--- name: "John Barrymore" canonical: "https://film.one/person/john-barrymore" roles: ["Actor"] born: "15 February 1882" died: "29 May 1942" reviewed_on_fi1m: 1 average_as: "actor" average_over: 1 updated: "2026-09-19T23:18:18.819761+00:00" licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL." --- # John Barrymore Actor. Born 15 February 1882 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA. Died 29 May 1942. ## Details - **Work:** Actor - **Born:** 15 February 1882, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA - **Died:** 29 May 1942 - **Also known as:** John Sidney Blyth, Jack Barrymore, John Sidney Blythe Barrymore - **Elsewhere:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Barrymore, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q95034, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000858/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/29578 ## Fi1m on John Barrymore > John Barrymore brought a stage voice and a stage face to the screen, and the films caught him twice: in silence, when the face did the work, and in sound, when the voice did and could not always be persuaded to stop. Early in George Cukor's *Romeo and Juliet* (1936), John Barrymore stands up to describe Queen Mab. He plays Mercutio as a man who has never left a party of his own accord, ripe and showy and a little dangerous, and the speech comes out as a drunk's turn that keeps getting away from him. We laughed, and we were meant to; in a film that treats a play about two impatient children as a state occasion, he and Edna May Oliver are most of the reasons to stay. We also noticed that the laugh had something rueful in it. This is a great talker near the end, doing the thing he was famous for at full volume, and the volume is the point and also the problem. The volume came from the theatre. Barrymore began on stage in 1903, after a spell studying painting, and was a light comedian before he was anything else; the serious reputation arrived with *Justice* in 1916, *Richard III* in 1920 and a *Hamlet* he played in New York in 1922 and London in 1925. He had been in films since 1913 or 1914, and the silent camera suited him in a way that is easy to forget once you have heard him. In *Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde* (1920) the change from one man to the other is done largely with his face, in close-up, and *Svengali* (1931) went after the same taste for the grotesque. What people remember of that period is control: a face that did exactly what he wanted. Sound gave him back his voice and took some of the control away. The early thirties were the good years: the Baron in *Grand Hotel* (1932), a thinly written part he filled out on charm, opposite Greta Garbo; Larry Renault in *Dinner at Eight* (1933); and Jaffe in Howard Hawks's *Twentieth Century* (1934), where the theatrical manner is the joke and the film is built to let it run. Cukor directed him three times, and our guess is that he understood the trick: give Barrymore a character who is himself performing, so that the excess reads as the man's rather than the actor's. The Mercutio is that idea one last time. The complaint against him was always the same, and it goes back to the stage *Hamlet*: a sudden emphatic stress, a shout or a whisper that arrives from nowhere, effect for its own sake. By the late thirties the roles were often parodies of him, and he played them as such, until his death in 1942. The Mercutio holds both halves of the case in a few scenes: the timing is real, the danger is real, and so is the sense of a performance that would have gone on longer if nobody had cut. Start there, then find *Twentieth Century*, where the overplaying is the whole idea and nobody is pretending otherwise. ## Biography John Barrymore (born John Sidney Blyth, 15 February 1882 – 29 May 1942) was an American actor. A member of a theatrical dynasty, he was the brother of actors Lionel Barrymore and Ethel Barrymore, and the paternal grandfather of Drew Barrymore. He began his career on the stage in 1903, first gaining recognition in light comedy before moving into high drama and Shakespearean roles such as Hamlet and Richard III. Barrymore appeared in motion pictures from 1913 onwards, in both silent and sound eras. Among his film roles are those in *Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde* (1920), *Grand Hotel* (1932), *Dinner at Eight* (1933), *Twentieth Century* (1934), and as Mercutio in *Romeo and Juliet* (1936). *Sources: en.wikipedia.org, britannica.com, imdb.com.* ## On Fi1m (1) - *Romeo and Juliet* (1936), Fi1m 63, as Mercutio — [page](https://film.one/film/romeo-and-juliet.md) ## Complete filmography (79) Every credit, newest first. Titles without a page can be requested for review on the HTML page. - *Coded: The Hidden Love of J.C. Leyendecker* (2021), as Archival Footage - *Synthwave Horror: Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde* (2015), as Dr. Henry Jekyll / Mr. Edward Hyde - *The Casting Couch* (1995), Actor - *Empire of the Air: The Men Who Made Radio* (1991), as Hamlet (archive sound) - *Going Hollywood: The '30s* (1984), as (archive footage) - *The Horror of It All* (1983), as Svengali (archive footage) - *The Horror Show* (1979), as (archive footage) - *That's Entertainment, Part II* (1976), as (archive footage) - *Yesterday and Today* (1953), as (archive footage) - *Okay for Sound* (1946), as Don Juan (archive footage) - *Playmates* (1941), as John Barrymore - *World Premiere* (1941), as Duncan DeGrasse - *The Invisible Woman* (1940), as Professor Gibbs - *The Great Profile* (1940), as Evans Garrick - *Land of Liberty* (1939), as (archive footage) - *The Green Goddess* (1939), Actor - *Midnight* (1939), as Georges Flammarion - *The Great Man Votes* (1939), as Vance - *Hold That Co-ed* (1938), as Gabby Harrigan - *Marie Antoinette* (1938), as King Louis XV - *Spawn of the North* (1938), as Windy Turlon - *Romance in the Dark* (1938), as Zoltan Jason - *Bulldog Drummond's Peril* (1938), as Colonel Neilson - *True Confession* (1937), as Charles Jasper - *Bulldog Drummond's Revenge* (1937), as Col. J.A. Nielson - *Night Club Scandal* (1937), as Dr. Ernest Tindal - *Bulldog Drummond Comes Back* (1937), as Colonel Neilson - *Maytime* (1937), as Nicolai Nazaroff - *Romeo and Juliet* (1936), as Mercutio — Fi1m 63, [page](https://film.one/film/romeo-and-juliet.md) - *Movie Maniacs* (1936), as Photograph of John Barrymore (uncredited) - *Twentieth Century* (1934), as Oscar Jaffe - *Long Lost Father* (1934), as Carl Bellairs - *Counsellor at Law* (1933), as George Simon - *Dinner at Eight* (1933), as Larry Renault - *Night Flight* (1933), as Riviere - *Reunion in Vienna* (1933), as Archduke Rudolf von Hapsburg - *Hamlet, Act I: Scenes IV and V* (1933), as Hamlet - *Topaze* (1933), as Auguste A. Topaze - *Rasputin and the Empress* (1932), as Prince Paul Chegodieff - *A Bill of Divorcement* (1932), as Hilary Fairfield - *Grand Hotel* (1932), as Baron Felix von Gaigern - *State's Attorney* (1932), as Tom Cardigan - *Arsène Lupin* (1932), as Duke of Charmerace - *The Mad Genius* (1931), as Vladimar Ivan Tsarakov - *Svengali* (1931), as Svengali - *Moby Dick* (1930), as Ahab - *The Man from Blankley's* (1930), as Lord Strathpeffer - *General Crack* (1929), as Duke of Kurland / Prince Christian - *The Show of Shows* (1929), as Richard III in 'Henry VI Part III' (uncredited) - *Eternal Love* (1929), as Marcus Paltran - *Tempest* (1928), as Sergeant Ivan Markov - *Life in Hollywood No. 4* (1927), Actor - *When a Man Loves* (1927), as Chevalier Fabien des Grieux - *The Beloved Rogue* (1927), as François Villon - *Don Juan* (1926), as Don Jose de Marana / Don Juan de Marana - *The Sea Beast* (1926), as Captain Ahab Ceeley - *Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ* (1925), as Chariot Race Spectator (uncredited) - *Beau Brummel* (1924), as Gordon Bryon 'Beau' Brummel - *Sherlock Holmes* (1922), as Sherlock Holmes - *The Lotus Eater* (1921), as Jacques Leroi - *Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde* (1920), as Dr. Henry Jekyll / Mr. Edward Hyde - *The Test of Honor* (1919), as Martin Wingrave - *Here Comes the Bride* (1919), as Frederick Tile - *On the Quiet* (1918), as Robert Ridgeway - *Raffles, the Amateur Cracksman* (1917), as A.J. Raffles - *National Red Cross Pageant* (1917), as The Tyrant - Russian episode - *The Red Widow* (1916), as Cicero Hannibal Butts - *The Lost Bridegroom* (1916), as Bertie Joyce - *Nearly a King* (1916), as Jack Merriwell, Prince of Bulwana - *The Incorrigible Dukane* (1915), as James Dukane - *The Dictator* (1915), as Brooke Travers - *Are You a Mason?* (1915), as Frank Perry - *The Man from Mexico* (1914), as Fitzhugh - *An American Citizen* (1914), as Berresford Cruger - *One on Romance* (1913), as Jack Wilson (as Jack Barrymore) - *A Prize Package* (1912), as Si Hawkins (as Jack Barrymore) - *Just Pretending* (1912), as The Policeman (as Jack Barrymore) - *The Widow Casey's Return* (1912), as The Rejected Suitor (as Jack Barrymore) - *The Dream of a Moving Picture Director* (1912), as The Movie Villain (as Jack Barrymore) ## Gallery - ![John Barrymore](https://film.one/media/person/1229223/gallery-568a4168364b.jpg) John Barrymore — Unknown authorUnknown author, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/c0/Actor_John_Barrymore_%28SAYRE_2535%29.jpg/1280px-Actor_John_Barrymore_%28SAYRE_2535%29.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail) - ![John Barrymore, stage and film actor Subjects (LCTGM): actors (1927)](https://film.one/media/person/1229223/gallery-215f6c529aeb.jpg) John Barrymore, stage and film actor Subjects (LCTGM): actors (1927) — Unknown authorUnknown author, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/11/John_Barrymore%2C_stage_and_film_actor_%28SAYRE_9158%29.jpg/1280px-John_Barrymore%2C_stage_and_film_actor_%28SAYRE_9158%29.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail) - ![Title: Jack Barrymore Abstract/medium: 1 negative : glass ; 5 x 7 in. or smaller. (1900)](https://film.one/media/person/1229223/gallery-06a35aa9a652.jpg) Title: Jack Barrymore Abstract/medium: 1 negative : glass ; 5 x 7 in. or smaller. (1900) — Bain News Service, publisher, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/0e/Jack_Barrymore_LCCN2014713461.jpg/1280px-Jack_Barrymore_LCCN2014713461.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail) - ![Jeanette MacDonald and John Barrymore in Maytime (1937).](https://film.one/media/person/1229223/gallery-0a386a48e6a9.jpg) Jeanette MacDonald and John Barrymore in Maytime (1937). — Virgil Apger, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d2/Jeanette_MacDonald_%26_John_Barrymore.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail_unscaled) - ![John Barrymore](https://film.one/media/person/1229223/gallery-e321d0a1cf3a.jpg) John Barrymore — Image via TMDB - ![John Barrymore](https://film.one/media/person/1229223/gallery-7fbf8224963b.jpg) John Barrymore — Image via TMDB - ![John Barrymore](https://film.one/media/person/1229223/gallery-0813ad2b88b3.jpg) John Barrymore — Image via TMDB - ![Madge Evans and John Barrymore in Dinner at Eight](https://film.one/media/person/1229223/gallery-fc9c1ec3763c.jpg) Madge Evans and John Barrymore in Dinner at Eight — Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/22/Madge_Evans_and_John_Barrymore_-_Dinner_at_Eight_%281933%29_%2851955655559%29.jpg/1280px-Madge_Evans_and_John_Barrymore_-_Dinner_at_Eight_%281933%29_%2851955655559%29.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail) - ![Title: Jack Barrymore Abstract/medium: 1 negative : glass ; 5 x 7 in. or smaller. (1900)](https://film.one/media/person/1229223/gallery-061590a67c4b.jpg) Title: Jack Barrymore Abstract/medium: 1 negative : glass ; 5 x 7 in. or smaller. (1900) — Bain News Service, publisher, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/fc/Jack_Barrymore_LCCN2014713462.jpg/1280px-Jack_Barrymore_LCCN2014713462.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail) - ![John Barrymore](https://film.one/media/person/1229223/gallery-0a5ee4f41ae7.jpg) John Barrymore — Image via TMDB - ![John Barrymore](https://film.one/media/person/1229223/gallery-b15424e17b70.jpg) John Barrymore — Image via TMDB --- © Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/person/john-barrymore