John Barrymore
Acting
Biography
John Sidney Blyth Barrymore (February 15, 1882 – May 29, 1942) was an acclaimed American actor. He first gained fame as a handsome stage actor in light comedy, then high drama and culminating in groundbreaking portrayals in Shakespearean plays Hamlet and Richard III. His success continued with motion pictures in various genres in both the silent and sound eras. Barrymore's personal life has been the subject of much writing before and since his passing in 1942. Today John Barrymore is mostly known for his roles in movies like Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde (1920), Grand Hotel (1932), Dinner at Eight (1933), Twentieth Century (1934), and Don Juan (1926), the first ever movie to use a Vitaphone soundtrack. A member of a multi-generation theatrical dynasty, he was the brother of Lionel Barrymore and Ethel Barrymore, and was the paternal grandfather of Drew Barrymore.
Born: February 15, 1882
Place of Birth: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
Known For
Going Hollywood: The '30s
Robert Preston hosts this documentary that shows what people of the 1930s were watching as they were battling the Depression as well as eventually getting ready for another World War.
The Horror of It All
A collection of film clips from horror movies and interviews with the actors and directors who made them.
Empire of the Air: The Men Who Made Radio
For 50 years radio dominated the airwaves and the American consciousness as the first “mass medium.” In Empire of the Air: The Men Who Made Radio, Ken Burns examines the lives of three extraordinary men who shared the primary responsibility for this invention and its early success, and whose genius, friendship, rivalry and enmity interacted in tragic ways. This is the story of Lee de Forest, a clergyman’s flamboyant son, who invented the audion tube; Edwin Howard Armstrong, a brilliant, withdrawn inventor who pioneered FM technology; and David Sarnoff, a hard-driving Russian immigrant who created the most powerful communications company on earth.
Midnight
An unemployed American showgirl poses as Hungarian royalty to infiltrate Parisian high society.
Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ
Erstwhile childhood friends, Judah Ben-Hur and Messala meet again as adults, this time with Roman officer Messala as conqueror and Judah as a wealthy, though conquered, Israelite. A slip of a brick during a Roman parade causes Judah to be sent off as a galley slave, his property confiscated and his mother and sister imprisoned. Years later, as a result of his determination to stay alive and his willingness to aid his Roman master, Judah returns to his homeland an exalted and wealthy Roman athlete. Unable to find his mother and sister, and believing them dead, he can think of nothing else than revenge against Messala.
Hollywood Goes to Town
This short shows how Hollywood gets ready for the world premiere of an "important" movie. The film celebrated here is Marie Antoinette (1938), which had its premiere at the Carthay Circle Theatre. We see the street leading to the theatre transformed to suggest a garden that might be seen in a French palace. This includes the placement of trees and other foliage, as well as large statues along the route. Grandstands are set up so fans can see their favorite stars as they arrive for the premiere. Finally, the proverbial "galaxy of stars" arrives in their limousines. Fanny Brice and Pete Smith make remarks at the microphone set up on the carpet outside the theatre.
It's Showtime
A collection of film clips profiling animal actors.
Grand Hotel
Guests at a posh Berlin hotel struggle through worry, scandal, and heartache.
That's Entertainment, Part II
Gene Kelly and Fred Astaire present more golden moments from the MGM film library, this time including comedy and drama as well as classic musical numbers.
Arsène Lupin
A charming and very daring thief known as Arsene Lupin is terrorizing the wealthy of Paris. He even goes so far as to threaten the Mona Lisa. But the police, led by the great Guerchard, think they know Arsene Lupin's identity, and they have a secret weapon to catch him.
Filmography
as Archival Footage
as Self (archive footage)
as Hamlet (archive sound)
as (archive footage)
as Svengali (archive footage)
as (archive footage)
as (archive footage)
as Self (archive footage)
as Self (archive footage)
as Self (archive footage)
as Self (archive footage)
as Self
as (archive footage)
as Self (archive footage)
as Don Juan (archive footage)
as Self (archive footage)
as Self (segments 'Don Juan' & 'Richard III') (archive footage)
as Self (archive footage)
as John Barrymore
as Duncan DeGrasse
as Professor Gibbs
as Evans Garrick
as (archive footage)
as Georges Flammarion
as Vance
as Gabby Harrigan
as King Louis XV
as Windy Turlon
as Self
as Zoltan Jason
as Colonel Neilson
as Charles Jasper
as Col. J.A. Nielson
as Dr. Ernest Tindal
as Colonel Neilson
as Nicolai Nazaroff
as Mercutio
as Photograph of John Barrymore (uncredited)
as Oscar Jaffe
as Carl Bellairs
as George Simon
as Larry Renault
as Riviere
as Archduke Rudolf von Hapsburg
as Hamlet
as Auguste A. Topaze
as Prince Paul Chegodieff
as Hilary Fairfield
as Baron Felix von Gaigern
as Tom Cardigan
as Duke of Charmerace
as Vladimar Ivan Tsarakov
as Svengali
as Ahab
as Lord Strathpeffer
as Duke of Kurland / Prince Christian
as Richard III in 'Henry VI Part III' (uncredited)
as Marcus Paltran
as Sergeant Ivan Markov
as Self
as Chevalier Fabien des Grieux
as François Villon
as Don Jose de Marana / Don Juan de Marana
as Captain Ahab Ceeley
as Himself
as Chariot Race Spectator (uncredited)
as Gordon Bryon 'Beau' Brummel
as Sherlock Holmes
as Jacques Leroi
as Dr. Henry Jekyll / Mr. Edward Hyde
as Martin Wingrave
as Frederick Tile
as Robert Ridgeway
as A.J. Raffles
as The Tyrant - Russian episode
as Cicero Hannibal Butts
as Bertie Joyce
as Jack Merriwell, Prince of Bulwana
as James Dukane
as Brooke Travers
as Frank Perry
as Fitzhugh
as Berresford Cruger