John Barrymore

Father of John Drew Barrymore and Diana Barrymore. Grandfather of Drew Barrymore.

Had a daughter with Dolores Costello : Dolores Ethel Blyth Barrymore (born April 8, 1930).

Son of Maurice Barrymore and Georgiana Barrymore; grandson of Louisa Drew and actor John Drew (1827-1862); nephew of Sidney Drew ; cousin of S. Rankin Drew ; uncle of Samuel Colt , Ethel Colt and John Drew Colt.

The three Barrymore siblings appeared in only one film together: Rasputin and the Empress (1932) . Lionel and John appeared without Ethel in Arsne Lupin (1932) , Night Flight , Dinner at Eight and Grand Hotel (1932/I) .

His birth certificate lists 14 February as birth date, which conflicts with the family Bible which says 15 February. His World War I draft record and Social Security records state February 15.

Rebaptized as a Roman Catholic after his mothers secret conversion, of the Barrymore siblings only Ethel Barrymore remained a devout Catholic.

George Bernard Shaw considered his very highly regarded "Hamlet" one of the worst performances of the role he had ever seen, and in a blistering letter accused him of indulging his own ego at the expense of William Shakespeare.

Courted showgirl Evelyn Nesbit as her involvement with married architect Stanford White was waning. When she became pregnant, Barrymore proposed marriage, but White intervened and arranged for the still-teenaged Miss Nesbit to undergo an operation for appendicitis. White was later murdered by Nesbits vengeful husband, Pittsburgh millionaire Harry Thaw.

Was good friends with Errol Flynn , who subsequently played Barrymore in Too Much, Too Soon , a film about Barrymores daughter Diana Barrymore.

His sharp wit never left him, even when he was dying. A priest came to administer the last rites, accompanied by an exceedingly homely nurse. When the priest asked him if he had anything to confess, Barrymore replied, "Yes, Father. I am guilty, at this moment, of having carnal thoughts." "About whom?," replied the shocked priest. "About HER!," he replied, indicating the nurse.

The only one of the three Barrymore siblings (John, Ethel Barrymore and Lionel Barrymore ) to never win or even be nominated for an Academy Award; he is now considered the finest actor of the three.

One night, while drunk, he accidentally went into a womens restroom, instead of a mens room, and proceeded to relieve his bladder in a potted plant. A woman standing nearby reminded him that the room was "for ladies exclusively". Turning around, his penis still exposed, Barrymore responded, "So, madam, is this. But every now and again, Im compelled to run a little water through it." This incident later made its way, verbatim, into My Favorite Year , where the Barrymore-inspired character Alan Swann, played by Peter OToole , is involved in a similar situation.

His 1922 "Hamlet" was the longest-running Broadway production of the play with 101 performances until John Gielgud played the role for 132 performances in 1936.

He was posthumously awarded a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6667 Hollywood Boulevard in Hollywood, California on February 8, 1960.

He was the greatest Hamlet and Richard III of his time, and he is still considered the greatest American actor to play those roles.

He was, after John Gielgud , the most acclaimed Hamlet of the 20th century (his realization of the role in London influenced Laurence Olivier s own later interpretation of Hamlet, in 1937 on stage and in 1948 on film. Ironically, Ethel Barrymore denounced Oliviers film Hamlet, which brought him an Academy Award as Best Actor). From 1922, when he staged his first Hamlet, until 1975, when Sam Waterston essayed the role, Barrymore and Walter Hampden were the only American actors to play Hamlet on Broadway. Barrymore put on a second production in 1923, while Hampden played the role three times on the Great White Way, in 1918, in 1925 (with Ethel Barrymore as his Ophelia), and in 1929. Stephen Lang , who played the great Dane on the Great White Way in 1992, is the only other American in more than three-quarters of a century to star in "Hamlet" on Broadway. In that time, Hamlet was played mostly by British performers, particularly Maurice Evans , an English immigrant who became an American citizen and who was the only other actor other than Hampden since World War I to play Hamlet three times on the Broadway stage. The other British subjects to play the role on Broadway in that period other than Gielgud were Leslie Howard , Sir Donald Wolfit , future Canadian Stratford Festival founder John Neville , Nevilles Old Vic co-star and rival Richard Burton , Nicol Williamson (the definitive portrayal of the late 1960s) and Ralph Fiennes , who won a Tony Award in the role. French actor Jean-Louis Barrault followed in his countrywoman Sarah Bernhardt s footsteps and played Hamlet on Broadway (he in 1952, she in 1900). Aside from Barrymores acclaimed performance, the greatest Hamlet assayed by an American actor was that of Edwin Booth, who played the role three times on Broadway in the 19th century.

Barrymore left specific instructions that he be cremated and his ashes be buried next to his parents in the family cemetery in Philadelphia. However, as his brother Lionel Barrymore and sister Ethel Barrymore were Catholic and cremation had not was not sanctioned by the Church, the executors (Lionel and Mervyn LeRoy ) had Barrymores remains entombed at Calvary Cemetery in Los Angeles. In 1980, John Drew Barrymore decided to have his father cremated, and recruited his son John Blyth Barrymore to help. They removed the casket from its crypt, drove it to the Odd Fellows Cemetery, and made the preparations. John Jr. insisted on having a look inside before they left. After viewing the body, he came out white as a sheet, got in the car and said to his son, "Thank God Im drunk, Ill never remember it.".

After Barrymores death, his friends - including Errol Flynn and Raoul Walsh - gathered at a bar to commiserate on Johns passing. Walsh, claiming he was too upset, pretended to go home. Instead, he and two friends went to the funeral home and bribed the caretaker to lend them Barrymores body. Transporting it to Flynns house, it was propped up in Errols favorite living room chair. Flynn arrived and described his reaction in his autobiography: "As I opened the door I pressed the button. The lights went on and - I stared into the face of Barrymore... They hadnt embalmed him yet. I let out a delirious scream... I went back in, still shaking. I retired to my room upstairs shaken and sober. My heart pounded. I couldnt sleep the rest of the night."

Had appeared with Reginald Denny in five films: Sherlock Holmes , Romeo and Juliet , Bulldog Drummonds Revenge , Bulldog Drummond Comes Back and Bulldog Drummonds Peril .

Was originally supposed to play Sheridan Whiteside in The Man Who Came to Dinner , but because of the effects of his alcoholism, he could not remember his lines and was fired. The role went to Monty Woolley.

Supported his brother Lionel Barrymore when Lionels wife Irene Fenwick (a long-ago girlfriend of Johns) died, and filled in for Lionel as Ebenezer Scrooge in an annual radio production of "A Christmas Carol" on the day after Irenes death (December 25, 1936).

For his performance in Beau Brummel , he was given a special self-created award from Rudolph Valentino.

Regarding the costume romance films he starred in during the 1920s, Barrymore jokingly referred to them as male impersonations of Lilyan Tashman.

There are lots of methods. Mine involves a lot of talent, a glass and,some cracked ice.

If you stay in front of the movie camera long enough, it will show you,not only what you had for breakfast but who your ancestors were.

[last words] Die? I should say not, dear fellow. No Barrymore would,allow such a conventional thing to happen to him.

America is the country where you buy a lifetime supply of aspirin for,one dollar, and use it up in two weeks.

It has been said that every man must properly pay the fiddler. Alas, in,my case, it happened that an entire symphony orchestra had to be,subsidized.

My head is buried in the sands of tomorrow, while my tail feathers are,singed by the hot sun of today.

[on viewing rushes] Oh, I LOVE to see the stuff! If I can do it at the,end of the day. First thing in the morning it looks like a bad dream.

The way to fight a woman is with your hat. Grab it and run.

Paper napkins never return from the laundry. Nor love from a trip to the,law courts.

When archaeologists discover the missing arms of the Venus de Milo they,will find she was wearing boxing gloves.

[on comparing his role in Sherlock Holmes (1922) to his role in,Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1920/I) ] Holmes is a purely static,person: by that I mean a character with practically no emotions. It is,naturally more difficult to play a man with no emotions than to play a,man with emotions, and one must continually vary the character to make,it interesting.

Sex: the thing that takes up the least amount of time and causes the most amount of trouble.

There is something about a closet that makes a skeleton terribly restless.

Die? I should say not, dear fellow. No Barrymore would allow such a conventional thing to happen to him.

Dying is the last thing I will ever do.

He neither drank smoked nor rode a bicycle. Living frugally saving his money he died early surrounded by greedy relatives. It was a great lesson to me.

My head is buried in the sands of tomorrow while my tail feathers are singed by the hot sun of today.

A man is not old until regrets take the place of dreams.

I would like to find a stew that will give me heartburn immediately, instead of at three o clock in the morning.

The trouble with life is that there are so many beautiful women and so little time.

In Genesis, it says that it is not good for a man to be alone; but sometimes it is a great relief. .