Birthplace: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States
Death Date: 11/15/1954
biography
Eldest of the famed Barrymore siblings. Unlike his brother John and sister Ethel, Lionel did very little acting for the theater. He made his stage debut as an infant as part of his parents' (Herbert Blythe/Maurice Barrymore and Georgia Drew) act and was a leading player by age 22. His first film roles were in D.W. Griffith shorts, beginning with "The Battle" (1911), and he worked primarily with MGM from 1926; he continued to act despite being confined to a wheelchair for the last 15 years of his life due to crippling arthritis and a serious leg injury. Barrymore gave one of his finest
