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Ethel Barrymore |
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Ethel Barrymore, born in Philadelphia August 15, 1879, died June 18, 1959. Born into a long-established American theatrical family, Ethel Barrymore dreamed of being a concert pianist, but found that acting was virtually the only profession for which she was truly qualified and which ensured a livable income. Like all her forebears, she worked her way up the theatrical ladder from bits to full leads. Ethel was intrigued at the notion of working with her celebrated brothers John and Lionel Barrymore, but the film vehicle chosen by MGM, Rasputin and the Empress (1932), showed only Lionel to advantage. After ten years of unsuccessful plays excepting a "comeback" in the 1940 hit The Corn is Green and a brief retirement, she was more open to films, accepting Cary Grant's personal invitation to play Grant's mother in None But the Lonely Heart (1944), for which she won an Oscar. A few encore stage appearances later, Ethel "went Hollywood" full force with strong character roles in such films as The Spiral Staircase (1946), The Farmer's Daughter (1947) and Pinky (1949). One of her last efforts was a syndicated anthology, Ethel Barrymore Theatre, in which she hosted and occasionally acted. Even so, Ethel Barrymore was as uncompromising in her assessment of TV as she was of other persons and things that displeased her: Her two-word assessment of The Tube was "It's hell." |