Evening star., 1942-05-30

, one ever think of any deductions
for me?"
In 1910, John bought his way out
of the cast of MY Dear Children,
which was paying him 81 900 week
on a percentage basis, to go into the
movies at $4,000 a week-for the
benefit of his creditors. The latter
readily agreed in court. John paid
$4,000 for his release from the
stage.
1t was about that time, too, that
Johns allowance was increased from
$500 to S700 a week by sympa-
thetic jurist. John had sworn off
hard liquor-it never was any secret
that he often used it freely-and
was doing right well generally by
his creditors, whose claims at that
time amounted to s68,000.
Although Mr. Barrymore was In
and out of hospitals about every
four months the last three years
his liver and kidneys continually
we're acting up-he never lost his
zest for life.
Life is worth living. I ought to
know. I've done a lot Of it. Every
split second was an exciting ex-
perience," he said. To be hit and
knocked fiat by great tragedy gives
me the capacity to be lifted to the
skies by a great happiness"
Returned to Stardom.
He retired once, or thought he
did, but "the little flly, Elaine. made
a race horse of me again" Quickly
he climbed back to stardom. His
brief retirement wasn't because of
lack of enthusiasm for his work, he
emphasized.
i've played 10000 roles of every
size, shape and description. So does
that mean my job has been stripped
of all thrills? Not for me-" And he
launched into a new account of the
thrills he got from each new part,
each new character he played
On the legitimate stage and on
the screen, Mr.. Barrymore scored in
roles that ranged from the melan-
choly Hamlet" to the whimsical
"Topaze' and which ran a. gamut
from pure pantomime to nuances
of his exceptional speaking voice
Like his brother and sister, he
tried in his youth to avoid his
heritage of dramatic ability. Lionel
would have been a painter; Ethel
had ambitions to be a musician;
John tried to be newspaper car
toonist and reporter. But inevitably
all three gravitated to the stage to
carry on family tradition that ran
back to 18th century England.
Real Name Was Blythe.
The real name was Blythe, for
their father, Maurice Barrymore
was Herbert Blythe until he adopted
the more euphonious cognomen
when he became an actor. Their
mother was George Drew whose
parents were John Drew, an Irish
actor of pre-Civil War days, and
Louisa Lane, who came to the United
States in 1847 to support Junius
Brutus Booth. Louisa Lane was the
daughter of Thomas Frederick Lane,
an English actor. She married
Mr.. Drew in 1850 and lived to act
with her grandchildren.
Lionel Barrymore was born in
1877. Ethel in 1879 and John on
February IS, 1882, at Philadelphia.
AS children they were in and around
the theater more than at school.
When John decided to be an artist,
he was sent to study in London,
but his stay there was brief. Then
he enrolled in the Art Students
League in New. York, but quit it after
one day.
Before he was 20 John had worked
on two metropolitan newspapers. He
recalled later that a job on the New
York Morning Telegraph lasted 20
minutes, just long enough to draw
and submit one sketch. He did bet
ter with the New York Evening
Journal, drawing cartoons and also
illustrating news stories which he
covered" as a reporter. At this
period also he produced several
canvases which attracted some at
tention. In 1926 he published an
autobiography.
When he was 81, Mr.. Barrymore
decided that artists missed too
many meals. He made his stage
debut October 81, 1903, playing a
small part in "Magda" at Cleve-
lands Theater, Chicago. Two
months later he was on Broadway
and after two New York seasons,
made his debut in London, with
William Collier as Charles Hine In
THE Dictator" a part which he
had created in New York The play
Vert on to Australia. Mr.. Barry
more always, credited Mr.. Collier
with teaching him a lot about act
ing on this tour
His early successes were in light
comedy roles and his first star parts
were in such plays as Are You a
Mason?" and Half a Husband" 1t
was not until 1916 that he gained
his place in the serious drama. That
niche resulted from his part as
"Falder" in John Galsworthy' S
Justice" critics pronouncing it
notable as an artistic and self
effacing performance. 1t was fol-
lowed by Du Maurier's Peter Ib-
betSon" and Selm Benefits THE
JEST" in both of which Lionel and
John co-starred; Shakespeare S
Richard III" and. probably his big
gest triumph, Hamlet"
John appeared in New York 1ol
times as the melancholy Dane
breaking . record established BY