LOS ANGELES (AP) – Actor John D. Barrymore, the father of Drew Barrymore, died Monday, the actress said. He was 72. “He was a cool cat. Please smile when you think of him,” Drew Barrymore said in a statement issued by her publicist. John D. Barrymore was part of an acting dynasty that included his father, John Barrymore, and his father’s siblings, Lionel Barrymore and Ethel Barrymore. John D. Barrymore was born in Beverly Hills on June 4, 1932. His mother was actress Dolores Costello.
–Our real Royal Family of the theater, despite the fact that this John never really took off. Goes back to Maurice Barrymore (1849-1905), who married into the Drew family, who started acting with John Drew (1827-1862) and his wife Louisa lane Drew (1820-1897). Glad little Drewski is keeping up the family tradition.
I’m amazed he lived as long as he did, with his drinkin’ and smokin’ and druggin’.
A number of early deaths in the family: Maurice Barrymore died of, umm, a “social disease” at 56. His daughter Georgianna Drew Barrymore (a wonderful comedienne) died of tuberculosis at 37. John Barrymore drank himself to death at 60. The first John Drew died after a fall downstairs at age 35, in 1862. Diana Barrymore (the recently-deceased John’s half-sister) drank herself to death in 1960, age 38. Cousin Sidney Drew died at 56 in 1919, and his wife, Lucille Drew, died at 35 in 1925. Their son, actor S. Rankin Drew, died in WWI at age 26.
“Cool cat” in this case translates as completely derelict and occasionally transient old fart who not only never paid child support but by Drew’s own admission used to call her up when she was living as David Crosby’s foster-child and scream “I know you just made another movie you little bitch! Send me some money NOW!” The world is no worse for his being mulch, but it is an interesting family. (John Sr. used to claim he was the illegitimate son of Buffalo Bill, though it’s highly doubtful.)
I believe John Drew Barrymore appeared in a few “Gunsmoke” episodes and an episode of “Wild, Wild West”. So, it’s possible to see him in one of his rare acting jobs. Here is his IMDB’s listing:
John Barrymore, bless his little cotton socks, said just about everything during his 60 years on earth. It was his Dad, Maurice, who screwed everything that walked, though. His Mom, Georgianna Drew, was inexplicably faithful and I seriously doubt she was plugged by Buffalo Bill.
Here is a photo of Maurice and Georgianna Drew Barrymore, the recently deceased’s grandparents. Gorgeous couple!
I believe He was originally cast in the ST:TOS episode…Lazarus, I believe…the one where the guy and his evil twin are locked in battle at each other’s throats for eternity.
So … um … what’s with all the “Drew” middle names in their family line?
And does this mean that John D. simply couldn’t think up a first name for his daughter?
The Drews were a famous acting family long before the Barrymores—they intermarried in the mid-19th centiry, but I think it’s nice that the family has kept the “Drew” name alive.
I think it was Andy Warhol who said that “In the future everybody will have David Crosby as a father for fifteen minutes.” (In addition to his “official progeny” [he once had two girlfriends pregnant at the same time], unofficially adopting Drew and serving as a male Hagar for Melissa Etheridge, he formed a band with one adult illegitimate son he didn’t know existed until recently.)
So apparently John D. Barrymore (the one who just died) had a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame (along with his father, uncle, aunt, and his daughter Drew). Anybody know why? I thought he was pretty much a failed B-level actor.