paper Profits''. It is sometimes recalled on modern day radio stations annually every August 15 when Ethel's birthday is mentioned. Barrymore was a baseball and

boxing Boxing (also known as "Western boxing" or "pugilism") is a combat sport in which two people, usually wearing protective gloves and other protective equipment such as hand wraps and mouthguards, throw punches at each other for a predetermined ...

fan. Her admiration for boxing ended when she witnessed the brutality of the July 4, 1919, Dempsey/Willard fight in which

Dempsey Dempsey is a surname of Irish origin. Background Dempsey is an anglicised form of Ó Díomasaigh, 'descendant of Díomasach'; this personal name is the Irish adjective ''díomasach'' 'proud'. The family originated in the Kingdom of Uí Failghe ...

broke Willard's jaw and knocked out several of his teeth. Ethel vowed never to attend another boxing match, though she would later watch boxing on television. In 1928, the

Shuberts The Shubert family was responsible for the establishment of the Broadway district, in New York City, as the hub of the theater industry in the United States. They dominated the legitimate theater and vaudeville in the first half of the 20th cen ...

opened the

Ethel Barrymore Theatre The Ethel Barrymore Theatre is a Broadway theater at 241 West 47th Street in the Theater District of Midtown Manhattan in New York City. Opened in 1928, it was designed by Herbert J. Krapp in the Elizabethan, Mediterranean, and Adam styles ...

, which operates under that name to the present day.

Film and broadcasting career

Film

Barrymore appeared in her first feature motion picture, ''The Nightingale'', in 1914. Members of her family were already in pictures; uncle Sidney Drew, his wife Gladys Rankin, and Lionel had entered films in 1911 and John made his first feature in 1913 after having debuted in Lubin short films in 1912. She made 15 silent pictures between 1914 and 1919, most of them for the

Metro Pictures Metro Pictures Corporation was a motion picture production company founded in early 1915 in Jacksonville, Florida. It was a forerunner of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. The company produced its films in New York, Los Angeles, and sometimes at leased f ...

studio. Most of these pictures were made on the East Coast, as her Broadway career and children came first. A few of her silent films have survived: for example, one reel from ''

The Awakening of Helena Richie ''The Awakening of Helena Richie'' is a novel by the American writer Margaret Deland (1857 - 1945) set in the 19th century fictional locale of Old Chester, a Western Pennsylvania rural village just a few miles outside the city of Pittsburgh, then ...

'' (1916) which survives at the

Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is the research library that officially serves the United States Congress and is the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It is the oldest federal cultural institution in the country. The library is ...

, and ''

The Call of Her People ''The Call of Her People'' is a 1917 silent film spectacle directed by John W. Noble and starring Ethel Barrymore. It was produced and distributed by Metro Pictures. The story is based on a play by Edward Sheldon. Cast *Ethel Barrymore - Egypt * ...

'' (1917) held at the

George Eastman House The George Eastman Museum, also referred to as ''George Eastman House, International Museum of Photography and Film'', the world's oldest museum dedicated to photography and one of the world's oldest film archives, opened to the public in 1949 in ...

. The only two films that featured all three siblings—Ethel, John, and Lionel—were ''

National Red Cross Pageant ''The National Red Cross Pageant'' (1917) was an American war pageant that was performed in order to sell war bonds, support the National Red Cross, and promote a positive opinion about American involvement in World War I. It was also an all-star ...

'' (1917) and ''

Rasputin and the Empress ''Rasputin and the Empress'' is a 1932 American pre-Code film directed by Richard Boleslawski and written by Charles MacArthur. Produced by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM), the film is set in Imperial Russia and stars the Barrymore siblings (John, a ...

'' (1932). The former film is now considered a

lost film A lost film is a feature or short film that no longer exists in any studio archive, private collection, public archive or the U.S. Library of Congress. Conditions During most of the 20th century, U.S. copyright law required at least one copy o ...

. Barrymore won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her role in the film '' None but the Lonely Heart'' (1944) opposite

Cary Grant Cary Grant (born Archibald Alec Leach; January 18, 1904November 29, 1986) was an English-American actor. He was known for his Mid-Atlantic accent, debonair demeanor, light-hearted approach to acting, and sense of comic timing. He was one o ...

, but made plain that she was not overly impressed by it. She appeared in '' The Spiral Staircase'' (1946) directed by

Robert Siodmak Robert Siodmak (; 8 August 1900 – 10 March 1973) was a German film director who also worked in the United States. He is best remembered as a thriller specialist and for a series of films noirs he made in the 1940s, such as ''The Killers'' (194 ...

, ''

The Paradine Case ''The Paradine Case'' is a 1947 American film noir courtroom drama film, set in England, directed by Alfred Hitchcock and produced by David O. Selznick. The screenplay was written by Selznick and an uncredited Ben Hecht, from an adaptation by Al ...

'' (1947) directed by

Alfred Hitchcock Sir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock (13 August 1899 – 29 April 1980) was an English filmmaker. He is widely regarded as one of the most influential figures in the history of cinema. In a career spanning six decades, he directed over 50 featur ...

, in which she was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for both as well for the 1949 film '' Pinky''. She played the repressed wife of Charles Laughton's character. Another important role of hers was in ''

Portrait of Jennie ''Portrait of Jennie'' is a 1948 American fantasy film based on the 1940 novella by Robert Nathan. The film was directed by William Dieterle and produced by David O. Selznick. It stars Jennifer Jones and Joseph Cotten. At the 21st Academy A ...

'' (1948), and "

The Red Danube ''The Red Danube'' is a 1949 American drama film directed by George Sidney and starring Walter Pidgeon. The film is set during Operation Keelhaul and was based on the 1947 novel '' Vespers in Vienna'' by Bruce Marshall. Plot In Rome shortly af ...

" (1949), among others. Her last film appearance was in ''

Johnny Trouble ''Johnny Trouble'' is a 1957 American drama film directed by John H. Auer and written by Charles O'Neil and David Lord. The film stars Ethel Barrymore in her final film, Cecil Kellaway, Stuart Whitman, Carolyn Jones, Jesse White and Rand Harp ...

'' (1957).

Radio

Barrymore starred in ''Miss Hattie'', described as "a short-lived situation comedy," on

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...

in 1944–1945.Sies, Luther F. (2014). ''Encyclopedia of American Radio, 1920-1960, 2nd Edition, Volume 1''. McFarland & Company, Inc. . P. 56. In one episode, Barrymore's character was "asked by Rob Thompson to direct a play which the workers of his war plant are presenting in order to raise money for war bonds." Barrymore starred, along with Gene Kelly, in the 01/06/1949 episode of Suspense, entitled "To Find Help".

Television

Barrymore also made a number of television appearances in the 1950s, including one memorable encounter with comedian Jimmy Durante on

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...

's ''All Star Revue'' on December 1, 1951, which is preserved on a

kinescope Kinescope , shortened to kine , also known as telerecording in Britain, is a recording of a television program on motion picture film, directly through a lens focused on the screen of a video monitor. The process was pioneered during the 194 ...

. In 1956, she hosted 14 episodes of the TV series ''

'', produced by the

DuMont Television Network The DuMont Television Network (also known as the DuMont Network, DuMont Television, simply DuMont/Du Mont, or (incorrectly) Dumont ) was one of America's pioneer commercial television networks, rivaling NBC and CBS for the distinction of being ...

and presented on the DuMont flagship station

WABD WABD (97.5 FM) is an American radio station licensed to serve the community of Mobile, Alabama. The station, established in 1973 as WABB-FM, is owned and operated by Cumulus Media. Its studios are on Dauphin Street in Midtown Mobile, and its ...

just as the network was folding. Unfortunately none of the episodes were preserved on kinescope. A 1952 appearance on ''

What's My Line? ''What's My Line?'' is a panel game show that originally ran in the United States on the CBS Television Network from 1950 to 1967, originally in black and white and later in color, with subsequent U.S. revivals. The game uses celebrity panelis ...

'' survives, however, in addition to several radio broadcasts.

Popular culture

In the romantic

time travel Time travel is the concept of movement between certain points in time, analogous to movement between different points in space by an object or a person, typically with the use of a hypothetical device known as a time machine. Time travel is a w ...

film '' Somewhere in Time'' (1980), a photo of Barrymore wearing nun's habit from her 1928 play ''The Kingdom of God'' can be seen.

Christopher Reeve Christopher D'Olier Reeve (September 25, 1952 – October 10, 2004) was an American actor, best known for playing the title character in the film '' Superman'' (1978) and three sequels. Born in New York City and raised in Princeton, New Jersey ...

plays a journalist rummaging through old theater albums at a large Michigan hotel. He uncovers the photos of Barrymore in the play and childhood photos of actresses Blanche Ring and

Rose Stahl Rosalie Stahl (October 29, 1868 – 1955) was a Canadian-born American stage actress. Early life Her father was Col. Ernest Karl Stahl, a Prussian-born newspaperman who was drama and music critic for the '' Chicago InterOcean'' and her mother, ...

Private life

was among Barrymore's many new friends in England. Churchill reportedly proposed to her in 1900; Barrymore mentions no such thing in her autobiography, though she includes a photograph of herself and Churchill on the lawn at Blenheim Palace in 1899. While touring in England at age 19, she had been rumored to be engaged to the

Duke of Manchester Duke of Manchester is a title in the Peerage of Great Britain, and the current senior title of the House of Montagu. It was created in 1719 for the politician Charles Montagu, 4th Earl of Manchester. Manchester Parish in Jamaica was named afte ...

, actor

Gerald du Maurier Sir Gerald Hubert Edward Busson du Maurier (26 March 1873 – 11 April 1934) was an English actor and manager. He was the son of author George du Maurier and his wife, Emma Wightwick, and the brother of Sylvia Llewelyn Davies. In 1903, he ...

, writer

Richard Harding Davis Richard Harding Davis (April 18, 1864 – April 11, 1916) was an American journalist and writer of fiction and drama, known foremost as the first American war correspondent to cover the Spanish–American War, the Second Boer War, and the First ...

and Churchill. Upon her engagement to Laurence Irving, son of Sir

, an old friend of Mrs. John Drew, she cabled her father Maurice, who responded with a cable "Congratulations!" When she broke up with Irving, she cabled Maurice who wired back, "Congratulations!" Ethel Barrymore married Russell Griswold Colt (1882–1960) on March 14, 1909. The couple had been introduced, according to Barrymore's autobiography, when Colt had strolled by the table where she was having lunch with her uncle, actor John (Uncle Jack) Drew, in Sherry's Restaurant in New York. A ''New York Times'' article of 1911, when Barrymore first took preliminary divorce measures against Colt, states that Colt had been introduced to Barrymore by her brother John Barrymore some years before while Colt was still a student at Yale. The couple had three children: Samuel "Sammy" Colt (1909–1986), a Hollywood agent and occasional actor; actress-singer Ethel Barrymore Colt (1912–1977), who appeared on

in Stephen Sondheim's ''

Follies ''Follies'' is a musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and a book by James Goldman. The plot takes place in a crumbling Broadway theater, now scheduled for demolition, previously home to a musical revue (based on the ''Ziegfeld Fol ...

''; and John Drew Colt (1913–1975), who became an actor. Barrymore's marriage to Colt was precarious from the start, with Barrymore filing divorce papers as early in the marriage as 1911, much to Colt's surprise, and later recanted by Barrymore as a misunderstanding by the press. At least one source alleged Colt abused her and that he fathered a child with another woman while married to Barrymore. They divorced in 1923. Barrymore did not seek alimony from Colt for herself, but she demanded that his

entailed In English common law, fee tail or entail is a form of trust established by deed or settlement which restricts the sale or inheritance of an estate in real property and prevents the property from being sold, devised by will, or otherwise alien ...

wealth provide for their children. A devout Catholic, Ethel Barrymore never remarried.

Death

Ethel Barrymore died of

cardiovascular disease Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is a class of diseases that involve the heart or blood vessels. CVD includes coronary artery diseases (CAD) such as angina and myocardial infarction (commonly known as a heart attack). Other CVDs include stroke, h ...

on June 18, 1959, at her home in Hollywood, after having lived for many years with a heart condition. She was less than two months shy of her 80th birthday. She was entombed at Calvary Cemetery. The

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

is named for her.

Honors

In 1960, Barrymore was posthumously inducted into the

Hollywood Walk of Fame The Hollywood Walk of Fame is a historic landmark which consists of more than 2,700 five-pointed terrazzo and brass stars embedded in the sidewalks along 15 blocks of Hollywood Boulevard and three blocks of Vine Street in Hollywood, Californ ...

with a motion pictures star for her contributions to the film industry. Her star is located at 7001

Hollywood Boulevard Hollywood Boulevard is a major east–west street in Los Angeles, California. It begins in the east at Sunset Boulevard in the Los Feliz district and proceeds to the west as a major thoroughfare through Little Armenia and Thai Town, Hollywoo ...

. Barrymore was a member of the

American Theater Hall of Fame The American Theater Hall of Fame in New York City was founded in 1972. Earl Blackwell was the first head of the organization's Executive Committee. In an announcement in 1972, he said that the new ''Theater Hall of Fame'' would be located in the ...

, along with her brothers,

and Lionel.

References

External links

* *
allmovie.com

Queen Ethel Comes This Way Again
Wayback Machine)
Ethel Barrymore
photos and literature NYP Library
with brother Lionel on his last film, ''Main Street to Broadway'' 1953Ethel Barrymore guest appearance on ''Whats My Line'' October 12, 1952
begins at 16:27 * Hattie Williams, Ethel and John Barrymore bow to the audience after a performance o
''A Slice of Life'' (1912)

Ethel Barrymore: Broadway Photographs
(Univ. of South Carolina)
Ethel Barrymore - AveleymanPeriodPaper
WaybackMachine) {{DEFAULTSORT:Barrymore, Ethel 1879 births 1959 deaths Actresses from Philadelphia American stage actresses American film actresses American silent film actresses American radio actresses 20th-century American actresses 19th-century American actresses Ethel Barrymore Best Supporting Actress Academy Award winners Vaudeville performers 20th Century Studios contract players Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer contract players Burials at Calvary Cemetery (Los Angeles)