Career
In 1958, he changed his middle name to Drew, although he had previously been credited in past works as Blyth. This was followed by a brief resurgence in Italian movies, as he appeared in several leading roles. He also appeared several times in the TV series Gunsmoke However, Barrymore's social behavior obstructed any professional progress. In the 1960s, he was occasionally incarcerated for drug use, public drunkenness, and spousal abuse.
He notably guest starred in other memorable episodes of classic TV Westerns Rawhide – "Incident of The Haunted Hills" – playing a half-Native half-White outcast and Wagon Train – "The Rutledge Monroe Story" – playing a "too cheerful" character who spreads death wherever he goes and turns out to be a figure from Major Adams' (Ward Bond) military past.
In 1966, Barrymore accepted a major guest role as Lazarus in the Star Trek episode "The Alternative Factor". However, he failed to show up (and was ultimately replaced at the last minute by actor Robert Brown), resulting in a SAG suspension of six months. He did appear as Stacey Daggart in the 1966–67 NBC series The Road West, starring Barry Sullivan.
Read more about this topic: John Drew Barrymore
Famous quotes containing the word career:
“My ambition in life: to become successful enough to resume my career as a neurasthenic.”
—Mason Cooley (b. 1927)
“Like the old soldier of the ballad, I now close my military career and just fade away, an old soldier who tried to do his duty as God gave him the light to see that duty. Goodbye.”
—Douglas MacArthur (1880–1964)
“Each of the professions means a prejudice. The necessity for a career forces every one to take sides. We live in the age of the overworked, and the under-educated; the age in which people are so industrious that they become absolutely stupid.”
—Oscar Wilde (1854–1900)