About Me
Born John Sidney Blyth in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on February 15th 1882.
A member of the most famous generation of the most famous theatrical family in America, he was also its most acclaimed star.
His father was Maurice Blyth (or Blythe), a stage success under the name 'Maurice Barrymore'. His mother, Georgie Drew, was the daughter of actor John Drew. Although well known in the theatre, Maurice and Georgie were eclipsed by their three children, John, Lionel and Ethel Barrymore, each of whom became legendary stars.
He spent some time in Paris before making his stage debut in 1903. Tall, stately and seductive, with an unforgettable voice and a truly grand theatrical manner, he became a leading matinee idol; known as the 'Great Profile', he was a fine Shakesperean actor as well as an accomplished light comedian.
John was handsome and roguish. He made his stage debut at 18 in one of his father's productions, but was much more interested in becoming an artist. Briefly educated at King's College, Wimbledon, and at New York's Art Students League, Barrymore worked as a freelance artist and for a while sketched for the New York Evening Journal. Gradually, though, the draw of his family's profession ensnared him and by 1905 he had given up professional drawing and was touring the country in plays.
He survived the 1906 San Francisco earthquake and in 1909 became a major Broadway star in "The Fortune Hunter." In 1922, Barrymore became his generation's most acclaimed Hamlet, in New York and London. But by this time he had become a frequent player in motion pictures.
He was a romantic leading man into the early days of sound films. His screen debut supposedly came in An American Citizen (1914), though records of several lost films indicate he may have made appearances as far back as 1912. He became every bit the star of films that he was on stage, eclipsing his siblings in both arenas. Though his striking matinee-idol looks had garnered him the nickname "The Great Profile", he often buried them under makeup or distortion in order to create memorable characters.
