Ethel Barrymore, the daughter of the playwright Maurice Barrymore and the actress Georgina Drew Barrymore, was born in Philadelphia on 15th August, 1879.

Barrymore made her professional debut on the stage in New York City in 1894. She travelled to London where she worked with Henry Irving in The Bells (1897). Other important roles in England and America included Peter the Great(1898), Captain Jinks of the Horse Marines (1901), Alice Sit By the Fire (1905), Mid-Channel(1910) and Trelawney of the Wells (1911).

In 1914 Barrymore made her film debut in The Nightingale (1914). Although she preferred the stage, Barrymore made several films including the award winning, None But the Lonely Heart (1944) and The Spiral Staircase(1946).

Ethel Barrymore, who published her autobiography, Memories, in 1955, died in Hollywood, California, on 18th June, 1959.