Eldest of the famed Barrymore siblings. Unlike his brother John and sister Ethel, Lionel did very little acting for the theater. He made his stage debut as an infant as part of his parents' (Herbert Blythe/Maurice Barrymore and Georgia Drew) act and was a leading player by age 22. His first film roles were in D.W. Griffith shorts, beginning with "The Battle" (1911), and he worked primarily with MGM from 1926; he continued to act despite being confined to a wheelchair for the last 15 years of his life due to crippling arthritis and a serious leg injury. Barrymore gave one of his finest performances as a dying businessman in "Dinner at Eight" (1933) and is also fondly remembered for "Camille" (1933), "You Can't Take It With You" (1938) and "It's a Wonderful Life" (1946), among others.
Barrymore was a published author of both fiction and non-fiction, an accomplished painter and a capable film director, earning an Oscar nomination for the 1929 version of the oft-filmed weepie "Madame X".
Family
GREAT-GRANDMOTHER: Eliza Lane. Actor, singer.
MOTHER: Georgiana Drew. Actor.
FATHER: Maurice Barrymore. Actor. Born September 21, 1847; died March 2, 1905.
UNCLE: John Drew. Actor.
SISTER: Ethel Barrymore. Actor. Acted with his sister Ethel and brother John in "Rasputin and the Empress" (1932); born on August 15, 1879; died on June 18, 1959.
BROTHER: John Barrymore. Actor. Born on February 15, 1882; died on May 29, 1942.
DAUGHTER: Mary Barrymore. Died at age two, c. 1906; mother, Doris Rankin.
DAUGHTER: Ethel Barrymore II. Born in August 1906; died on March 23, 1909; mother, Doris Rankin.
Companion
WIFE: Doris Rankin. Actor. Married in 1904; divorced in 1923.
WIFE: Irene Fenwick. Actor. Married from 1923 until her death on December 24, 1936.
Milestone
1893: First stage appearance as Thomas the coachman in "The Rivals" (for one performance) during tour starring his grandmother, Mrs. John Drew
1897: Stage acting debut in "The Bachelor's Baby"
1900: Broadway debut in "Sag Harbor"
1909: Joined Biograph film company
1911 - 1913: Acted in over 50 short films (many by D.W. Griffith)
1912: Wrote two short films, one of which was D.W. Griffith's "The Tender-Hearted Boy"
1914: Feature film acting debut in "Men and Women"
1917: Feature writing and directing debut, "Life's Whirlpool"
1928: Acted in MGM's first talkie, "Alias Jimmy Valentine"
1929: First feature as producer and composer (also director), "His Glorious Night"
1938: First appearance as Dr. Gillespie (for the 15-film MGM series) in "Young Dr. Kildare"
1942: Composed tone poem, "In Memoriam," in dedication to his brother, John, which was performed by the Philadelphia Symphony Orchestra
1953: Last screen appearance in "Main Street to Broadway" (as himself)
Education
Art Students League of New York - New York, New York
Bibliography
"Mr. Cantomwine" Lionel Barrymore
"We Barrymores" Lionel Barrymore with Cameron Shipp 1951
"The Barrymores: The Royal Family in Hollywood" James Kotsilibas-Davis 1981
Barrymore played Scrooge in an annual radio broadcast of Dickens' "A Christmas Carol" which became something of a time-honored tradition.
"If John and Ethel were the royalty of the Barrymore acting family, brother Lionel was the journeyman actor of the clan. During his fifty-year film career, he avoided romantic leads, preferring to disguise his distinguished six-foot, 155-pound frame in unusual character assignments. Equally adept at sympathetic, heroic, villainous, comedic avuncular, startling, or majestic roles, the excellence of his acting was overshadowed often in later years by his bulky wheelchaired presence." --James Robert Parish ("The MGM Stock Company")
Received a Treasury Department citation in 1954 for cooperation in helping promote investment in U.S. Savings Bonds.
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