The Royal Family

I just read The House Of Barrymore by Margot Peters.  Published about thirty years ago, it tells the story of siblings Lionel, Ethel and John (Jack) Barrymore.

They could hardly help but be actors, born into the illustrious Drew family, who trod the boards through much of the 19th century, not to mention their dad, noted theatrical star Maurice Barrymore (actually a stage name). By the time they were teenagers they'd made their debuts.

We're talking about the turn of the last century, when theatre was it, as far as entertainment was concerned.  Well before radio and TV, and while movies barely existed, large groups of people in every town went to the theatre.  And Broadway stars, who toured their shows, were national idols.

The first of the three to break big was sister Ethel in the 1901 hit Captain Jinks Of The Horse Marines.  Just in her early twenties, she was the darling of the stage, and America's sweetheart.  She was the First Lady of American Theatre well before other big names of 20th century Broadway came to the fore, such as Helen Hayes, Katharine Cornell and Lynn Fontanne. (She was big in London, too--many men pursued her, including a young Winston Churchill.)

A few years after, handsome younger brother Jack became a matinee idol, starring in light comedies, later followed by serious dramas--considered cultural events--culminating in his 1922 Hamlet, acclaimed the greatest in living memory.

Finally came older brother Lionel, making a name for himself in 1918 with The Copperhead, particularly notable for a scene where he conjured up the image of Abraham Lincoln in a big monologue.

The three were temperamentally different.  Ethel loved everything about the theatre--long runs, touring, the perks of being a star (which, in her case, included being imperious and forbidding). Jack, on the other hand, got tired of shows quickly and eventually gave up theatre for movies.  (After Hamlet, he only returned to the stage once near the end of his career in a trivial piece entitled My Dear Children--large crowds turned out not for the play, but to see him ad libbing and parodying himself.) Lionel didn't even want to be an actor--he'd rather have been a painter and composer.  But realizing it was the only way to make a living, he, more than his siblings, would become consumed by his part.  Whereas Ethel and Jack were stars, always allowing their personalities to peek through, Lionel was a born character actor, disappearing inside a role.

They all made movies in the silent era, but in different ways. Ethel did them on the side--along with Vaudeville appearances--to make money.  Even in later years when she needed Hollywood for the salary, she gave the impression she was slumming. Lionel took to movies the most in the early years, working with D. W. Griffith and even writing and directing some films.  Jack starred in a number of motion pictures, some passable, most indifferent, and when he was being called the greatest actor in America, signed with upstart studio Warner Brothers for a huge salary and never looked back.

Ethel in her early years was presented by impresario Charles Frohman.  He would pick her plays--not necessarily notable (few plays were in the early 1900s) but perfect as star vehicles.  When he died on the Lusitania, she flailed a bit, appearing in questionable roles and not a few flops.  However, she had a late-career smash, The Corn Is Green in 1940, which she played on Broadway and on the road for years.

Meanwhile, sound came to Hollywood and Jack and Lionel jumped right in.  They both worked at MGM for a while and appeared in a few movies together. All three siblings appeared in Rasputin And The Empress, a big film that was a big flop, and put Ethel off movies for another decade.

Lionel was generally a supporting actor, appearing in numerous major productions, including Grand Hotel, Dinner At Eight, David Copperfield, Captains Courageous and You Can't Take It With You.  But this being Hollywood, the actor who could play anything on stage soon became typecast, usually playing crotchety old men.

Meanwhile, even as his matinee idol looks were fading, Jack--the Great Profile--was a leading man, and in the early 30s did distinguished work in a number of films. From just 1931 to 1934 this included Svengali, Grand Hotel, A Bill Of Divorcement, Topaze, Dinner At Eight, Counsellor-At-Law and Twentieth Century.  Though he was a big name, he didn't achieve the same box office success of new faces such as Clark Gable or Gary Cooper.

Then there were the personal lives of the Barrymores--they had a number of marriages (especially Jack) and affairs and children and so on.  They were all spendthrifts, living above their means--not an easy thing to do for Jack, who had one of the highest salaries in Hollywood for a number of years. 

On top of which there was the Barrymore curse.  Both Ethel and John appear to have been alcoholics.  John was especially bad.  During the early 30s, when he was doing such good work, he was also getting a reputation for unreliability.  By the mid-30s he often had to take supporting roles, or parts in B pictures, just to keep earning.  Meanwhile, Lionel, who had arthritis, became addicted to morphine and cocaine.

But they kept working.  Ethel, who'd had an off-and-on relationship with movies, became a mainstay in film from the mid-40s to the mid-50s.  On Broadway she was still remembered as a one-time America's sweetheart, but because of her film appearances we mostly think of her today as a more matronly woman in her 60s or 70s.  She did some good work, such as in None But The Lonely Heart and Portrait Of Jennie, but she was never a major film star and is, I would say, the least remembered of the three. (Mind you, she was nominated for four supporting actress Oscars, winning one--of course, on stage she didn't play supporting roles.  By the way, Lionel also won an Oscar, while Jack was never even nominated.)

Jack flamed out--the youngest sibling, he died first, in 1942, only 60.  His last few years featured a number of regrettable films, but even then he could still pull something off--look at his fine supporting work in the delightful 1939 farce Midnight.

Lionel died in 1954, age 76.  By the late 1930s, he was wheelchair-bound, but that didn't stop him from acting.  He played curmudgeonly Dr. Gillespie in a series of Dr. Kildare films, and movie fans certainly remember his performances in titles such as It's A Wonderful Life (1946) and Key Largo (1948),

Ethel died in 1959 at 79.  She has been the First Lady of the Stage, and the Barrymores Broadway's First Family, but it's worth remembering how fame changed in the 20th century.  By the 1920s or 30s, film celebrities far surpassed stage stars.  Someone like Tallulah Bankhead may be remembered by some, but she's no Bette Davis.

If the Barrymores, after establishing themselves on stage, hadn't gone on to film careers, would their name still live on?  Think of contemporaries like Laurette Taylor or Pauline Lord, who were major stars on stage, but made almost no movies, and are forgotten except to a precious few.

Of course, even old movie stars are being forgotten, so perhaps some day the Barrymores will join all their stage friends in obscurity.  Until then, they left behind some fine work we can still enjoy.