Ethel Barrymore
Ethel Barrymore was the second of three children seemingly destined for the actor's life of their parents Maurice and Georgiana. Maurice Barrymore had emigrated from England in 1875, and after graduating from Cambridge in law had shocked his family by becoming an actor. Georgiana Drew of Philadelphia acted in her parents' stage company. The two met and married as members of Augustin Daly's company in New York. They both acted with some of the great stage personalities of the mid Victorian theater of America and England. The Barrymore children were born and grew up in Philadelphia. Though older brother Lionel Barrymore began acting early with his mother's relatives in the Drew theater company, Ethel, after a traditional girl's schooling, planned on becoming a concert pianist. The lure of the stage was perhaps congenital, however. She made her debut as a stage actress during the New York City season of 1894. Her youthful stage presence was at once a pleasure, a strikingly pretty and winsome face and large dark eyes that seemed to look out from her very soul. Her natural talent and distinctive voice only reinforced the physical presence of someone destined to command any role set before her. After the opportunity to appear on the London stage with English great Henry Irving in "The Bells" (1897) and later in "Peter the Great" (1898), she returned to New York to star in the Clyde Fitch play "Captain Jinks of the Horse Marines" (1901) (produced by her friend and benefactor Charles Frohman), which brought her initial American acclaim. Lead roles, such as Nora in Henrik Ibsen's "A Doll's House" (1905) and starring in "Alice By the Fire" (also 1905), "Mid-Channel" (1910) and "Trelawney of the Wells" (1911) proved her popularity as a warm and charismatic star of American stage. In the meantime she married stockbroker Russell Griswold Colt in 1909 and gave birth to three children while continuing her acting career. Although the stage was her first love, she did heed the call of the silver screen, and though not achieving the matinée idol image that younger brother John Barrymore garnered in silent movies after similar chemistry on stage, she won over audiences from her first film appearance in The Nightingale (1914). However, her early film roles, steady through 1919, took a back seat to continued stage triumphs: "Declassee" (1919), her impassioned Juliet in "Romeo and Juliet" (1922), "The Second Mrs. Tanqueray" (1924) and, especially, "The Constant Wife" (1926). She harnessed her considerable talents in the role of an activist as well, being a bedrock supporter of the Actors Equity Association and, in fact, had been a prominent figure in the actors strike of 1919. By 1930 she was entering middle age and her movie roles reflected this. Except for Rasputin and the Empress (1932) with her brothers, the roles were elderly mothers and grandmothers, dowager ladies and spinster aunts. Perhaps wisely she put off Hollywood for over a decade, with stage work that included her most endearing role in "The Corn is Green" (a tour that lasted from 1940 to 1942). She finally moved to Southern California in 1940. When she passed away in 1959, she was interred near her brothers at Calvary Cemetery in East Los Angeles.
That's Entertainment!
as (archive footage) (uncredited)Various MGM stars from yesterday present their favorite musical moments from the studio's 50...
Movie page
The Paradine Case
as Lady Sophie HorfieldAttorney Anthony Keane agrees to represent Londonite Mrs. Paradine, who has been fingered in her...
Movie page
The Spiral Staircase
as Mrs. WarrenOn a stormy night, the mute servant to an ailing matriarch is stalked by a serial killer.
Movie page
And the Oscar Goes To...
as Self (archive footage)The story of the gold-plated statuette that became the film industry's most coveted prize, AND...
Movie page
Deadline - U.S.A.
as Margaret GarrisonWith three days before his paper folds, a crusading editor tries to expose a vicious gangster.
Movie page
Night Song
as Miss WilleyA socialite pretends to be poor and blind in her plan to help a blinded pianist.
Movie page
Pinky
as Miss EmPinky, a light skinned black woman, returns to her grandmother's house in the South after...
Movie page
Moonrise
as GrandmaStigmatized from infancy by the fate of his criminal father, a man is bruised and bullied until...
Movie page
Portrait of Jennie
as Miss SpinneyA mysterious girl inspires a struggling artist.
Movie page
Eloise
as HerselfIt's not so much that Eloise is a mischievous child, but the darnedest things do happen when...
Movie page
The Farmer's Daughter
as Agatha MorleyAfter leaving her family's farm to study nursing in the city, a young woman finds herself on an...
Movie page
Johnny Trouble
as Katherine ChandlerAn elderly woman becomes convinced that a trouble-making college student is her grandson she's...
Movie page
The Great Sinner
as Grandmother OstrovskyA young man succumbs to gambling fever.
Movie page
The Story of Three Loves
as Mrs. Hazel PennicottPassengers on an ocean liner recall their greatest loves.
Movie page
Rasputin and the Empress
as Czarina AlexandraThe story of corrupt, power-hungry, manipulative Grigori Rasputin's influence on members of the...
Movie page
Kind Lady
as Mary HerriesMary Herries has a passion for art and fine furniture. Even though she is getting on in years,...
Movie page
The Secret of Convict Lake
as GrannyAfter a group of convicts escapes from prison, they take refuge in the wilderness. While most of...
Movie page
None But the Lonely Heart
as Ma MottWhen an itinerant reluctantly returns home to help his sickly mother run her shop, they're both...
Movie page
Moss Rose
as Lady Margaret DregoWhen a music-hall dancer is murdered, a moss rose marks the page of a Bible next to her body....
Movie page
Camille: The Fate of a Coquette
as OlympeA home movie version of the Dumas play. A young woman becomes a courtesan and tragedy befalls...
Movie page
Show-Business at War
as SelfA multi-studio effort to show the newsreel audience the progress of the Hollywood war effort.
Movie page
The Divorcee
as Lady Frederick BerollesBased on the 1907 play 'Lady Frederick' by W. Somerset Maugham, this tells the story of Betsy...
Movie page
Young at Heart
as Aunt Jessie TuttleThe lives and romances of three sisters in a musical family; the youngest daughter's life is...
Movie page
That Midnight Kiss
as Abigail Trent BudellOpera singer Prudence Budell, overhears truck driver Johnny Donnetti singing opera, and...
Movie page
Main Street to Broadway
as SelfIn New York, a surly, down-on-his-heels playwright meets a country girl who's giving up trying...
Movie page
The Red Danube
as Mother Superior ('Mother Auxilia')A Russian ballerina in Vienna tries to flee KGB agents and defect.
Movie page
It's a Big Country
as Mrs. Brian Patrick RiordanComprised of eight unrelated episodes of inconsistent quality, this anthology piece of American...
Movie page
Just for You
as Alida De BronkhartJordan Blake (a widower) is a successful Broadway Producer who has always been to busy for his...
Movie page
Our Mrs. McChesney
as Emma McChesneyMrs. Emma McChesney is a determined and successful traveling saleswoman for T. A. Buck's...
Movie page
An American Widow
as Elizabeth CarterWealthy American widow Elizabeth Carter plans to marry the Earl of Dettminster when lawyer...
Movie page
National Red Cross Pageant
as Flanders / Belgium - Flemish & Final episodesThe National Red Cross Pageant (1917) was an American war pageant that was performed in order to...
Movie page
The White Raven
as Nan BaldwinWilliam Baldwin, ruined in business by his partner, John Blaisdell, implores Blaisdell's aid,...
Movie page
The Greatest Power
as Miriam MonroeMiriam Monroe and John Conrad are two young scientific workers who, independently of each other,...
Movie page
The Kiss of Hate
as Nadia TurgeneffWhen Count Peter Turgeneff, his daughter, Nadia, and Paul, his generous-hearted son, came to...
Movie page
The Eternal Mother
as MarisMaris, having married Lynch, a worthless man who deserts her, taking their daughter Felice with...
Movie page
The Nightingale
as Isola Franti - 'The Nightingale'Franti, an organ grinder of the poor districts of New York, has a daughter, Isola, who sings to...
Movie page
Life's Whirlpool
as Esther CareyEthel Barrymore plays the wife of an abusive country squire. So nasty is her husband that he all...
Movie page
The Lifted Veil
as Clorinda GildersleeveOvercome with guilt after having an affair with her best friends husband, Clorinda hopes to...
Movie page
The Call of Her People
as EgyptFaro Black, the chief of the Gypsies, finds out that his son Faro and his girlfriend Egypt have...
Movie page
The Final Judgment
as Jane Carleson - Mrs. Murray CampbellActress Jane Carleson has three admirers: Henry Strong (a millionaire), Hamilton Ross (a...
Movie page
What's My Line?
as Self - Mystery GuestFour panelists must determine guests' occupations - and, in the case of famous guests, while...
TV Show page
Climax!
as Mme. Rosalie La GrangeClimax! is an American anthology series that aired on CBS from 1954 to 1958. The series was...
TV Show page
Omnibus
as uncreditedOmnibus is an American, commercially sponsored, educational television series.
TV Show page
Playhouse 90
as HerselfPlayhouse 90 is an American television anthology series that was telecast on CBS from 1956 to...
TV Show page
Legends
as Aunt Jessie Tuttle (archive footage) (uncredited)The story of the big names that have shaped the musical genres, plus an occasional stopgap for...
TV Show page
General Electric Theater
as MotherGeneral Electric Theater is an American anthology series hosted by Ronald Reagan that was...
TV Show page