Lionel Barrymore
Herbert Lionel Blyth (
April 28,
1878 in
Philadelphia,
Pennsylvania â€"
November 15,
1954 in
Van Nuys,
California) was an
American actor of stage, radio and film.
He was the elder brother of
Ethel and
John Barrymore. His parents were
Maurice Barrymore and
Georgiana Drew.
He started his
stage career in the early 1900s. After many years spent in
Paris, in 1907 he came back to
Broadway, where he established his reputation as dramatic actor. He proved his talent in many plays as
Peter Ibbetson (1917),
The Copperhead (1918) and
The Jest (1919).
In
1924 he left Broadway for
Hollywood. In
1931 he won an
Oscar for his role of an alcoholic lawyer in
A Free Soul (1931), after having been nominated in 1930 for
best director for
Madame X. In
1930s and
1940s he made a lot of movies as grouchy, but usually sweet, elderly men in such films as
The Mysterious Island (1929),
Grand Hotel (with John),
Rasputin and the Empress (with John and Ethel),
Dinner at Eight (the film also featured John, but they had no scenes together),
Captains Courageous,
You Can't Take It with You,
Duel in the Sun, and
Key Largo. Perhaps his best known role was as Mr. Potter, the miserly banker in
It's a Wonderful Life.
He played the irascible Doctor Gillespie in a series of
Doctor Kildare movies in the
1930s and
1940s, and the title role in the 1940s radio series
Mayor of the Town. Years later, after breaking his hip twice, he was confined to a wheelchair, but still acted.
Barrymore died from a
heart attack, and is entombed in the
Calvary Cemetery in
East Los Angeles, California.
He has a star on the
Hollywood Walk of Fame at 1724 Vine Street.
He is the grand-uncle of actress
Drew Barrymore.
Sadie Thompson (1928)
A Free Soul (1931)
Grand Hotel (1932)
Dinner at Eight (1933)
The Personal History, Adventures, Experience, and Observation of David Copperfield, the Younger (1935)
Mark of the Vampire (1935)
The Devil-Doll (1936)
Captains Courageous (1937)
You Can't Take It With You (1938)
Since You Went Away (1944)
It's A Wonderful Life (1946)
Duel in the Sun (1946)
Key Largo (1948)
*
Barrymore family*
* [
1] -
Lionel Barrymore - A Timeline*
Lionel Barrymore at FilmReference.com
*
Lionel Barrymore's Gravesite
