John Blyth Barrymore III (born May 15, 1954) is an American film and television actor. He is known for his role as Zeke in the 1970s television series ''

Kung Fu Chinese martial arts, often called by the umbrella terms kung fu (; ), kuoshu () or wushu (), are multiple fighting styles that have developed over the centuries in Greater China. These fighting styles are often classified according to common ...

'', which was his first role on television.

Biography

John Blyth Barrymore III was born to

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

Cara Williams Cara Williams (born Bernice Kamiat; June 29, 1925 – December 9, 2021) was an American film and television actress. She was best known for her role as Billy's Mother in ''The Defiant Ones'' (1958), for which she was nominated for the Academy A ...

. As such, he is from the famous

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 ...

: He is the half-brother of American 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 ...

, as well as the grandnephew of

Ethel Barrymore Ethel Barrymore (born Ethel Mae Blythe; August 15, 1879 – June 18, 1959) was an American actress and a member of the Barrymore family of actors. Barrymore was a stage, screen and radio actress whose career spanned six decades, and was regarde ...

and

Lionel Barrymore Lionel Barrymore (born Lionel Herbert Blythe; April 28, 1878 – November 15, 1954) was an American actor of stage, screen and radio as well as a film director. He won an Academy Award for Best Actor for his performance in ''A Free Soul'' (1931) ...

. He is of partial

Irish descent The Irish ( ga, Muintir na hÉireann or ''Na hÉireannaigh'') are an ethnic group and nation native to the island of Ireland, who share a common history and culture. There have been humans in Ireland for about 33,000 years, and it has been c ...

through his great-grandfather, actor

Maurice Costello Maurice George Costello (February 22, 1877 – October 29, 1950) was a prominent American vaudeville actor of the late 1890s and early 1900s who later played a principal role in early American films as leading man, supporting player, and director ...

. John has stated that he does not remember if he met his aunt

Diana Barrymore Diana Blanche Barrymore Blythe (March 3, 1921 – January 25, 1960), known professionally as Diana Barrymore, was an American film and stage actress. Early life Born Diana Blanche Barrymore Blythe in New York, New York, Diana Barrymore was t ...

, who was also an actress.

Norman Abbott Norman Abbott (July 11, 1922 – July 9, 2016) was an American vaudevillian, actor, producer and television director. Abbott was born in New York City, where his uncle, comedian Bud Abbott, and his mother raised him. His early experience in ...

, the director of the television show ''

The Munsters ''The Munsters'' is an American sitcom depicting the home life of a family of benign monsters. The series starred Fred Gwynne as Frankenstein's monsterEpisodes referring to the fact that Herman is Frankenstein's monster include #55, "Just Anoth ...

'', requested that John play the role of

Eddie Munster Eddie Munster is a fictional character on the CBS sitcom ''The Munsters''. He was portrayed by Butch Patrick in all episodes of the original series except for the pilot, where he was portrayed by Happy Derman. The only child of Herman and Lily M ...

in the show. John's mother did not allow him to take the role, and in later years John thanked his mother for not allowing him to become a child actor. Like his father, John has had a sporadic career in film and television, mainly appearing in shlock horror movies and comedies. John found himself homeless in 2012. While on

skid row A skid row or skid road is an impoverished area, typically urban, in English-speaking North America whose inhabitants are mostly poor people " on the skids". This specifically refers to poor or homeless, considered disreputable, downtrodden or fo ...

, he took to wearing a shirt printed with "I'm Drew Barrymore's brother". After John's sister Jessica Barrymore was found dead in her vehicle in 2014, he publicly criticized half-sister Drew for not being receptive to forming a relationship with either him or Jessica. In 2017, he appeared in an hour-long episode of '' Lasagna Cat'', a web-series parodying Jim Davis's comic-strip series ''

Garfield ''Garfield'' is an American comic strip created by Jim Davis. Originally published locally as ''Jon'' in 1976, then in nationwide syndication from 1978 as ''Garfield'', it chronicles the life of the title character Garfield the cat, his human ...

'', by the production team Fatal Farm. His performance consisted of a tribute and in-depth philosophical analysis of a Garfield comic strip from July 27, 1978 which features Garfield smoking Jon's pipe to his dismay, as he describes it as a single perfect Garfield comic strip.

Filmography

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Barrymore, John Blyth 1954 births 20th-century American male actors 21st-century American Jews American male film actors American male television actors American people of Romanian-Jewish descent

John Blyth Barrymore John Blyth Barrymore III (born May 15, 1954) is an American film and television actor. He is known for his role as Zeke in the 1970s television series ''Kung Fu'', which was his first role on television. Biography John Blyth Barrymore III was b ...

Jewish American male actors Living people People from Greater Los Angeles

Biography

Filmography

Further reading

References

External links