Biography for John Barrymore

His film performances, beginning with "An American Citizen" (1913), were more varied than those of his siblings Lionel and Ethel. He carried several silent films, both romantic ("Don Juan" 1926) and otherwise ("Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde" 1920). Much of his work is timeless and impressive, some of it overcooked (but sometimes still quite delicious) ham. By 1933, when he played a parody of himself in "Dinner at Eight", his addiction to drink had begun to take its toll; a faltering memory required cue cards to be held up on set. But his genius flared brilliantly elsewhere: "Grand Hotel", "A Bill of Divorcement" (both 1932), "Topaz", "Counsellor-at-Law" (both 1933), "Twentieth Century" (1934) and "Maytime" (1937). Barrymore died penniless in 1942. He was married four times, and his spouses included the volatile Michael Strange, a writer/poetess who matched him for temperament and eccentricity, and two actresses: Dolores Costello and Elaine Barry. Daughter Diana (1921-60) and son John, Jr. (b. 1932) had unimpressive careers as actors and shared some of their father's destructive tendencies--Diana's autobiography, "Too Much, Too Soon" (1957), was made into a 1958 film with Errol Flynn portraying Barrymore.