Georgiana Drew
| Georgiana Drew | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born |
Georgiana Emma Drew July 11, 1856 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania |
| Died |
July 2, 1893 (aged 36) Santa Barbara, California |
| Other names | Georgie Drew Barrymore |
| Occupation | actress |
| Years active | 1872-1893 |
| Spouse(s) | Maurice Barrymore |
| Children |
Lionel Barrymore Ethel Barrymore John Barrymore |
Georgiana Emma Drew (July 11, 1856 – July 2, 1893), aka Georgie Drew Barrymore, was an American stage actress and a member of the Barrymore acting family.[1]
Biography
Born in Philadelphia, her family — parents John Drew and Louisa Lane Drew, brothers John Drew, Jr. and Sidney, and sister Louisa — were all actors. She made her theatrical debut in 1872 in The Ladies' Rattle. She followed John Jr. to New York, where she acted in many Broadway hits, such as Pique and As You Like It. In Pique she met a young English actor, Maurice Barrymore, whom she married on December 31, 1876. They had three children: Lionel, Ethel, and John. She is a great-grandmother of actress Drew Barrymore.
According to a 2004 A&E Biography piece, the marriage, happy at first, became rocky as Maurice indulged in numerous affairs. Georgie even filed for divorce, but they reconciled. He asked her to tour with him and Helena Modjeska in a play he wrote. Learning that he and Helena had resumed their romance, Georgie, who had been given ownership of the play by Maurice, forced her hand by closing it. Helena's husband, its producer, sued her. The real reason for Georgie's actions never got into the press.
In 1890 she had a great success in The Senator co-starring William H. Crane, and in 1891 as one of the two widows in Mr. Wilkinson's Widows. Her stage career at this time was being managed by a young up and coming producer named Charles Frohman. Frohman would play a big part in managing the early careers of her three children as well as her brother John Drew. In December 1891, illness forced her to leave the stage. Suffering from what turned out to be tuberculosis then called "consumption", she traveled West in 1893 with Ethel to take a cure, but died a few months later in Santa Barbara, California. Reportedly her last words were, "Oh my poor kids!, what shall ever become of them". It was 14 year old Ethel's responsibility to see that her mother's remains were returned to Philadelphia for burial by Mrs Drew & Maurice who met Ethel's train in Chicago. This coast to coast journey would have lasted a week in 1893.[2]
References
- ↑ Georgianna Emma Drew Barrymore - North American Theatre Online
- ↑ Familiar Chats with the Queens of the Stage page 312 by Alan Dale c.1890; transcript presented online by archive.org; 'Alan Dale interviews Georgiana Drew & Maurice Barrymore in their New York City apartment' (*Dale makes assertion the couples three children Lionel,Ethel,John will never set foot on the stage.)
Sources
External links
- Georgiana Drew at Find a Grave
- Georgiana Drew at the Internet Broadway Database
- rare in studio portrait of Georgiana Drew Barrymore from the 1870s
- another pose of rare studio portrait, *note same dress(from Alexander Street's North American Theatre Online)
- studio portrait of Georgiana Drew and Maurice Barrymore 1876
- portrait of Georgiana Drew ?1890s
- Georgiana Drew Barrymore portrait from theatrical article
- Georgiana Drew Barrymore and her mother Mrs Louisa Lane Drew in humorous moment before portrait photographer
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