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Damned in Paradise: The Life of John Barrymore
The central mystery of the life of John Barrymore is his epic self-destruction. Barrymore, it would seem, willed, embraced the instruments of his own fall. Endowed with rare physical grace and beauty, surpassing brilliant as both comedian and tragedian, wit, boonfellow, lover, a caricaturist of no mean ability, art collector, scholar, yachtsman, sportsman, he stood for a time at the pinnacle of both his professional and social community. But Barrymore chose to walk a steeply graded downward path - the process had begun even as his fame soared - into debasement and disintegration.
401 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1977
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
December 2, 2023
The name of Barrymore has resonated on the Broadway stage and in film since the early 19th century and the family acting tradition is still alive in the presence of Drew Barrymore, granddaughter of the most controversial, reckless and tragic of them all.
The Great Profile (John Barrymore's face looked like it could have come from a Roman coin) was one of the great Shakespearean actors of the early 20th century but was equally as talented in light comedic roles. Tiring of the repetition of Broadway, he went to Hollywood to offer his talent for films. He initially had great success, especially during the silent era but then his alcoholism started to tell on his performances. He certainly made some wonderful appearances in talking films such as Grand Hotel and Dinner at Eight but he grew undependable, showing up drunk on the set and generally being obnoxious. When he began to forget his lines, the director had to use blackboards with the lines written on them to get through the filming. His womanizing was notorious and his four marriages were all failures.
He ended up in low-budget films and on radio where he parodied himself which was so very tragic. Unfortunately, his love of alcohol was passed to two of his children, John Drew Barrymore (Drew's father) and Diana Barrymore who both died from the disease.
This book covers his acting career and we meet many of the great names of the past from Broadway and Hollywood as well as John's talented sister and brother, Ethel and Lionel. It is a look inside the life of one of the greats, whose later reputation can never dim the fact that he was one of the finest actors in history.
The Great Profile (John Barrymore's face looked like it could have come from a Roman coin) was one of the great Shakespearean actors of the early 20th century but was equally as talented in light comedic roles. Tiring of the repetition of Broadway, he went to Hollywood to offer his talent for films. He initially had great success, especially during the silent era but then his alcoholism started to tell on his performances. He certainly made some wonderful appearances in talking films such as Grand Hotel and Dinner at Eight but he grew undependable, showing up drunk on the set and generally being obnoxious. When he began to forget his lines, the director had to use blackboards with the lines written on them to get through the filming. His womanizing was notorious and his four marriages were all failures.
He ended up in low-budget films and on radio where he parodied himself which was so very tragic. Unfortunately, his love of alcohol was passed to two of his children, John Drew Barrymore (Drew's father) and Diana Barrymore who both died from the disease.
This book covers his acting career and we meet many of the great names of the past from Broadway and Hollywood as well as John's talented sister and brother, Ethel and Lionel. It is a look inside the life of one of the greats, whose later reputation can never dim the fact that he was one of the finest actors in history.
June 21, 2013
Story of a pitiful soul who always lived life to the fullest.
March 20, 2020
Gawd, I'm glad that's over.
I picked up this book because I was directing a production of I Hate Hamlet, in which the ghost of John Barrymore plays a prominent role. I started this book about halfway through the rehearsal process--mid February, maybe? I finished it yesterday, 3/18/2020. So what took me so long? For starters, the typeface is small and each page is very dense. I had to squint a lot. As a result, no matter how hard I tried, the book put me to sleep on numerous attempts. Second, in addition to being dense in appearance, the language itself is very dense. John Kebler has an extraordinary vocabulary, so I had to keep a dictionary by my side while I read. The subject of Kebler's book, and a good many of his associates, also had superb vocabularies, so the direct quotations offered little respite. Finally, and this goes straight to the heart of the matter...comparatively little of the book is actually about John Barrymore. It covers the entire Barrymore brood, from his progenitors up until his death, and I got a little frustrated trying to learn more about the man.
The man himself emerges as tragic. I am not qualified enough to judge whether or not he had a death wish, but he certainly behaved as a man indifferent to fate. Among his other shortcomings, he had a fatally short attention span. He brought unmatched talent and unparalleled eloquence to nearly every role he played in his younger years...but he would get bored with the roles and move on to other endeavors, many of which offered little call for his abundant talent. Further, it must be said, his unwavering alcoholism surely killed both him and his career. As the character in I Hate Hamlet says, Barrymore's alcoholism-induced blackouts caused his memory to fail him when he made the switch from stage to screen. Despite the draw of his name, producers and directors grew reluctant to employ him because of how much time and money he cost them while production was delayed due to his scramble to recall his lines. His devotion to the bottle hampered his career, his finances, his emotions, and of course his marriages, four in total, each of which ended in fiery turmoil. His final marriage, to an insignificant wannabe starlet named Elaine Jacobs, may have brought about his end even more prematurely.
This biography of Barrymore delivers its story effectively; it's just that its story is not always the story of John himself. I learned about his grandparents, his parents, his brother and his sister, his daughter (scant mention is made of his son), but relatively little about John Barrymore himself. His career ended with a stage performance of a toilet paper quality script called My Dear Children. The performances sold out on a regular basis, not because of Barrymore's transcendent skills, but because of how far he wandered from the script in an effort to make a parody of himself. People were not laughing with him. To those who cared about him, and there were quite a few people who genuinely cared, watching his downfall must have been excruciating.
Before I picked up this book, I was curious if I would want to know more about Barrymore when I was finished. It was so damn depressing that I think I've had enough.
I picked up this book because I was directing a production of I Hate Hamlet, in which the ghost of John Barrymore plays a prominent role. I started this book about halfway through the rehearsal process--mid February, maybe? I finished it yesterday, 3/18/2020. So what took me so long? For starters, the typeface is small and each page is very dense. I had to squint a lot. As a result, no matter how hard I tried, the book put me to sleep on numerous attempts. Second, in addition to being dense in appearance, the language itself is very dense. John Kebler has an extraordinary vocabulary, so I had to keep a dictionary by my side while I read. The subject of Kebler's book, and a good many of his associates, also had superb vocabularies, so the direct quotations offered little respite. Finally, and this goes straight to the heart of the matter...comparatively little of the book is actually about John Barrymore. It covers the entire Barrymore brood, from his progenitors up until his death, and I got a little frustrated trying to learn more about the man.
The man himself emerges as tragic. I am not qualified enough to judge whether or not he had a death wish, but he certainly behaved as a man indifferent to fate. Among his other shortcomings, he had a fatally short attention span. He brought unmatched talent and unparalleled eloquence to nearly every role he played in his younger years...but he would get bored with the roles and move on to other endeavors, many of which offered little call for his abundant talent. Further, it must be said, his unwavering alcoholism surely killed both him and his career. As the character in I Hate Hamlet says, Barrymore's alcoholism-induced blackouts caused his memory to fail him when he made the switch from stage to screen. Despite the draw of his name, producers and directors grew reluctant to employ him because of how much time and money he cost them while production was delayed due to his scramble to recall his lines. His devotion to the bottle hampered his career, his finances, his emotions, and of course his marriages, four in total, each of which ended in fiery turmoil. His final marriage, to an insignificant wannabe starlet named Elaine Jacobs, may have brought about his end even more prematurely.
This biography of Barrymore delivers its story effectively; it's just that its story is not always the story of John himself. I learned about his grandparents, his parents, his brother and his sister, his daughter (scant mention is made of his son), but relatively little about John Barrymore himself. His career ended with a stage performance of a toilet paper quality script called My Dear Children. The performances sold out on a regular basis, not because of Barrymore's transcendent skills, but because of how far he wandered from the script in an effort to make a parody of himself. People were not laughing with him. To those who cared about him, and there were quite a few people who genuinely cared, watching his downfall must have been excruciating.
Before I picked up this book, I was curious if I would want to know more about Barrymore when I was finished. It was so damn depressing that I think I've had enough.
October 9, 2017
A good biography, this - well-researched and well-written too. I must admit I skipped some pages at the beginning because it went quite far back into the family history for a while there. There were also some personal letters quoted at great length which I felt was unnecessary, but otherwise this was an entertaining and intelligent read that told me what I wanted to know about Barrymore. His Shakespeare performances sound like they really must have been something to see - what a shame he didn't leave a bunch of great films behind him.
January 1, 2008
John Barrymore never really took acting seriously but despite his attitude to treat it as a money-making enterprise, he elevated the craft when he wholeheartedly participated as an intelligent witty performer. Many of his performances, especially of Shakespeare, stand emblazoned in the memories of those who loved him. Towards the end of his life, hastened by women, booze and cigarettes, he was unable, like so many Hollywood leading men, to accept what he was with who he was perceived to be (a living legend, the great profile, etc.), and so banked off his reputation as he destroyed it with relish. His personal life is familiar, a boozer, a brawler, a charmer and a misogynist, with a succession of wives until he reached the last one, desperate for youth, dying of excess, the gold-digger sinks her talons into him as he drips bad performance after bad performance and hemorrhages money until he dies alone but cherished in memory.
October 13, 2015
I'm still scratching my head over how many stars to give this, but I'll give it three for now. This is a long, heavy book looking in detail not only at John/Jack Barrymore but at the whole Barrymore clan. There are some real funny passages in it and some real sad passages but some of the stories attributed to John Barrymore in recent years on the Internet are not in here.
Barrymore was one of those self-destructive geniuses who was never happy about anything. Although one of the world's most celebrated actors, he really REALLY wanted to be a painter and so never got over the disappointment. His death/slow suicide by alcohol is at times tragic to read but also at times hysterical.
He was a confusing man and so it's no wonder that this biography of him leaves confused feelings in this reader.
Barrymore was one of those self-destructive geniuses who was never happy about anything. Although one of the world's most celebrated actors, he really REALLY wanted to be a painter and so never got over the disappointment. His death/slow suicide by alcohol is at times tragic to read but also at times hysterical.
He was a confusing man and so it's no wonder that this biography of him leaves confused feelings in this reader.
October 2, 2012
I now know waaaaaay more about John Barrymore than I ever did. He was an interesting guy. The last chapter (essentially a round up of what happened to all of his kids and Ex-wives) seemed a bit unnecessary.
December 27, 2021
Tragic, romantic, witty, and occasionally laugh-out-loud funny--much like John Barrymore himself. Easily captures the winking egotism of a larger-than-life theatrical and cinematic personality who was very much in on the joke of his own aggrandized self-importance.
November 30, 2008
An alright history of John Barrymore that tended to focus a lot of the people he was around more than on John himself.
June 17, 2009
Illuminating biography of a great actor, but sad to read about someone so self-destructive.
August 8, 2010
really interesting....stopped in the middle of other books to
get through this one....they knew everyone who was famous or
notorious.... reminds me of the brilliance of Mia Farrow's family
get through this one....they knew everyone who was famous or
notorious.... reminds me of the brilliance of Mia Farrow's family
March 2, 2014
Interesting actor, and a fairly well-written book with good details and following the arc of Barrymore's career and accomplishments. Just wish someone would write a more updated bio on the actor.
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews