Ethel Barrymore
Ethel Barrymore
Ethel Barrymore was the second of three children seemingly destined for the actor's life of their parents Maurice and Georgiana. Maurice Barrymore had emigrated from England in 1875, and after graduating from Cambridge in law had shocked his family by becoming an actor. Georgiana Drew of Philadelphia acted in her parents' stage company. The two met and married as members of Augustin Daly's company in New York. They both acted with some of the great stage personalities of the mid Victorian theater of America and England. The Barrymore children were born and grew up in Philadelphia. Though older brother Lionel Barrymore began acting early with his mother's relatives in the Drew theater company, Ethel, after a traditional girl's schooling, planned on becoming a concert pianist. The lure of the stage was perhaps congenital, however. She made her debut as a stage actress during the New York City season of 1894. Her youthful stage presence was at once a pleasure, a strikingly pretty and winsome face and large dark eyes that seemed to look out from her very soul. Her natural talent and distinctive voice only reinforced the physical presence of someone destined to command any role set before her. After the opportunity to appear on the London stage with English great Henry Irving in "The Bells" (1897) and later in "Peter the Great" (1898), she returned to New York to star in the Clyde Fitch play "Captain Jinks of the Horse Marines" (1901) (produced by her friend and benefactor Charles Frohman), which brought her initial American acclaim. Lead roles, such as Nora in Henrik Ibsen's "A Doll's House" (1905) and starring in "Alice By the Fire" (also 1905), "Mid-Channel" (1910) and "Trelawney of the Wells" (1911) proved her popularity as a warm and charismatic star of American stage. In the meantime she married stockbroker Russell Griswold Colt in 1909 and gave birth to three children while continuing her acting career. Although the stage was her first love, she did heed the call of the silver screen, and though not achieving the matinée idol image that younger brother John Barrymore garnered in silent movies after similar chemistry on stage, she won over audiences from her first film appearance in The Nightingale (1914). However, her early film roles, steady through 1919, took a back seat to continued stage triumphs: "Declassee" (1919), her impassioned Juliet in "Romeo and Juliet" (1922), "The Second Mrs. Tanqueray" (1924) and, especially, "The Constant Wife" (1926). She harnessed her considerable talents in the role of an activist as well, being a bedrock supporter of the Actors Equity Association and, in fact, had been a prominent figure in the actors strike of 1919. By 1930 she was entering middle age and her movie roles reflected this. Except for Rasputin and the Empress (1932) with her brothers, the roles were elderly mothers and grandmothers, dowager ladies and spinster aunts. Perhaps wisely she put off Hollywood for over a decade, with stage work that included her most endearing role in "The Corn is Green" (a tour that lasted from 1940 to 1942). She finally moved to Southern California in 1940. When she passed away in 1959, she was interred near her brothers at Calvary Cemetery in East Los Angeles.
Known For Acting
Most Rating 2.359
Birthday 1879-08-12
Place of Birth Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
Also Known As Ethel Mae Blythe, Этель Барримор,
The Paradine Case
1947

The Paradine Case

Portrait of Jennie
1948

Portrait of Jennie

The Spiral Staircase
1946

The Spiral Staircase

The Nightingale
1914

The Nightingale

The Final Judgment
1915

The Final Judgment

The Kiss of Hate
1916

The Kiss of Hate

The Awakening of Helena Ritchie
1916

The Awakening of Helena Ritchie

The White Raven
1917

The White Raven

The Call of Her People
1917

The Call of Her People

The Greatest Power
1917

The Greatest Power

The Lifted Veil
1917

The Lifted Veil

The Eternal Mother
1917

The Eternal Mother

An American Widow
1917

An American Widow

National Red Cross Pageant
1917

National Red Cross Pageant

Our Mrs. McChesney
1918

Our Mrs. McChesney

The Divorcee
1919

The Divorcee

Moonrise
1948

Moonrise

The Secret of Convict Lake
1951

The Secret of Convict Lake

The Red Danube
1949

The Red Danube

Deadline - U.S.A.
1952

Deadline - U.S.A.

Young at Heart
1954

Young at Heart

Rasputin and the Empress
1932

Rasputin and the Empress

The Farmer's Daughter
1947

The Farmer's Daughter

Pinky
1949

Pinky

Moss Rose
1947

Moss Rose

Just for You
1952

Just for You

None But the Lonely Heart
1944

None But the Lonely Heart

Camille: The Fate of a Coquette
1926

Camille: The Fate of a Coquette

It's a Big Country
1951

It's a Big Country

That Midnight Kiss
1949

That Midnight Kiss

The Story of Three Loves
1953

The Story of Three Loves

The Great Sinner
1949

The Great Sinner

Kind Lady
1951

Kind Lady

Night Song
1948

Night Song

Johnny Trouble
1957

Johnny Trouble

Main Street to Broadway
1953

Main Street to Broadway

That's Entertainment!
1974

That's Entertainment!

Life's Whirlpool
1917

Life's Whirlpool

Eloise
1956

Eloise

Daphni: Virgin of the Golden Laurels
1951

Daphni: Virgin of the Golden Laurels

Show-Business at War
1943

Show-Business at War

And the Oscar Goes To...
2014

And the Oscar Goes To...