Lionel Barrymore by Kathleen Spaltro
Lionel Barrymore was “only” a character actor, but nowadays, more people remember him for his characterization of Mr. Potter (It’s a Wonderful Life) than remember Ronald Coleman or many other star actors of his era. In the new biography of the actor, Lionel Barrymore, author Kathleen Spaltro bemoans that old distinction between star and character actor. During his lifetime, Lionel was even outshone by his siblings, leading man and lady John and Ethel Barrymore. He was no less talented than them, and was the tireless worker who carefully researched the roles he played.
The odd thing Spaltro discovers is that Lionel turned to acting “as a last resort.” Although he emerged from a distinguished, multigenerational thespian family, Lionel wanted to be a painter. “Despite his extraordinary talent as an actor, he did not find that it expressed his individuality or met his need to create,” she writes.
Lionel worked sporadically in the early days of silent pictures, but with the coming of sound, his distinguished, stage-trained voice gained him regular work. He chaffed within Hollywood’s constraints and “did not easily accept the rationale that a mass audience necessitated poor quality,” Spaltro adds. Lionel wrote several articles criticizing the cookie-cutter characters and false presentation of life prevalent in Hollywood productions.
Whatever his misgivings, Lionel had a busy career as an actor, including radio shows, notably his annual role as Scrooge from 1934 through 1953. He appeared in more than 200 films, most of them known, if at all, only by avid TCM viewers. The exception, director Frank Capra’s It’s a Wonderful Life (1946), did poor business on first release and was panned by critics, but has survived as a classic allegory of the human condition. Jimmy Stewart was the star, but Lionel stole many scenes as the evil banker, a capitalist so incorrigible that the FBI was concerned about its unAmerican portrayal of business. Capra recalled Lionel as “the humblest, most cooperative actor I’ve ever known.”
Lionel Barrymore: Character and Endurance in Hollywood’s Golden Age is published by University Press of Kentucky.
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