Maurice Barrymore
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| Maurice Barrymore | |
 Maurice Barrymore as Mr. Weilding in 'Captain Swift', 1891 |
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| Birth name | Herbert Arthur Chamberlayne Blyth |
| Born | September 21, 1849 Amritsar, Punjab, India |
| Died | March 26, 1905 Amityville, New York, USA[1] |
| Spouse(s) | Georgiana Drew Barrymore |
Herbert Arthur Chamberlayne Blyth (September 21, 1849 – March 26, 1905) is the patriarch of the Barrymore acting family and great-grandfather of actress Drew Barrymore.
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[edit] Early Life
Born Herbert Arthur Chamberlayne Blyth in Amritsar, Punjab, India, he was the son of a surveyor for the British East India Company. He was sent back to England for education at Harrow School, England and studied Law at Oxford University. On March 21, 1872 he won the middleweight boxing championship of England. His father expected him to become a barrister, but Herbert fell in with a group of actors, which scandalized the elder Blyth. In order to spare his father the "shame" of having a son in such a "dissolute" vocation, he took the stage name Maurice Barrymore, inspired by a conversation he had with fellow actor Charles Vandenhoff about William Barrymore, an early 19th-Century English thespian after seeing a poster depicting Barrymore in the Haymarket Theatre. He wanted his first name to be pronounced in the French manner (môr-ĒS) instead of the English (MÔR-is). His friends avoided that altogether by simply calling him "Barry". [1]
[edit] Career
On December 29, 1874 he boarded the SS America for Boston, and joined Augustin Daly's troupe making his debut in Under the Gaslight.
He made his Broadway debut in December 1875 in Pique; in the cast was a young actress, Georgiana Drew. They married on December 31, 1876, and had three children: Lionel, Ethel, and John. Georgiana died July 2, 1893 from consumption, and Barrymore re-married exactly one year after her death to Mamie Floyd. During his career, Maurice Barrymore played opposite many stars of the time including Helena Modjeska, Mrs. Fiske, Olga Nethersole, Lillian Russell, and Lily Langtry.
On March 19, 1879, in Marshall, Texas, he and fellow actor Ben Porter were shot by an intoxicated Texas and Pacific Railway engineer named Jim Currie (who shared a cell with the accused killer of Diamond Bessie). Porter was killed; doctors spent the night operating on Barrymore to save his life. He made a full recovery, and returned to Marshall for the legal maneuverings that followed. Currie's brother was mayor of Shreveport, Louisiana and apparently used his influence to secure a not guilty verdict (after a 10 minute deliberation). An enraged Barrymore vowed never to return to Texas.
According to a 2004 A&E Biography piece, after the Ben Porter tragedy, Maurice asked Georgiana to tour with him and Helena Modjeska in a play he had written. Georgiana and the children had converted to Roman Catholicism under Helena's influence. Learning that he and Helena had resumed their romance, Georgiana, who had been given ownership the play by Maurice, forced his hand by closing it. Helena's husband, its producer, sued her. The real reason for Georgiana's actions never got into the press. However, Maurice's many dalliances did make the tabloids.
[edit] Death
He eventually became infected with syphilis. The March 25, 1905 New York Times reported: "He was playing a vaudeville engagement at a Harlem theatre when he suddenly dropped his lines and began to rave. The following day he became violent and was taken to Bellevue insane ward by his son John." He died in his sleep, and was buried by Ethel at Glenwood Cemetery in Philadelphia[2] .
