Maurice Barrymore - Career and Marriage To Georgiana Drew

Career and Marriage To Georgiana Drew

On December 29, 1874, Barrymore emigrated to the United States, sailing aboard the SS America to Boston, and joined Augustin Daly's troupe, making his debut in Under the Gaslight.

He made his Broadway debut in December 1875 in Pique; in the cast was a young actress, Georgiana Drew, known as Georgie. Maurice and Georgiana had been introduced earlier by her brother John Drew Jr. who had befriended Maurice when he first arrived in America. After a brief courtship, Barrymore and Georgie married on December 31, 1876, and had three children: Lionel (b. 1878), Ethel (b. 1879), and John (b. 1882). While on tour, the children lived with Georgiana's mother in Philadelphia. Maurice also owned a farm on Staten Island to keep his collection of exotic animals. Georgiana died July 2, 1893, from consumption. For a summer in 1896, Lionel and John were left on the farm in the care of the man who fed the animals. Barrymore re-married exactly one year after Georgie's death to Mamie Floyd, much to Ethel's consternation. During his career, Maurice Barrymore played opposite many of the reigning female stars of the time including Helena Modjeska, Mrs. Fiske, Mrs. Leslie Carter, Olga Nethersole, Lillian Russell, and Lily Langtry.