Lionel Barrymore (born Lionel Herbert Blythe; April 28, 1878 â€"
November 15, 1954) was an American actor of stage, screen and radio as
well as a film director. He won an Academy Award for Best Actor for
his performance in A Free Soul (1931), and remains best known to
modern audiences for the role of villainous Mr. Potter in Frank
Capra's 1946 film It's a Wonderful Life.He is also particularly
remembered as Ebenezer Scrooge in annual broadcasts of A Christmas
Carol during his last two decades. He is also known for playing Dr.
Leonard Gillespie in MGM's nine Dr. Kildare films, a role he reprised
in a further six films focusing solely on Gillespie and in a radio
series entitled The Story of Dr. Kildare. He was a member of the
theatrical Barrymore family.Lionel Barrymore was born Lionel Herbert
Blythe in Philadelphia, the son of actors Georgiana Drew Barrymore and
Maurice Barrymore (born Herbert Arthur Chamberlayne Blythe). He was
the elder brother of Ethel and John Barrymore, the uncle of John Drew
Barrymore and Diana Barrymore and the great-uncle of Drew Barrymore,
among other members of the Barrymore family. He attended private
schools as a child, including the Art Students League of New York.
While raised a Roman Catholic, Barrymore attended the Episcopal
Academy in Philadelphia. Barrymore graduated from Seton Hall
Preparatory School, the Roman Catholic college prep school, in the
class of 1891.He was married twice, to actresses Doris Rankin and
Irene Fenwick, a one-time lover of his brother, John. Doris's sister
Gladys was married to Lionel's uncle Sidney Drew, which made Gladys
both his aunt and sister-in-law. Doris Rankin bore Lionel two
daughters, Ethel Barrymore II (1908 â€" 1910) and Mary Barrymore (1916
â€" 1917). Neither child survived infancy. Barrymore never truly
recovered from the deaths of his girls, and their loss undoubtedly
strained his marriage to Doris Rankin, which ended in 1923. Years
later, Barrymore developed a fatherly affection for Jean Harlow, who
was born about the same time as his daughters. When Harlow died in
1937, Barrymore and Clark Gable mourned her as though she had been
family.
November 15, 1954) was an American actor of stage, screen and radio as
well as a film director. He won an Academy Award for Best Actor for
his performance in A Free Soul (1931), and remains best known to
modern audiences for the role of villainous Mr. Potter in Frank
Capra's 1946 film It's a Wonderful Life.He is also particularly
remembered as Ebenezer Scrooge in annual broadcasts of A Christmas
Carol during his last two decades. He is also known for playing Dr.
Leonard Gillespie in MGM's nine Dr. Kildare films, a role he reprised
in a further six films focusing solely on Gillespie and in a radio
series entitled The Story of Dr. Kildare. He was a member of the
theatrical Barrymore family.Lionel Barrymore was born Lionel Herbert
Blythe in Philadelphia, the son of actors Georgiana Drew Barrymore and
Maurice Barrymore (born Herbert Arthur Chamberlayne Blythe). He was
the elder brother of Ethel and John Barrymore, the uncle of John Drew
Barrymore and Diana Barrymore and the great-uncle of Drew Barrymore,
among other members of the Barrymore family. He attended private
schools as a child, including the Art Students League of New York.
While raised a Roman Catholic, Barrymore attended the Episcopal
Academy in Philadelphia. Barrymore graduated from Seton Hall
Preparatory School, the Roman Catholic college prep school, in the
class of 1891.He was married twice, to actresses Doris Rankin and
Irene Fenwick, a one-time lover of his brother, John. Doris's sister
Gladys was married to Lionel's uncle Sidney Drew, which made Gladys
both his aunt and sister-in-law. Doris Rankin bore Lionel two
daughters, Ethel Barrymore II (1908 â€" 1910) and Mary Barrymore (1916
â€" 1917). Neither child survived infancy. Barrymore never truly
recovered from the deaths of his girls, and their loss undoubtedly
strained his marriage to Doris Rankin, which ended in 1923. Years
later, Barrymore developed a fatherly affection for Jean Harlow, who
was born about the same time as his daughters. When Harlow died in
1937, Barrymore and Clark Gable mourned her as though she had been
family.
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