Barrymore family

Designations
Designations
Pennsylvania Historical Marker
Official name	Barrymores, The
Type	City
Criteria	Performers
Designated	October 1, 1996
Location	NW corner, N 6th & Arch Sts., Philadelphia ; 39°57′10″N75°09′00″W / 39.95279°N 75.15013°W
Marker Text	Three famous actors, Philadelphia-born, were the third generation of this "Royal Family of the American Stage." Lionel (1878–1954), Ethel (1879–1959), and John (1882–1942) performed on stage, screen, radio. Their grandparents, the Drews, managed the Arch Street Theatre here.
Etymology	From the surname of actor William Barrymore

Last updated November 10, 2024

The Barrymore family, and the related Drew family, form a British-American acting dynasty which traces its acting roots to the mid-19th century London stage. After migrating across the Atlantic Oceanto the United States, members of the family subsequently appeared in motion pictures, beginning in the Nickelodeon with silent film period of the 1890s to 1929, then into the modern sound film ("talkies") era of black & white then color.

List of notable members

William Edward Blythe (1818–1873), married Matilda Chamberlayne (1822–1849); they had seven children
Herbert Arthur Chamberlayne Blythe (aka Maurice Barrymore (1849–1905)) married Georgiana Emma Drew , and had three children: Lionel, Ethel, and John.
1. Lionel Barrymore (1878–1954)
  1. ∞ Married Doris Rankin (first wife), and had two daughters. Marriage ended in divorce.
    1. Mary Barrymore (died in infancy, 2 years old)
    2. Ethel Barrymore II (died in infancy).
  2. ∞ Married to Irene Fenwick (second wife, until her death)
2. Ethel Barrymore (1879–1959)
  1. ∞ Married Russell Griswold Colt, and had three children. Ethel's children also acted, primarily on the stage.
    1. Samuel Peabody Colt
    2. John Drew Colt
    3. Ethel Barrymore Colt .
      1. ∞ Married John Romeo Miglietta, and had John Drew Miglietta (born 1946)
3. John Barrymore (1882–1942)
  1. ∞ Married to Katherine Corri Harris (first wife, divorced)
  2. ∞ Married Blanche Oelrichs (second wife, divorced), and had:
    1. Diana Blanche Barrymore
      1. ∞ Married Bramwell Fletcher
      2. ∞ Married John R. Howard
      3. ∞ Married Robert Wilcox
  3. ∞ Married Dolores Costello (third wife, divorced), and had:
    1. John Drew Barrymore (Jr.) (1932–2004)
      1. ∞ Married Cara Williams (first wife, divorced)
        John Blyth Barrymore
      2. ∞ Married Gabriella Palazzoli (second wife, divorced)
      3. ∞ Married^[2] Nina Wayne (third wife, divorced)
        Jessica Barrymore (died 2014, accidental overdose)^[3]
      4. ∞ Married Ildiko Jaid (fourth wife, divorced)
        Drew Barrymore (born 1975)
        ∞ Married Jeremy Thomas (first husband, divorced)
        ∞ Married Tom Green (second husband, divorced)
        ∞ Married Will Kopelman (third husband, divorced)
  4. ∞ Married to Elaine Barrie née Jacobs. (fourth wife of John Barrymore Sr., divorced)

Except for Lionel Barrymore, John Drew Barrymore, Ethel, Diana, Drew, and John Blyth, none of the other members of John Barrymore's family have yet entered the entertainment industry. Most of the spouses, however, were related to the artistic world, mainly actresses and actors.

Drew family

The family of Georgiana Emma Drew, mother of Lionel, Ethel, and John, also includes a large number of actors.

John Drew , actor, married actress Louisa Lane Drew
1. Georgiana Emma Drew , ∞ wife of Maurice Barrymore and mother of Lionel, Ethel, and John.
2. John Drew Jr. , 'Uncle Jack' by the Barrymore siblings, married actress Josephine Baker 'Aunt Dodo', daughter of his mother's best friend.
  1. Louise Drew , 'Cousin Bee', ∞ married performer Jack Devereaux; their son John Drew Devereaux (1918–1995) was a Broadway stage manager
3. Sidney Drew (paternity debatable), known for the Mr. & Mrs. Sidney Drew comedy act. Married to first wife Gladys Rankin 1890–1914 her death. Wife two was Lucille McVey 1914 to his death in 1919.
  1. Sidney Rankin Drew , son of Sidney Drew and Gladys Rankin, left his acting career to join the Lafayette Escadrille, and was killed in action
4. Louisa Drew (1851–1889), eldest child of Louisa Lane Drew and John Drew Sr., called 'Aunt Wisa' by the Barrymores, moved to Boston, married manager Charles Mendum (1849–1917), had two or ?three children, one of which was Georgie Mendum
  1. Georgie Drew Mendum (1875–1957), actress, named after her aunt Georgie Drew Barrymore, married and divorced from a comedian named George Parsons, (married 1903, divorced 1912). Sometimes stayed at the Mamaroneck home of her cousin Ethel Barrymore.
Frank Drew (1831–1903), actor, brother of John Drew Sr.

Related Research Articles

Lionel Barrymore 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) and is known to modern audiences for the role of villainous Mr. Potter in Frank Capra's 1946 film It's a Wonderful Life.

John Barrymore was an American actor on stage, screen, and radio. A member of the Drew and Barrymore theatrical families, he initially tried to avoid the stage, and briefly attempted a career as an artist, but appeared on stage together with his father Maurice in 1900, and then his sister Ethel the following year. He began his career in 1903 and first gained attention as a stage actor in light comedy, then high drama, culminating in productions of Justice (1916), Richard III (1920), and Hamlet (1922); his portrayal of Hamlet led to him being called the "greatest living American tragedian".

Ethel Barrymore 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 regarded as "The First Lady of the American Theatre". She received four nominations for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress, winning for None but the Lonely Heart (1944).

John Drew was an Irish-American stage actor and theatre manager.

John Drew Jr., commonly known as John Drew during his life, was an American stage actor noted for his roles in Shakespearean comedy, society drama, and light comedies. He was the eldest son of John Drew Sr., who had given up a blossoming career in whaling for acting, and Louisa Lane Drew, and the brother of Louisa Drew, Georgiana Drew, and Sidney Drew. As such, he was also the uncle of John, Ethel, and Lionel Barrymore, and also great-great-uncle to Drew Barrymore. He was considered to be the leading matinee idol of his day, but unlike most matinee idols Drew's acting ability was largely undisputed.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dolores Costello</span> American actress (1903–1979)

Dolores Costello was an American film actress who achieved her greatest success during the era of silent movies. She was nicknamed "The Goddess of the Silent Screen" by her first husband, the actor John Barrymore. She was the mother of John Drew Barrymore and grandmother of actress and talk show host Drew Barrymore.

John Drew Barrymore 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 Ethel. He was the father of four children, including actor John Blyth Barrymore and actress Drew Barrymore. Diana Barrymore was his half-sister from his father's second marriage.

Herbert Arthur Chamberlayne Blyth, known professionally by his stage name Maurice Barrymore, was an Indian-born British stage actor. He is the patriarch and one of the major ancestors of the prominent Barrymore-Drew acting family, and the father of subsequent famous stage, silent / sound film, radio, and television actors / actresses and celebrities of Lionel, Ethel, and John Barrymore, followed by great grand-daughter current actress Drew Barrymore.

Louisa Lane Drew was an English-born famous British American actress and theatre owner. manager and an ancestor of the prominent Barrymore-Drew acting family. Professionally, she was often billed and known as Mrs. John Drew.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Blyth Barrymore</span> American actor (born 1954)

John Blyth Barrymore III 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.

Georgiana Emma Drew, a.k.a.Georgie Drew Barrymore, was an American stage actress and comedian and a member of the Barrymore acting family.

Mr. & Mrs. Sidney Drew were an American comedy team on stage and screen. The team initially consisted of Sidney Drew and his first wife Gladys Rankin. After Gladys died in 1914, Sidney Drew married Lucille McVey (1890–1925), and the two performed as Mr. and Mrs. Sidney Drew.

Doris Marie Rankin was an American stage and film actress.

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Sidney Rankin Drew was an American actor and film director.

Louise Drew was an American stage actress.

Elizabeth "Kitty" Blanchard was an American stage actress from Pennsylvania. A popular actress in 1870s and 1880s, she married actor McKee Rankin (1841–1914). Their children married into several other famous stage families, such as the Barrymores, Drews, and Davenports. In the 1870s she costarred along with Kate Claxton in the popular hit play The Two Orphans. In 1894 she was a member of the cast in the New York production of Arms and the Man, one of the earliest American appearances of a George Bernard Shaw play. Towards the end of her life, she and McKee Rankin came out of retirement in October 1911 and performed in a play called Peace on Earth.

Mount Vernon Cemetery is a historic rural cemetery located at 3499 West Lehigh Avenue in the East Falls neighborhood of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was established in 1856, is 27 acres in size and contains over 18,000 graves. It was neglected for decades by an absentee landlord. No plots have been sold since 1968, it was not open to the public, many graves fell into disrepair and the cemetery became heavily overgrown. In 2021, a Philadelphia judge ordered the cemetery be placed in conservatorship due to neglect.

Arthur McKee Rankin (1841–1914) was a Canadian born American stage actor and manager. He was the son of a member of the Canadian Parliament. After a dispute with his father he left home to become an actor. He made his stage debut in Rochester, New York in 1861 using the name George Henley. In 1863 he was seen at Wood's Theatre in Cincinnati in the play The Stranger as The Count. During this time he was engaged by Mrs. John Drew at her Arch Street Theatre in Philadelphia. Rankin, a Canadian, had no role or participation in the American Civil War. In 1866 he appeared at the Olympic Theatre in London run by Mrs. John Wood. Rankin increasingly became popular in the melodramas of the period and in 1867 was in a play called The Hunchback. In 1870 he appeared with Lydia Thompson in Mosquito and was a leading man from 1873 to 1875 at the famous Union Square Theatre. Having married Elizabeth Blanchard better known as Kitty they acted together in the 1870s appearing in the smash hit play The Two Orphans in 1874. He collaborated with playwright Frederick G. Maeder on several plays, among them The Runaway Wife and The Canuck.

Ethel Barrymore Colt was an American actress and producer and a soprano who sang in more than 100 concerts in the United States, Canada, and South America. She was a member of the ninth generation of the Barrymore acting family. Her obituary in The Washington Post described her as "a versatile and talented singer, actress and producer, playing dramatic roles on Broadway and in summer stock and singing in grand opera, operetta, musical comedy and on the concert stage."

References

↑ "Pennsylvania Historical Marker Search". PHMC. Retrieved 3 November 2018.
↑ "John Drew Barrymore". www.tcm.com. Retrieved 2024-04-14.
↑ Gabrielle Olya (August 27, 2014). "Jessica Barrymore Accidental Overdose: Drew Barrymore's Half Sister Jessica Barrymore's Death Ruled Accidental". People Magazine. Retrieved August 27, 2014.

External links

Barrymore schematic (Etsy Magazine October 1937)

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[1] "Pennsylvania Historical Marker Search". PHMC. Retrieved 3 November 2018.

[2] "John Drew Barrymore". www.tcm.com. Retrieved 2024-04-14.

[3] Gabrielle Olya (August 27, 2014). "Jessica Barrymore Accidental Overdose: Drew Barrymore's Half Sister Jessica Barrymore's Death Ruled Accidental". People Magazine. Retrieved August 27, 2014.

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