Lionel Barrymore (born Lionel Herbert Blythe; 1878–1954) was an American actor of stage, screen, and radio. He also directed several films, wrote scripts, created etchings, sketches, and composed music.[1] He was the eldest child of the actors Maurice Barrymore and Georgie Drew Barrymore, and his two siblings were John and Ethel; these and other family members were part of an acting dynasty.[2][3] Reluctant to follow his parents' career,[4] Barrymore appeared together with his grandmother Louisa Lane Drew in a stage production of The Rivals at the age of 15.[5] He soon found success on stage in character roles. Although he took a break from acting in 1906–1909 to train in Paris as a painter, he was not successful as an artist, and returned to the US and acting.[1] He also joined his family troupe, from 1910, in their vaudeville act.[6]
Barrymore began his film career in 1911, appearing in numerous silent films, many of which have subsequently been lost. In 1911, he signed a contract with the Biograph Company and appeared as a character actor in short films, many of them directed by D. W. Griffith, before moving into feature-length productions in 1914.[1] He began writing scripts and directing films shortly afterwards, and for the next five years, he did not act on the legitimate stage.[7] Although he had several successes on Broadway after the First World War, he encountered strongly negative criticism in a 1921 production of Macbeth, and in three productions in a row in 1925. Afterwards, he never again appeared on the New York stage.[1] In 1925, he signed a contract with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, where he became a close friend of Louis B. Mayer, for whom he made numerous films.[1] He directed several films from 1929 to 1931, but concentrated on acting afterwards.[8][9]
Barrymore became well known in curmudgeonly roles.[10] In 1938, he broke his hip, and, aggravated by arthritis, he lived the remainder of his life in a wheelchair.[11] Mayer made sure that roles were found or written to accommodate Barrymore, who continued to act in films until 1953.[1][12] During that time, he appeared as Dr. Gillespie in the popular Dr. Kildare film series, with Lew Ayres in the title role,[13] and as Mr. Potter in It's a Wonderful Life—a role that was highly placed on the American Film Institute's list of the 100 Heroes and Villains[14] in a film that the critic Philip French described as "a complex inspirational work".[15] Beginning in the 1930s, Barrymore increasingly worked in radio, initially as Ebenezer Scrooge in Charles Dickens's A Christmas Carol, which was broadcast annually from 1934 to 1953,[16] then in Mayor of the Town, beginning in 1942,[17] and also in a radio series spun off from the Dr. Kildare films (playing the same character that he had played in the films), among others.[18]
Two of the films in which Barrymore appeared—Grand Hotel (1932), and You Can't Take It with You (1938)—won the Academy Award for Best Picture.[19][20] He was considered for the Academy Award for Best Director for his 1929 film, Madame X,[a] and won the Best Actor award for his performance in A Free Soul (1931). He was inducted to the Hollywood Walk of Fame on February 8, 1960,[22] and is, along with his two siblings, included in the American Theater Hall of Fame.[23]
Stage appearances
Production[25][26][27] | Date | Theatre (New York City, unless stated) | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
The Rivals | November 28, 1893 | The Auditorium, Kansas City | Billed as Lional Barrymore | |
The Road to Ruin | January 15, 1894 | Star Theatre | Footman | |
The Bachelor's Baby | October 21, 1895 | Park Theatre, Boston | Sgt. Jones | Subsequently at the Star Theatre, Buffalo, from January 12, 1897. |
Mary Pennington, Spinster | October 12, 1896 | Palmer's Theatre | Watson | |
Squire Kate | October 26, 1896 | Palmer's Theatre | Lord Silversnake | |
Cumberland '61 | October 18, 1897 | 14th Street Theatre | Adolfus Drayton Lenox | |
A Wife's Peril | 1898 | Minneapolis–Saint Paul | ||
Magda | 1898 | Minneapolis–Saint Paul | ||
Oliver Twist | 1898 | Minneapolis–Saint Paul | ||
East Lynne | 1898 | Minneapolis–Saint Paul | ||
Camille | 1898 | Minneapolis–Saint Paul | ||
Uncle Dick | October 6, 1898 | Star Theatre, Buffalo | Lawrence Sherman | |
Honorable John Rigsby | November 28, 1898 | New National Theatre, Washington | Harold Marson | Subsequently at the Powers' Theatre, Chicago from January 23, 1899 for two weeks. |
Arizona | February 11, 1900 | Chicago Grand Opera House, Chicago | Sgt. Kellar | |
Rain Clouds | 1900 | Albany, New York | ||
The Rivals | 1900 | Albany, New York | ||
An Arabian Night | 1900 | Albany, New York | ||
Sag Harbor | September 27, 1900 – December 1900 | Republic Theatre | Frank Turner | Ran for 76 performances |
Brixton Burglary | May 20, 1901 – July 8, 1901 | Herald Square Theatre | Ran for 48 performances | |
The Second in Command | September 2, 1901 – December 1901 | Empire Theatre | Ran for 128 performances | |
The Mummy and the Hummingbird | September 4, 1902 – November 1902 and April 1903 – ? | Empire Theatre | Giuseppe | Ran for 85 performances in 1902 and then a second run in 1903 |
The Best of Friends | October 19, 1903 – December 1903 | Academy of Music | Kid Garvey | Ran for 65 performances |
The Other Girl | December 29, 1903 – May 1904 | Criterion Theatre | Mr. Sheldon | Ran for 160 performances, transferring to the Empire Theatre on January 25, 1904 and then to the Lyceum Theatre on May 2, 1904 |
Pantaloon/Alice Sit-by-the-Fire | December 25, 1905 – March 1906 | Criterion Theatre | Pantaloon | Ran for 81 performances; double bill with his siblings |
The Fires of Fate | December 6, 1909 | Illinois Theatre, Chicago | Abdulla | Barrymore left the production at the end of December |
The Jail Bird | January 31, 1910 | Victoria Theater | ||
The White Slaver | February 22, 1910 | Majestic Theatre, Chicago | Italian laborer | Written by Barrymore; co-starred first wife Doris Rankin |
Bob Acres | September 11, 1911 | Brooklyn | Sir Lucius O'Trigger | |
Stalled | 1912 | |||
The Still Voice | March 26, 1912 | Cincinnati | ||
Peter Ibbetson | April 17, 1917 – June 1917 | Republic Theatre | Colonel Ibbetson | Ran for 71 performances; with John Barrymore |
The Copperhead | February 18, 1918 – June 1918 | Shubert Theatre | Milt Shanks | Ran for 120 performances |
The Jest | April 9, 1919 – February 28, 1920 | Plymouth Theatre | Neri Chiaramantesi | Ran for 77 performances and then another 179 performances after a summer break; adapted play with E. Sheldon and John Barrymore (co-star) |
The Letter of the Law | February 23, 1920 – July 1920 | Criterion Theatre | Mouzon | Ran for 89 performances |
Macbeth | February 17, 1921 –March 1921 | Apollo Theatre | Macbeth | Ran for 28 performances |
The Claw | October 17, 1921 – January 1922 | Broadhurst Theatre | Achille Cortelon | Ran for 115 performances; co-starred Doris Rankin and Irene Fenwick (second wife) |
Laugh, Clown, Laugh | November 28, 1923 – March 1924 | Belasco Theatre | Tito Beppi, Flik | Ran for 133 performances |
The Piker | January 15, 1925 – February 1925 | Eltinge Theatre | Bernie Kaplan | Ran for 44 performances |
Taps | April 14, 1925 – May 1925 | Broadhurst Theatre | Sergeant Volkhardt | Ran for 32 performances |
Man or Devil | May 21, 1925 – June 1925 | Broadhurst Theatre | Nicholas Snyders | Ran for 20 performances |
Filmography
As actor
The list does not include the 1913 film The Vengeance of Galora, which Barrymore wrote. Although some sources list him as also appearing in the film, his biographers, James Kotsilibas-Davis and Margot Peters, separately state he did not. Kotsilibas-Davis also lists Fighting Blood (1911), My Hero (1912), and The Musketeers of Pig Alley (1912) as films in which Barrymore did not appear, despite claims of other biographers to the contrary; Peters does not list the films in her filmography of the actor.[7][28]
As director
Film[26][8][9] | Year | Notes | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|
His Secret | 1914 | Lost film | [7] |
Where's the Baby? | 1914 | Lost film | [7] |
No Place for Father | 1914 | Lost film | [231] |
Just Boys | 1914 | Lost film | [7] |
Chocolate Dynamite | 1914 | Lost film | [7][232] |
Life's Whirlpool | 1917 | Also writer; lost film | [233] |
His Glorious Night | 1929 | Barrymore also composed the music | [234][31] |
Madame X | 1929 | Barrymore was considered for the Academy Award for Best Director | [235][236] |
The Unholy Night | 1929 | [237] | |
Confession | 1929 | [238] | |
The Rogue Song | 1930 | [239] | |
Redemption | 1930 | Only for retakes | [240] |
The Sea Bat | 1930 | Uncredited | [241] |
Guilty Hands | 1931 | Uncredited | [151] |
Ten Cents a Dance | 1931 | [242] |
Radio broadcasts
Title | Date | Role | Network | Notes | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
A Christmas Carol | December 25, 1934 – December 25, 1953 | Ebenezer Scrooge | CBS | Broadcast annually on Christmas Day | [16] |
Mayor of the Town | 1942–1949 | The Mayor | ABC, CBS, Mutual, and NBC | Barrymore also composed the theme | [243][17] |
Screen Guild Players: "The Old Lady Shows Her Medals" | October 7, 1946 | Narrator | CBS | Barrymore played the narration as the author, J. M. Barrie | [244] |
Dr. Kildare | 1949–1952 | Dr. Leonard Gillespie | Syndicated | [245][246] | |
The Hallmark Hall of Fame | 1953–1955 | Host | CBS | [247] |
Television broadcast
Title | Date | Role | Network | Notes | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Our Mr. Sun | November 19, 1956 | Father Time | CBS | Posthumous Release | [248][249] |
Notes and references
Notes
References
Sources
- Alpert, Hollis (1965). The Barrymores. London: W.H. Allen. OCLC 30274937.
- Barrymore, Lionel (1951). We Barrymores. New York, NY: Appleton-Century-Crofts. OCLC 594282.
- Byers, Paula K., ed. (1998). "The Barrymores". Encyclopedia of World Biography. Detroit, MI: Gale Research. ISBN 978-0-7876-2541-2.
- Cullen, Frank (2004). Vaudeville old & new: an encyclopedia of variety performances in America. London: Psychology Press. ISBN 978-0-415-93853-2.
- DeGiglio-Bellemare, Mario; Ellbé, Charlie; Woofter, Kristopher (2014). Recovering 1940s Horror Cinema: Traces of a Lost Decade. Lanham, MD: Lexington Books. ISBN 978-1-4985-0380-8.
- Dunning, John (1998). On the Air: The Encyclopedia of Old-Time Radio. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-977078-6.
- Flom, Eric L. (2009). Silent Film Stars on the Stages of Seattle. Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Company. ISBN 978-0-7864-3908-9.
- Graham, Cooper C. (1985). D.W. Griffith and the Biograph Company. Lanham, MD: Scarecrow Press. ISBN 978-0-8108-1806-4.
- Hoffman, Carol Stein (2001). The Barrymores: Hollywood's First Family. Lexington, KY: University Press of Kentucky. ISBN 978-0-8131-2213-7.
- Holston, Kim R. (2012). Movie Roadshows: A History and Filmography of Reserved-Seat Limited Showings, 1911–1973. Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Company. ISBN 978-0-7864-9261-9.
- Katchmer, George A. (2002). A Biographical Dictionary of Silent Film Western Actors and Actresses. Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Company. ISBN 978-0-7864-4693-3.
- Kotsilibas-Davis, James (1981). The Barrymores: the Royal Family in Hollywood. New York, NY: Crown Publishers. ISBN 978-0-517-52896-9.
- Langman, Larry (1992). A Guide to Silent Westerns. Santa Barbara, CA: Greenwood Publishing Group. ISBN 978-0-313-27858-7.
- Lucanio, Patrick; Coville, Gary (2002). Smokin' Rockets: The Romance of Technology in American Film, Radio and Television, 1945–1962. Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Company. ISBN 978-0-7864-1233-4.
- Marshall, Wendy L. (2005). William Beaudine: From Silents to Television. Lanham, MD: Scarecrow Press. ISBN 978-0-8108-5218-1.
- Peters, Margot (1990). The House of Barrymore. New York, NY: Touchstone. ISBN 978-0-671-74799-2.
- Quinlan, David (1997). The Film Lover's Companion: An A to Z Guide to 2,000 Stars and the Movies They Made. New York, NY: Carol Publishing Group. ISBN 978-0-8065-1892-3.
- Rainey, Buck (2004). The Strong, Silent Type: Over 100 Screen Cowboys, 1903–1930. Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Company. ISBN 978-0-7864-1286-0.
- Terrace, Vincent (1998). Radio Programs, 1924–1984: A Catalog of More Than 1800 Shows. Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Company. ISBN 978-1-4766-0528-9.
- Terrace, Vincent (2003). Radio Program Openings and Closings, 1931–1972. Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Company. ISBN 978-0-7864-4925-5.
- Usai, Paolo Cherchi (2002). The Griffith Project: Films Produced in 1912. London: British Film Institute. ISBN 978-0-85170-953-6.
External links
- Lionel Barrymore at the Internet Broadway Database
- Lionel Barrymore at IMDb
- Lionel Barrymore at the TCM Movie Database
- Lionel Barrymore in 1910(archived)