Maurice Barrymore~Patriarch of the Barrymore Acting Family~

Herbert Arthur Chamberlayne Blythe (September 21, 1849March 26, 1905) —stage name Maurice Barrymore — was the patriarch of the Barrymore acting family and great-grandfather of actress Drew Barrymore.

He made his Broadway debut in December 1875 in Pique; in the cast was a young actress, Georgiana Drew. Maurice and Georgiana had been introduced earlier by her brother John Drew Jr. who had befriended Maurice when he first arrived in America. After a brief courtship Maurice & 'Georgie' married on December 31, 1876, and had three children: Lionel (b. 1878), Ethel (b. 1879), and John (b. 1882).

In 1896 Barrymore became the first major Broadway star to headline in vaudeville—a brave foray at the time that he speculatively would have later made into motion pictures had he lived.

The March 25, 1905 New York Times reported: "He was playing a vaudeville engagement [in 1901] at a Harlem theatre when he suddenly dropped his lines and began to rave, (to the horror of his son John). The following day he became violent and was taken to Bellevue insane ward by John.

At Bellevue and later Amityville he was diagnosed with the lingering effects of syphillis, an incurable disease in his day. Nothing could be done for him. During his stay at Bellevue he nearly strangled his daughter Ethel when she paid a visit to him. Ethel, through her early success on the stage, would pick up the tab for her father's stay in the institutions., A trained boxer Barrymore's strength remained as in a scuffle with one of the Bellevue attendants, he picked the man up over his head and threw him into a corner. He died at Amityville in his sleep, and Ethel had him buried at Glenwood Cemetery in Philadelphia.

Barrymore had lived long enough to see all three of his children grow to adulthood and enter the family business of acting. There are no photographs that survive of Barrymore taken with any of his three children.

In honor of his life, Michael J. Farrand penned the memorial narrative poem "The Man Who Brought Royalty to America" in 2000; based on the definitive biography GREAT TIMES, GOOD TIMES: The Odyssey of Maurice Barrymore by James Kotsilibas Davis (Doubleday, 1977).

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[TheAolele]

Actor, athlete, raconteur, "Barry" was a true original. What a marvelous,sparkling treasure the world lost much too soon. Thank you for your moving video. Perhaps his contemporary, Henry Miller, said it best when penning a tribute to him: "Strength and gentleness were Maurice Barrymore's cardinal virtues."

[staclynn72]

@TheAolele Thanks for commenting...

[PlayIt4MeAgainSam]

Wonderful video! Love these sepia photos. Terrific history. 5☆

[staclynn72]

@PlayIt4MeAgainSam Thanks for commenting..appreciate it!

[scifi707]

Great video! I am learning a lot from you. :) You should be a co-host on TCM!

[staclynn72]

@scifi707 I love this stuff so much I wish I could get paid for it, I'd do it all day long! Im learning a lot too!

[TZ2OurLittleDogToo]

I would love to see Drew dressed in similar outfits in a photoshoot to match these pics. How cool would that be?