John Barrymore is one of the greatest American actors of the 20th century. Over the course of his long career, he reached heights in theatrical art, playing mainly in Shakespearean productions, as well as in silent films and sound films.
Origin and family
John Sidney Blythe (that was the name of the future actor at birth) was born in early 1882 in the American state of Pennsylvania, the city of Philadelphia. Since childhood, he was surrounded by artists, because his parents were successful actors. Father, Maurice Barrymore, was a talented actor in the Broadway theater, and mother Georgiana was a famous American comedy actress. John Barrymore's grandparents were also stage actors.
It is noteworthy that John's brother Lionel Herbert Barrymore and his sister Ethel Barrymore also became famous actors. In addition, the modern American comedy actress Drew Barrymore is his granddaughter. Thus, Barrymore is a whole acting dynasty, whose successful activity continues to this day.
The beginning of an acting career
John Barrymore began to study art in the capital of France - Paris. For several years, he dreamed of working as a correspondent or creating masterpieces of painting in the future, but in the end the theatrical roots took their toll. In 1903, at the age of 21, John Barrymore began his acting career in America.
Extraordinary talent, attractive and courageous appearance, and, without a doubt, the fame of famous parents allowed the young artist to quickly break through. Already in 1904, he began to participate in productions of the Broadway Theater, and a year later he began touring the country. His debut Broadway play is Glad It.
San Francisco earthquake
In 1906, the major American city of San Francisco experienced one of the most infamous earthquakes in US history. At 5 am, residents began to feel the most powerful tremors. According to experts, the magnitude of the disaster reached 7, 7-7, 9 units. Seismic strikes led to multiple fires that blazed over San Francisco for almost 4 days. As a result of the incident, more than 250 thousand people were left homeless, because most of the buildings in the city were destroyed. About 3 thousand people died under the rubble.
During the earthquake, John Barrymore was on tour in this city. He was in the luxurious Palace Hotel, wearing an expensive evening suit and diamond cufflinks as he had just returned from nightly events. Barrymore miraculously survived a series of violent aftershocks, and, getting out of the destroyed hotel, saw the sobbing opera singer Enrico Caruso. He was almost completely naked, with a bath towel wrapped around his neck. The Italian performer looked at John and smiled at the absurdity of the meeting: a smartly dressed actor and a half-naked, sobbing singer. This situation has become a semblance of an anecdote in America.
Career in theater and cinema
Since 1910, John Barrymore has been actively developing his theatrical career in the genre of romantic comedy. He became strongly associated with some of the plays, such as Half Husband and Believe Me, Xanthippus. Since 1913, his film career began, but he did not take it seriously, only as a way to generate additional income, which he actively spent on strong drinks and women. He believed that cinema was at a rather low level of development, and in part he was right, since many viewers and critics considered the first film adaptations with his participation as second-rate comedies.
The main niche in his career was still work in the theater. It was in the 10s. In the 20th century, he began to actively play in the productions of Shakespeare's plays, becoming one of the actors, perfectly conveying the images of the characters of Hamlet and Richard III.
The actor's attitude towards cinema changed in 1920, when the silent horror film "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde" brought him even more fame and a good income. John Barrymore became more willing to accept invitations to roles in silent films, and already at the age of 22 he was lucky enough to play Sherlock Holmes. In the 30s, sound cinema began to actively spread and develop in the United States. One of the first works by John Barrymore in this area was the 1931 horror film Svengali.
In 1932, the entire modern generation of Barrymores played together in Rasputin and the Empress: two brothers (Lionel and John) and a sister (Ethel). The historical film adaptation gave rise to a big scandal, as the family of Prince Felix Yusupov filed a lawsuit against the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer studio for libel against his wife, Natasha. The studio lost the case and paid heavy fines, but the hype around the picture brought John Barrymore and other actors in the film unprecedented fame.
Since the early 1930s, Barrymore's film career begins to fade, as his addiction to alcohol negatively affects his entire life: memory, appearance, punctuality, and, ultimately, health. In the late 30s, he ends up in a hospital for alcohol addicts. Since then, he had only to dream of leading roles, because no one could afford to hire such an unreliable, albeit eminent person.
Treatment did not help: they came to performances with Barrymore's participation only to make fun of the once great actor. He often went on stage drunk, fell, forgot the text, tried in vain to improvise. At the end of his life, the actor did not have any savings, and when he died of severe alcohol poisoning in 1942, his relatives had to pay for the funeral.
Nevertheless, the acting talent and fame of the great actor were entrenched in John Barrymore more firmly than his shameful end to his career. He received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and remained in the hearts of theater lovers as a great performer of Shakespearean roles.
Personal life
John Barrymore was married 4 times, but each of his unions lasted no more than 8 years, since it was hard for the actor's chosen ones to accept his addictions. From two marriages, Barrymore had children: from Michelle Strange, his second wife, actress Diana Barrymore was born. John Drew Barrymore and Dolores Ethel Mae Barrymore were born of his third wife, Dolores Costello. In 1975 his famous granddaughter Drew Barrymore was born.
