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Memories: An Autobiography
This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it.
This work is in the public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work.
Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. To ensure a quality reading experience, this work has been proofread and republished using a format that seamlessly blends the original graphical elements with text in an easy-to-read typeface.
We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.
This work is in the public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work.
Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. To ensure a quality reading experience, this work has been proofread and republished using a format that seamlessly blends the original graphical elements with text in an easy-to-read typeface.
We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.
310 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1955
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About the author
Ethel Barrymore
10 booksEthel Barrymore apparently mainly on stage won an academy award in 1944 for
None but the Lonely Heart
; this family of American actors includes Lionel Barrymore and John Barrymore, her brothers.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethel_B...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethel_B...
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
October 21, 2020
What shines through her writing is that Miss Ethel Barrymore was a true lady.
The title "Memories" is very apt, as it consists on loosely connected short paragraphs about people she met, often just a remark from them that impressed her. The memories are chronologically organized (she strives to follow the sound advice of the King of Hearts to Alice) but many of the names she mentions have been forgotten or probably not so well known outside her circle. Still, it is nice to meet in her pages Oscar Wilde, Anthony Hope (she remembers being in the party where he met his Flavia), Hilaire Belloc and James Barrie reading to a group of children, W. Somerset Maugham, both the English and the American Winston Churchills. Lots of famous theatre actors, British and American, are also mentioned. There is very little about her film years, when she decided that after 50 years on the stage she'd turn to the easier job of making movies.
Though several of the previous generations of her family were prominent in theatre, she started her career at 16 from the very bottom, lodging in the cheapest hotels in each town and dining on milk and crackers, because that's all her salary would afford.
She was a great reader and has a long section about her favorite books and authors.
“There were some stories by a new writer named Rudyard Kipling. I loved them as I kept on loving everything that Kipling wrote. I feel the same way toward the people who think it isn’t intellectual to read him as I do toward the people who don’t like Beethoven.” She also does not like people who criticize "Little Lord Fauntleroy" without having read it, and thought that Burnett's ability in completely different genres was amazing.
I did not know many of the American authors from the 1890s whose books she liked, and I have added a few to my to-read list.
The title "Memories" is very apt, as it consists on loosely connected short paragraphs about people she met, often just a remark from them that impressed her. The memories are chronologically organized (she strives to follow the sound advice of the King of Hearts to Alice) but many of the names she mentions have been forgotten or probably not so well known outside her circle. Still, it is nice to meet in her pages Oscar Wilde, Anthony Hope (she remembers being in the party where he met his Flavia), Hilaire Belloc and James Barrie reading to a group of children, W. Somerset Maugham, both the English and the American Winston Churchills. Lots of famous theatre actors, British and American, are also mentioned. There is very little about her film years, when she decided that after 50 years on the stage she'd turn to the easier job of making movies.
Though several of the previous generations of her family were prominent in theatre, she started her career at 16 from the very bottom, lodging in the cheapest hotels in each town and dining on milk and crackers, because that's all her salary would afford.
She was a great reader and has a long section about her favorite books and authors.
“There were some stories by a new writer named Rudyard Kipling. I loved them as I kept on loving everything that Kipling wrote. I feel the same way toward the people who think it isn’t intellectual to read him as I do toward the people who don’t like Beethoven.” She also does not like people who criticize "Little Lord Fauntleroy" without having read it, and thought that Burnett's ability in completely different genres was amazing.
I did not know many of the American authors from the 1890s whose books she liked, and I have added a few to my to-read list.
May 27, 2022
There were some entertaining anecdotes and background on the Barrymore family but it was more of memoire than an autobiography. I was expecting it to go a little deeper. However, it is interesting to hear about Ethel Barrymore's life from her own point of view.
October 1, 2016
I saw a remark that this book was "tedious" and the person making the comment only thought it was interesting because Ethel Barrymore knew JM Barrie. I'd like to say that comment is only a reflection of the arrogance of the person who wrote it. Contrary to them, I was impressed with Ethel Barrymore's life and appreciative of such an in-depth look into her world and all the wonderful people and friends she had all over the globe. She did not dwell on her acting. Though the memoir recounts the plays and tours, her life was about the people she knew, and there were many, mostly famous, and of substance. I often wanted to go on line and learn more about her friends but it would have turned into a very long time on line and I wanted to read the book. She lived through WWI, the Depression, and WWII and saw a tremendous change in the world from the turn of the last century to the time of her death in 1959. Her memoir takes the reader on a journey from her beginnings in Philadelphia to England and on several trans Atlantic and cross country tours of the U.S. She spent 50 years performing on stage and I regret not being able to have seen her, as I would have loved to have seen her little brother John, and her father Maurice. She did not write much about her early film work, her life was on stage. Her work in Hollywood is only a mere fraction of what she did and I'll be grateful to see any films with her as I can.
March 6, 2020
A very surprising read, this turn out to be. I went into this, knowing Miss Barrymore was going to be talking, for the most part, about her theater work. She was on the stage, for 50 years of her life and I can completely understand, why she would talk mostly about her life on the stage. I'm not too educated, on the lifestyle actors live through, on stage. So I wasn't for sure, if I would be able to really enjoy reading this. I wanted to read this to complete the Barrymore siblings autobiographies. And to learn, what her viewpoint was like, growing up with Lionel and John, as siblings. I was a little disappointed, that she doesn't give much detail, about their childhood. What I learned about Ethel is, she wasn't big on describing her personal life. So there really isn't any stories, about the brothers from her. Ethel and Lionel, lived in England, for two years, when they're little, but Ethel doesn't say anything, about what they were up to either together, or on their own.
After their mother passed away, when Ethel was just a month shy of turning 14. Ethel was sort of on her own. She spent a few years at a convent which she said, she really enjoyed her time, with the nuns. When she was around 16, she was put, in her Uncle John's theater troupe and started her long career as a stage actress. You can feel, the love she felt for the stage work she did. For the most part, besides being a mom to three children, stage acting meant a lot to her. She didn't like, making movies and felt, it was lazy work. I'm not sure, if she meant for this to come through in her book, but while reading this, I couldn't help but feel, she and Lionel weren't too close. She hardly brings his name up and when it does come up, I can't help but feel, she felt a bit of disappointment in him. As for John, she only had loving thoughts about him.
With so many years on the stage, Ethel met a lot of famous people, either writers, journalist, actors, and politicians. There are so many names mention, that sadly due to, too many years from this being written, most of them are forgotten in today's world and they don't, bring anything to the book. But with all these unknown names and really no great detail in the stories Ethel shared, I'm glad I read her book. I wasn't bored by her stories and feel, she must have been an amazing actress on stage that sadly, due to no way in that time, to record the plays, we today have sadly missed a chance, to see her in her prime.
After their mother passed away, when Ethel was just a month shy of turning 14. Ethel was sort of on her own. She spent a few years at a convent which she said, she really enjoyed her time, with the nuns. When she was around 16, she was put, in her Uncle John's theater troupe and started her long career as a stage actress. You can feel, the love she felt for the stage work she did. For the most part, besides being a mom to three children, stage acting meant a lot to her. She didn't like, making movies and felt, it was lazy work. I'm not sure, if she meant for this to come through in her book, but while reading this, I couldn't help but feel, she and Lionel weren't too close. She hardly brings his name up and when it does come up, I can't help but feel, she felt a bit of disappointment in him. As for John, she only had loving thoughts about him.
With so many years on the stage, Ethel met a lot of famous people, either writers, journalist, actors, and politicians. There are so many names mention, that sadly due to, too many years from this being written, most of them are forgotten in today's world and they don't, bring anything to the book. But with all these unknown names and really no great detail in the stories Ethel shared, I'm glad I read her book. I wasn't bored by her stories and feel, she must have been an amazing actress on stage that sadly, due to no way in that time, to record the plays, we today have sadly missed a chance, to see her in her prime.
August 11, 2024
I love biography and autobiography, but this one is very dull. There is no ghost writer credited and I therefore assume that Ethel was a great actress, but a poor writer.
To Ethel Barrymore, everyone and every event was "nice," "fine," "pleasant," "lovely," and/or "charming." She finishes her description of making the movie "None But the Lonely Heart" by saying "And of course it was very pleasant later to get the Oscar."
She was born into a wealthy and privileged world and shows little sensitivity for anyone beyond the hundreds of names she drops throughout the book. An example: She went to a premiere in the middle of the depression, which did not affect her at all, and found it "very different from those that I had heard about and read about when the bystanders applauded the people who drove by them in big cars. This time there was no applause. The onlookers on the sidewalks were silent and sullen as people wearing furs and jewels rode by them in the big cars. It was a very uncomfortable experience."
I devoted two days to this book. Don't waste YOUR time.
Instead read "Too Much, Too Soon" by her grandniece Diana Barrymore...10 times more interesting!
To Ethel Barrymore, everyone and every event was "nice," "fine," "pleasant," "lovely," and/or "charming." She finishes her description of making the movie "None But the Lonely Heart" by saying "And of course it was very pleasant later to get the Oscar."
She was born into a wealthy and privileged world and shows little sensitivity for anyone beyond the hundreds of names she drops throughout the book. An example: She went to a premiere in the middle of the depression, which did not affect her at all, and found it "very different from those that I had heard about and read about when the bystanders applauded the people who drove by them in big cars. This time there was no applause. The onlookers on the sidewalks were silent and sullen as people wearing furs and jewels rode by them in the big cars. It was a very uncomfortable experience."
I devoted two days to this book. Don't waste YOUR time.
Instead read "Too Much, Too Soon" by her grandniece Diana Barrymore...10 times more interesting!
September 18, 2022
Reading this book was like having a conversation with Ethel Barrymore, one of the few true Dames of 20th Century Entertainment who rightfully holds the title of “The First Lady of the American Theater.” (Forget Helen Hayes; Ethel’s family lineage and theatrical career was far more in depth, which you’ll find out if you read this book.)
To say that she grew up in a theatrical family is an understatement. Ethel Barrymore was literally smothered in the up and down world of acting, and was exposed to very little else throughout her childhood and on into adulthood. She grew up in the Philadelphia of the 1880s and 1890s, in a house that contained all of her immediate family on her mother’s side as well as her father, an English immigrant who dismissed a career in civil service to become an actor. Every member of the household was an actor and all of them performed at various periods of their careers at her grandmother’s theater a few blocks from their home. When they weren’t doing that, they toured, primarily throughout the United States, Canada and The United Kingdom. Her grandmother, the great Louisa Lane Drew, presided over them all, in addition to managing and acting in her fabled Arch Street Theater.
At age six she’s enrolled in the Academy of Norte Dame, a convent in Philadelphia where she works hard at being a first rate pianist and then dreams of becoming one. She rarely sees her parents during this period of her childhood due to their constant touring. Unfortunately for her, she’s abruptly pulled out of the convent at age 13 to accompany her sick mother to Santa Barbara where, shortly upon their arrival, she dies from tuberculosis. She was then saddled with the sadder task of accompanying her mother’s body back to Philadelphia and then promptly returned to the convent, only to be pulled out for good a year later and made to work in “the family trade.”
On being forced to become an actress at age 15 she states:
“I had thought I was going to be a great pianist, with fine dreams of Vienna and Leschetitzky. But suddenly there was no money, no Arch Street Theatre, no house, and I must earn my living. No one talked about it; no one talked about it at all ever. But there I was on the stage, and so began an apprenticeship which was to last for more than half a century. I found myself a pawn – a very unimportant thing that gets moved around a lot. I don’t remember ever being told anything by anyone. Once when I did ask Mummum (nickname for her grandmother) something about acting she lifted her eyebrows and said ‘You should know that without being told.’ It always seems to be taken for granted that I would know what to do without being told. Of course I didn’t.”
From there, Mis Barrymore breezes through the “theatrical seasons” of her long and memorable career. It’s tough going for her at first which is interesting because even though she comes from one of the most famous theatrical families in the world, she still had to slog in the trenches. But as we all know she makes it, and she makes it Big, although it was nice to learn that she earned it the hard way.
My only problem with this book is that Miss Barrymore never gives the reader any dates to mark all the significant milestones in her life. In fact, she never states one single date throughout her narrative including the date when she was born. Periods and moments of significance are referenced as “That summer I returned to London,” or, “After that I played in” or “We toured in it for months” or “It was when I was on tour that I first met” or “Towards the end of the long, long run of” or “That summer we went to” … you get the idea.
Other than that trifle, it’s a lovely and very entertaining read. But as I said, it reads like you’re having a conversation with The Great Lady and I kept finding myself wanting to interrupt (gently and with respect of course) and ask “And … what year was this taking place Miss Barrymore?” Or, “You said during the summer … the summer of what year?”
Clearly Miss Barrymore couldn’t be bothered with details like a timeline and I could easily see her dismissing me for asking … and then telling me never to return to boot. What we learn is that she is an Artist, and a strong woman who’s going to tell her story the way she wants to tell it and include what she thinks is important. This includes the hundreds of books she read, all the authors she admires, all the artists she admires, all the places she’s been, all the famous people she meets (and boy, does she meet a lot of them) and above all, her love of London and everything English. She has lots of famous suitors too (I won’t give any away because they’re fun to read about) before settling down at around age 30 with a very rich non-actor, largely to my mind for the financial security.
I’ll close with what I believe was her best explanation of herself:
“Often and often I have been asked how, when I was a young, shy girl staying in cities I had never been before, I came to know so many people. The only answer I have ever found for that question is, I haven’t the faintest idea. All of the sudden I just knew people and they were my friends. Perhaps one reason was that I was always interested in everything – in music, books, paintings, politics, baseball, and above all – in people.”
A must read for all people interested in acting and the theater.
To say that she grew up in a theatrical family is an understatement. Ethel Barrymore was literally smothered in the up and down world of acting, and was exposed to very little else throughout her childhood and on into adulthood. She grew up in the Philadelphia of the 1880s and 1890s, in a house that contained all of her immediate family on her mother’s side as well as her father, an English immigrant who dismissed a career in civil service to become an actor. Every member of the household was an actor and all of them performed at various periods of their careers at her grandmother’s theater a few blocks from their home. When they weren’t doing that, they toured, primarily throughout the United States, Canada and The United Kingdom. Her grandmother, the great Louisa Lane Drew, presided over them all, in addition to managing and acting in her fabled Arch Street Theater.
At age six she’s enrolled in the Academy of Norte Dame, a convent in Philadelphia where she works hard at being a first rate pianist and then dreams of becoming one. She rarely sees her parents during this period of her childhood due to their constant touring. Unfortunately for her, she’s abruptly pulled out of the convent at age 13 to accompany her sick mother to Santa Barbara where, shortly upon their arrival, she dies from tuberculosis. She was then saddled with the sadder task of accompanying her mother’s body back to Philadelphia and then promptly returned to the convent, only to be pulled out for good a year later and made to work in “the family trade.”
On being forced to become an actress at age 15 she states:
“I had thought I was going to be a great pianist, with fine dreams of Vienna and Leschetitzky. But suddenly there was no money, no Arch Street Theatre, no house, and I must earn my living. No one talked about it; no one talked about it at all ever. But there I was on the stage, and so began an apprenticeship which was to last for more than half a century. I found myself a pawn – a very unimportant thing that gets moved around a lot. I don’t remember ever being told anything by anyone. Once when I did ask Mummum (nickname for her grandmother) something about acting she lifted her eyebrows and said ‘You should know that without being told.’ It always seems to be taken for granted that I would know what to do without being told. Of course I didn’t.”
From there, Mis Barrymore breezes through the “theatrical seasons” of her long and memorable career. It’s tough going for her at first which is interesting because even though she comes from one of the most famous theatrical families in the world, she still had to slog in the trenches. But as we all know she makes it, and she makes it Big, although it was nice to learn that she earned it the hard way.
My only problem with this book is that Miss Barrymore never gives the reader any dates to mark all the significant milestones in her life. In fact, she never states one single date throughout her narrative including the date when she was born. Periods and moments of significance are referenced as “That summer I returned to London,” or, “After that I played in” or “We toured in it for months” or “It was when I was on tour that I first met” or “Towards the end of the long, long run of” or “That summer we went to” … you get the idea.
Other than that trifle, it’s a lovely and very entertaining read. But as I said, it reads like you’re having a conversation with The Great Lady and I kept finding myself wanting to interrupt (gently and with respect of course) and ask “And … what year was this taking place Miss Barrymore?” Or, “You said during the summer … the summer of what year?”
Clearly Miss Barrymore couldn’t be bothered with details like a timeline and I could easily see her dismissing me for asking … and then telling me never to return to boot. What we learn is that she is an Artist, and a strong woman who’s going to tell her story the way she wants to tell it and include what she thinks is important. This includes the hundreds of books she read, all the authors she admires, all the artists she admires, all the places she’s been, all the famous people she meets (and boy, does she meet a lot of them) and above all, her love of London and everything English. She has lots of famous suitors too (I won’t give any away because they’re fun to read about) before settling down at around age 30 with a very rich non-actor, largely to my mind for the financial security.
I’ll close with what I believe was her best explanation of herself:
“Often and often I have been asked how, when I was a young, shy girl staying in cities I had never been before, I came to know so many people. The only answer I have ever found for that question is, I haven’t the faintest idea. All of the sudden I just knew people and they were my friends. Perhaps one reason was that I was always interested in everything – in music, books, paintings, politics, baseball, and above all – in people.”
A must read for all people interested in acting and the theater.
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