John Barrymore came by his acting naturally as the son of stage actors. He was the youngest of three famous acting siblings, the other two being
Lionel Barrymore and
Ethel Barrymore, but it was the youngest John who would garner the most fame as a movie actor. Before starting his acting career in movies, he was probably best known for his role as Hamlet on Broadway. Already having made a name for himself in silent movies, the advent of the talkies brought even greater fame for John due to his mellifluent voice. He appeared on screen with his two famous acting siblings in
Rasputin and the Empress (1932), their only movie appearance together. His hard living and disagreements with movie executives led to an exile from movie acting in the late 1930's. He instead decided to sail the seas on his yacht, the Mariner, with a ten man crew. This last phase of his life ended in bankruptcy, but that would not tarnish his legacy as one of the great movie actors of his generation.
—Huggo 
