Ethel Barrymore

Ethel Barrymore

Ethel Barrymore was the second of three children seemingly destined for the actor's life of their parents Maurice and Georgiana. Maurice Barrymore had emigrated from England in 1875, and after graduating from Cambridge in law had shocked his family by becoming an actor. Georgiana Drew of Philadelphia acted in her parents' stage company. The two met and married as members of Augustin Daly's company in New York. They both acted with some of the great stage personalities of the mid Victorian theater of America and England. The Barrymore children were born and grew up in Philadelphia. Though older brother Lionel Barrymore began acting early with his mother's relatives in the Drew theater company, Ethel, after a traditional girl's schooling, planned on becoming a concert pianist. The lure of the stage was perhaps congenital, however. She made her debut as a stage actress during the New York City season of 1894. Her youthful stage presence was at once a pleasure, a strikingly pretty and winsome face and large dark eyes that seemed to look out from her very soul. Her natural talent and distinctive voice only reinforced the physical presence of someone destined to command any role set before her. After the opportunity to appear on the London stage with English great Henry Irving in "The Bells" (1897) and later in "Peter the Great" (1898), she returned to New York to star in the Clyde Fitch play "Captain Jinks of the Horse Marines" (1901) (produced by her friend and benefactor Charles Frohman), which brought her initial American acclaim. Lead roles, such as Nora in Henrik Ibsen's "A Doll's House" (1905) and starring in "Alice By the Fire" (also 1905), "Mid-Channel" (1910) and "Trelawney of the Wells" (1911) proved her popularity as a warm and charismatic star of American stage. In the meantime she married stockbroker Russell Griswold Colt in 1909 and gave birth to three children while continuing her acting career. Although the stage was her first love, she did heed the call of the silver screen, and though not achieving the matinée idol image that younger brother John Barrymore garnered in silent movies after similar chemistry on stage, she won over audiences from her first film appearance in The Nightingale (1914). However, her early film roles, steady through 1919, took a back seat to continued stage triumphs: "Declassee" (1919), her impassioned Juliet in "Romeo and Juliet" (1922), "The Second Mrs. Tanqueray" (1924) and, especially, "The Constant Wife" (1926). She harnessed her considerable talents in the role of an activist as well, being a bedrock supporter of the Actors Equity Association and, in fact, had been a prominent figure in the actors strike of 1919. By 1930 she was entering middle age and her movie roles reflected this. Except for Rasputin and the Empress (1932) with her brothers, the roles were elderly mothers and grandmothers, dowager ladies and spinster aunts. Perhaps wisely she put off Hollywood for over a decade, with stage work that included her most endearing role in "The Corn is Green" (a tour that lasted from 1940 to 1942). She finally moved to Southern California in 1940. When she passed away in 1959, she was interred near her brothers at Calvary Cemetery in East Los Angeles.

  • Title: Ethel Barrymore
  • Popularity: 3.027
  • Known For: Acting
  • Birthday: 1879-08-12
  • Place of Birth: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
  • Homepage:
  • Also Known As: Ethel Mae Blythe, Этель Барримор
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Ethel Barrymore Movies

  • 1947
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    The Paradine Case

    The Paradine Case

    6.2 1947 HD

    Attorney Anthony Keane agrees to represent Londonite Mrs. Paradine, who has been fingered in her husband's murder. From the start, the married lawyer...

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  • 1948
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    Portrait of Jennie

    Portrait of Jennie

    7 1948 HD

    A mysterious girl inspires a struggling artist.

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  • 1946
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    The Spiral Staircase

    The Spiral Staircase

    7.048 1946 HD

    On a stormy night, the mute servant to an ailing matriarch is stalked by a serial killer.

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  • 1914
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    The Nightingale

    The Nightingale

    1 1914 HD

    Franti, an organ grinder of the poor districts of New York, has a daughter, Isola, who sings to his street piano's accompaniment.

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  • 1916
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    The Kiss of Hate

    The Kiss of Hate

    1 1916 HD

    When Count Peter Turgeneff, his daughter, Nadia, and Paul, his generous-hearted son, came to live in the Governor's palace in the Russian province of...

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  • 1915
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    The Final Judgment

    The Final Judgment

    1 1915 HD

    Actress Jane Carleson has three admirers: Henry Strong (a millionaire), Hamilton Ross (a chemist), and Murray Campbell (a district attorney). When...

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  • 1916
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    The Awakening of Helena Ritchie

    The Awakening of Helena Ritchie

    1 1916 HD

    Helena Richie leaves her drunken husband, who had killed their child, and goes to Old Chester in Pennsylvania with her friend Lloyd Pryor. Helena...

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  • 1917
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    The White Raven

    The White Raven

    6 1917 HD

    William Baldwin, ruined in business by his partner, John Blaisdell, implores Blaisdell's aid, and receives in answer a five-dollar bill across the...

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  • 1917
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    The Greatest Power

    The Greatest Power

    1 1917 HD

    Miriam Monroe and John Conrad are two young scientific workers who, independently of each other, have discovered a chemical called exonite. Miriam...

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  • 1917
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    The Call of Her People

    The Call of Her People

    1 1917 HD

    Faro Black, the chief of the Gypsies, finds out that his son Faro and his girlfriend Egypt have gotten married. Infuriated, he tells that their...

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  • 1917
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    The Lifted Veil

    The Lifted Veil

    1 1917 HD

    Overcome with guilt after having an affair with her best friends husband, Clorinda hopes to escape her past by moving to Europe, where she meets...

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  • 1917
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    The Eternal Mother

    The Eternal Mother

    1 1917 HD

    Maris, having married Lynch, a worthless man who deserts her, taking their daughter Felice with him, marries mill owner Dwight Alden after receiving...

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  • 1917
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    National Red Cross Pageant

    National Red Cross Pageant

    1 1917 HD

    The National Red Cross Pageant (1917) was an American war pageant that was performed in order to sell war bonds, support the National Red Cross, and...

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  • 1917
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    An American Widow

    An American Widow

    1 1917 HD

    Wealthy American widow Elizabeth Carter plans to marry the Earl of Dettminster when lawyer Augustus Tucker informs her of a codicil in her late...

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  • 1918
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    Our Mrs. McChesney

    Our Mrs. McChesney

    1 1918 HD

    Mrs. Emma McChesney is a determined and successful traveling saleswoman for T. A. Buck's Featherbloom Petticoat Company. When Buck dies and his son,...

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  • 1919
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    The Divorcee

    The Divorcee

    1 1919 HD

    Based on the 1907 play 'Lady Frederick' by W. Somerset Maugham, this tells the story of Betsy O'Hara in her pursuit of romance and love.

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  • 1948
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    Moonrise

    Moonrise

    6.2 1948 HD

    Stigmatized from infancy by the fate of his criminal father, a man is bruised and bullied until one night, in a fit of rage, he kills his most...

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  • 1951
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    The Secret of Convict Lake

    The Secret of Convict Lake

    6.5 1951 HD

    After a group of convicts escapes from prison, they take refuge in the wilderness. While most of the crew are ruthless sociopaths, Jim Canfield is an...

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  • 1949
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    The Red Danube

    The Red Danube

    6.3 1949 HD

    A Russian ballerina in Vienna tries to flee KGB agents and defect.

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  • 1952
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    Deadline - U.S.A.

    Deadline - U.S.A.

    6.8 1952 HD

    With three days before his paper folds, a crusading editor tries to expose a vicious gangster.

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  • 1954
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    Young at Heart

    Young at Heart

    5.9 1954 HD

    The lives and romances of three sisters in a musical family; the youngest daughter's life is complicated by the subsequent arrival of a charming...

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  • 1932
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    Rasputin and the Empress

    Rasputin and the Empress

    5.273 1932 HD

    The story of corrupt, power-hungry, manipulative Grigori Rasputin's influence on members of the Russian Imperial family and others, and what resulted.

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  • 1947
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    The Farmer's Daughter

    The Farmer's Daughter

    6.9 1947 HD

    After leaving her family's farm to study nursing in the city, a young woman finds herself on an unexpected path towards politics.

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  • 1949
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    Pinky

    Pinky

    7.1 1949 HD

    Pinky, a light skinned black woman, returns to her grandmother's house in the South after graduating from a Northern nursing school. Pinky tells her...

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  • 1947
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    Moss Rose

    Moss Rose

    6.4 1947 HD

    When a music-hall dancer is murdered, a moss rose marks the page of a Bible next to her body. Luckily, another chorus girl saw a gentleman leaving...

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  • 1952
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    Just for You

    Just for You

    4.8 1952 HD

    Jordan Blake (a widower) is a successful Broadway Producer who has always been to busy for his children, Barbara and Jerry. Girlfriend, Carolina a...

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  • 1944
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    None But the Lonely Heart

    None But the Lonely Heart

    6.2 1944 HD

    When an itinerant reluctantly returns home to help his sickly mother run her shop, they're both tempted to turn to crime to help make ends meet.

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  • 1926
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    Camille: The Fate of a Coquette

    Camille: The Fate of a Coquette

    4 1926 HD

    A home movie version of the Dumas play. A young woman becomes a courtesan and tragedy befalls her. Appearances are made by many socialites of 1920s...

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  • 1951
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    It's a Big Country

    It's a Big Country

    5.3 1951 HD

    Comprised of eight unrelated episodes of inconsistent quality, this anthology piece of American propaganda features some of MGM Studios' best...

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  • 1949
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    That Midnight Kiss

    That Midnight Kiss

    5 1949 HD

    Opera singer Prudence Budell, overhears truck driver Johnny Donnetti singing opera, and persuades her opera company to give him a chance in her new...

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  • 1953
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    The Story of Three Loves

    The Story of Three Loves

    5.5 1953 HD

    Passengers on an ocean liner recall their greatest loves.

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  • 1949
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    The Great Sinner

    The Great Sinner

    6.7 1949 HD

    A young man succumbs to gambling fever.

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  • 1951
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    Kind Lady

    Kind Lady

    7 1951 HD

    Mary Herries has a passion for art and fine furniture. Even though she is getting on in years, she enjoys being around these priceless articles. One...

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  • 1948
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    Night Song

    Night Song

    6.2 1948 HD

    A socialite pretends to be poor and blind in her plan to help a blinded pianist.

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  • 1957
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    Johnny Trouble

    Johnny Trouble

    4.7 1957 HD

    An elderly woman becomes convinced that a trouble-making college student is her grandson she's never met.

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  • 1953
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    Main Street to Broadway

    Main Street to Broadway

    6.5 1953 HD

    In New York, a surly, down-on-his-heels playwright meets a country girl who's giving up trying to act and returning home. He goes with her for...

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  • 1974
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    That's Entertainment!

    That's Entertainment!

    7.242 1974 HD

    Various MGM stars from yesterday present their favorite musical moments from the studio's 50 year history.

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  • 1917
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    Life's Whirlpool

    Life's Whirlpool

    1 1917 HD

    Ethel Barrymore plays the wife of an abusive country squire. So nasty is her husband that he all but forces her to seek solace in the arms of her...

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  • 1956
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    Eloise

    Eloise

    1 1956 HD

    It's not so much that Eloise is a mischievous child, but the darnedest things do happen when she's around.

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  • 1951
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    Daphni: Virgin of the Golden Laurels

    Daphni: Virgin of the Golden Laurels

    1 1951 HD

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  • 1943
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    Show-Business at War

    Show-Business at War

    7 1943 HD

    A multi-studio effort to show the newsreel audience the progress of the Hollywood war effort.

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  • 2014
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    And the Oscar Goes To...

    And the Oscar Goes To...

    6.97 2014 HD

    The story of the gold-plated statuette that became the film industry's most coveted prize, AND THE OSCAR GOES TO... traces the history of the Academy...

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  • 1952
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    Omnibus

    Omnibus

    6 1952 HD

    Omnibus is an American, commercially sponsored, educational television series.

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  • 1953
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    General Electric Theater

    General Electric Theater

    6 1953 HD

    General Electric Theater is an American anthology series hosted by Ronald Reagan that was broadcast on CBS radio and television. The series was...

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  • 1954
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    Climax!

    Climax!

    3 1954 HD

    Climax! is an American anthology series that aired on CBS from 1954 to 1958. The series was hosted by William Lundigan and later co-hosted by Mary...

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  • 1956
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    Playhouse 90

    Playhouse 90

    7.5 1956 HD

    Playhouse 90 is an American television anthology series that was telecast on CBS from 1956 to 1960 for a total of 133 episodes. It originated from...

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  • 2006
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    Legends

    Legends

    5 2006 HD

    The story of the big names that have shaped the musical genres, plus an occasional stopgap for the new rock 'n' roll - comedy.

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  • 1950
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    What's My Line?

    What's My Line?

    6.7 1950 HD

    Four panelists must determine guests' occupations - and, in the case of famous guests, while blindfolded, their identity - by asking only "yes" or...

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