Ethel Barrymore (born Ethel Mae Blythe; 1879–1959) was an American actress of stage, screen and radio. She came from a family of actors; she was the middle child of Maurice Barrymore and Georgie Drew Barrymore, and had two brothers, Lionel and John. Reluctant to pursue her parents' career, the loss of financial support following the death of Louisa Lane Drew, caused Barrymore to give up her dream of becoming a concert pianist and instead earn a living on the stage. Barrymore's first Broadway role, alongside her uncle John Drew, Jr., was in The Imprudent Young Couple (1895). She soon found success, particularly after an invitation from William Gillette to appear on stage in his 1897 London production of Secret Service. Barrymore was soon popular with English society, and she had a number of romantic suitors, including Laurence Irving, the dramatist. His father, Henry Irving, cast her in The Bells (1897) and Peter the Great (1898).

On her return to America in 1898, Barrymore was lauded by the press and public and, under Charles Frohman's management, she appeared in Catherine (1898) and Captain Jinks of the Horse Marines (1901) on Broadway. The latter play was a success, and Barrymore received particular praise. She went on to have a series of similarly popular roles in Cousin Kate (1903), Alice Sit-by-the-Fire (1905), Lady Frederick (1908) and Déclassée (1920), among others. After a series of less well-received roles in the early 1920s, she returned to popularity with her role as the sophisticated spouse of a philandering husband in The Constant Wife (1927). In 1928 the Ethel Barrymore Theatre was opened in her honor, and she appeared in its inaugural production, The Kingdom of God.

Barrymore began her film career in The Nightingale in 1914, followed by a series of other silent films, but she never dedicated herself to the medium fully. When opportunities for the right stage roles declined in the 1930s and she encountered financial difficulties, she appeared in her first talking film, Rasputin and the Empress (1932)—in which both her brothers also starred—and began radio broadcasts on the Blue Network with The Ethel Barrymore Theater. In the 1940s she had a last stage triumph in the long-running The Corn Is Green (1942), in which she had "perhaps her most acclaimed role", according to her biographer, Benjamin McArthur. Her film work became increasingly prominent in the 1940s and 1950s, and she won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for None but the Lonely Heart (1944). She received subsequent Academy Award nominations—again for Best Supporting Actress—for The Spiral Staircase (1946), The Paradine Case (1947) and Pinky (1949). She was inducted into the Hollywood Walk of Fame on February 8, 1960 and is, along with her two brothers, included in the American Theater Hall of Fame.

Stage appearances

+ Barrymore's stage appearances Production Date Theatre(New York, unless stated) Role Number ofperformances  – ? Montreal – Oliver Twist  – ? Montreal –  – ? New York –  – ? New York –  – ? Empire Theatre Katherine Rosemary  – ? Empire Theatre Priscilla Secret Service Adelphi Theatre, London – England, tour – Peter the Great Lyceum Theatre, London – Catherine  – ? Garrick Theatre – His Excellency, the Governor – – Captain Jinks of the Horse Marines  – July 1901 Garrick Theatre 168  – December 1902 Savoy Theatre Unknown and Carrots 89 Cousin Kate  – November 1903 Hudson Theatre 44 Cousin Kate  – April 1904 Hudson Theatre 16 Cynthia Wyndham's Theatre, London – Sunday  – January 1905 Hudson Theatre Sunday 79  – May 1905 Lyceum Theatre 15 Alice Sit-by-the-Fire  – March 1906 Olympia Theatre and touring 81 Captain Jinks of the Horse Marines  – March 1907 Empire Theatre 33  – April 1907 Empire Theatre – 20 His Excellency the Governor  – May 1907 Empire Theatre – 36 Cousin Kate  – May 1907 Empire Theatre 16 Her Sister  – February 1908 Hudson Theatre 61 Lady Frederick  – February 1909 Hudson Theatre 96 Mid-Channel  – April 1910 Empire Theatre 96 Trelawny of the 'Wells'  – February 1911 Empire Theatre 48 Alice Sit-by-the-Fire  – March 1911 Empire Theatre – 32  – March 1911 Empire Theatre – 32  – January 1912 Empire Theatre – 64  – ? Empire Theatre –  – March 1912 Criterion Theatre – 48 Miss Civilization  – ? Palace Theatre – Tante  – January 1914 Empire Theatre 79  – March 1915 Empire Theatre – 72 Our Mrs. McChesney  – February 1916 Lyceum Theatre – 151  – February 1918 Empire Theatre 56  – May 1918 Empire Theatre 92 Belinda  – June 1918 Empire Theatre – 32 Declassee  – May 1920 Empire Theatre 257 Clair de Lune  – June 1921 Empire Theatre 64 Rose Bernd  – December 1922 Longacre Theatre 87 Romeo and Juliet  – January 1923 Longacre Theatre Juliet 23  – May 1923 Longacre Theatre 96  – June 1923 Lyceum Theatre 8  – December 1923 Plymouth Theatre 24  – December 1924 Cort Theatre Paula 72 Hamlet  – December 1925 Hampden's Theatre Ophelia Hamlet  – December 1925 National Theatre Ophelia 68  – February 1926 Hampden's Theatre Portia 54  – August 13, 1927 Maxine Elliott Theatre 296  – March 1929 Ethel Barrymore Theatre 92  – July 1929 Ethel Barrymore Theatre She 88 Scarlet Sister Mary  – December 1930 Ethel Barrymore Theatre Sister Mary 24  – November 1931 Ethel Barrymore Theatre 23 L'Aiglon  – December 1934 Broadhurst Theatre Marie-Louise 58  – January 1938 Guild Theatre 48 Whiteoaks  – June 1938 Hudson Theatre Adeline 112 Farm of Three Echoes  – January 6, 1940 Cort Theatre 48  – April 13, 1940 Ethel Barrymore Theatre 15  – September 9, 1941 National Theatre  – January 1, 1942 Royale Theatre 477  – June 19, 1943 Martin Beck Theatre 56 Embezzled Heaven  – January 13, 1945 National Theatre Teta 52

Filmography

+ Barrymore's filmography Film Year Role Notes Lost unknown The film was never made due to Charles Frohman's death on Lusitania Survives Lost Survives Survives Egypt Survives Lost Lost Life's Whirlpool Lost Maris Survives Lost National Red Cross Pageant Herself Lost Our Mrs. McChesney Lost Lost Woman at table in cafe Survives Camille – Short Rasputin and the Empress Czarina Alexandra All at Sea – Short None but the Lonely Heart Winner, Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress Nominee, Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress Moss Rose Nominee, Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress Moonrise Grandma Portrait of Jennie That Midnight Kiss Pinky Nominee, Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress Kind Lady Granny It's a Big Country Deadline – U.S.A. Just for You Main Street to Broadway Herself Young at Heart Johnny Trouble

Radio broadcasts

+ Barrymore's radio broadcasts Broadcast Date Network Role Notes  – April 7, 1937 Blue Network Various Weekly plays, including Trelawny of the 'Wells' and Alice Sit-by-the-Fire CBS – Lincoln Highway NBC Miss Hattie  – June 17, 1945 Blue Network Screen Guild Players: "The Old Lady Shows Her Medals" CBS – Family Theater: "The Passion and Death" Mutual Broadcasting System Narrator A pre-Easter broadcast telling the story of the Passion

Notes and references

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