Maurice Barrymore

Stage actor, born in Fort Agra, India. The father of Ethel, John, and Lionel Barrymore, he gave up a possible law career to try acting in London in 1872. Moving to New York in 1875 he became an instant success and went on to star in a variety of roles over the next 25 years. In 1876 he married Georgiana Drew, actress-daughter of the famous British-American actors, John and Louisa Lane Drew, thus founding what would become known as ‘The Royal Family of Broadway’.

Herbert Arthur Chamberlayne Blyth (September 21, 1849 in Amritsar, Punjab, India - March 26, 1905 in Amityville, New York) was the patriarch of the Barrymore acting family.

He was educated at Harrow School, England and studied Law at Oxford University. 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 made his Broadway debut in December 1875 in Pique;

On March 19, 1879, in Marshall, Texas, he and fellow actor Ben Porter were shot by Texas and Pacific engineer Jim Currie (who shared a cell with the accused killer of Diamond Bessie). An enraged Barrymore vowed never to return to Texas.

He played opposite many other stars of the time including Minnie Maddern Fiske and Lillie Langtry. According to a 2004 A&E Biography piece, after the Ben Porter tragedy, Maurice asked Georgie to tour with him and Helena Modjeska in a play he had written. Georgie and the children had converted to Roman Catholicism under Helena's influence. Learning that he and Helena had resumed their romance, Georgie, who had been given ownership the play by Maurice, forced his hand by closing it.

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."