John Barrymore (1882–1942) was an American actor most famous for his film roles. Born into a theatrical dynasty, he initially tried to avoid the stage, briefly attempting a career as an artist, but he soon followed his father Maurice and siblings Ethel and Lionel into acting. After beginning in light comedy, he moved to high stage drama, culminating in productions of Justice (1916), Richard III (1920), and especially Hamlet (1922), a role critics lavishly praised him for. After his stage career peaked, he turned entirely to cinema for the next 14 years, initially in silent films. His stage-trained voice proved an asset when sound films were introduced, and three of his works have been inducted into the National Film Registry. His personal life has been the subject of much attention before and since his death. He struggled with alcohol abuse from the age of 14, was married and divorced four times, and declared bankruptcy in his fifties. Much of his later work involved self-parody and the portrayal of drunken has-beens. A hugely influential actor whose talent still shapes Shakespearean acting today, his later career and private life were seen by the obituarists as a waste of a once-great talent.
Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Barrymore
_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:
1898:
The United States Navy battleship USS Maine exploded and sank in Havana, Cuba (wreckage pictured), killing more than 260 people and precipitating the Spanish–American War. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Maine_(ACR-1)
1900:
Second Boer War: British cavalry under Major-General John French defeated Boer forces to end a 124-day siege of Kimberley, present-day South Africa. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siege_of_Kimberley
1949:
Gerald Lankester Harding and Roland de Vaux began excavations at Cave 1 of the Qumran Caves in the West Bank region of Jordan, the location of the first seven Dead Sea Scrolls. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qumran_Caves
1965:
Canada adopted the Maple Leaf flag, replacing the Canadian Red Ensign. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flag_of_Canada
1999:
Abdullah Öcalan, one of the founding members of the militant organization the Kurdistan Workers' Party, was arrested by Turkish security forces in Nairobi, Kenya. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abdullah_%C3%96calan
_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:
skysill: Horizon. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/skysill
___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:
Life feels both sad and dark and confusing and more than hopeful — it feels like something totally incredible could happen at any moment and with no explanation. --Miranda July https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Miranda_July
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