John Barrymore

John married four times in his life. He was married to Katherine Harris, Blanche Oelrichs, and Dolores Costello, before marrying Elaine Barrie in 1936.

However, his fourth marriage too ended in a divorce. In 1937, he received the divorce papers from his wife.

A month later, he filed for bankruptcy. His health, marital issues, and destroyed career were caused by his lack of discipline and disgraceful behavior.

John Barrymore was born John Sidney Blyth, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on February 15, 1882. His parents, Maurice and Georgiana Barrymore were theater actors, and his siblings, Ethel and Lionel, became successful actors too.

John was the youngest of the three children of his parents. His father was an Indian-born British actor, and his mother belonged to a reputed theatrical family in America.

Due to continuous travel, John had to change a lot of schools. He was also very ill-disciplined as a child and was often punished in school.

He was once made to read Dante’s ‘Inferno’ as a punishment and fell in love with the illustrations by Gustave Dore.

He attended the boys’ annex of the ‘Convent of Notre Dame’ in Philadelphia. He was expelled from the school in 1891.

Although, John did not wish to take up acting as a profession, his father convinced him to try stage for once. He made his stage debut in a play called ‘A Man of the World,’ alongside his father.

In 1901, he appeared in ‘Captain Jinks of the Horse Marines’ with his sibling Ethel. Later that year, his father suffered a mental breakdown and was admitted to a private institution in Amityville.

His father’s situation affected John immensely. In 1902, he was fired from the position of illustrator, and he started working as a poster designer.

With time, he understood that his job was not enough for him to afford his lifestyle. This made him turn to acting. He once stated that he had to succumb to the family curse, acting, to support himself.

He joined McKee Rankin’s company on its Chicago tour at the ‘W. S. Cleveland Theatre’ in 1903. He made his ‘Broadway’ debut in ‘Glad of It’ in 1904.

Actor William Collier became his mentor while they worked together in the production of ‘The Dictator.’ Meanwhile, his father died, and John had to go back to America.

After a few years of struggle, John finally made his first lead appearance in ‘The Boys of Company B’ in 1907. It was a comedy play and paved way for his future performances.

John played a variety of roles in plays such as ‘A Stubborn Cinderella,’ ‘The Fortune Hunter,’ ‘Princess Zim-Zim,’ ‘A Thief for a Night,’ and ‘A Slice of Life,’ before he moved over to films.

In 1912, Barrymore, worked in four films, all of which were lost in an explosion at the ‘Lubin’ vaults. He made his debut in the 1913 film ‘An American Citizen,’ a romantic comedy.