Dolores Costello

Dolores Costello (September 17, 1903 – March 1, 1979) was an American film actress who achieved her greatest success during the era of silent movies. She was nicknamed "The Goddess of the Silent Screen" by her first husband, the actor John Barrymore. She was the mother of John Drew Barrymore and grandmother of actress and talk show host Drew Barrymore.

Early years

Dolores Costello was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, the daughter of actors Maurice Costello and Mae Costello (née Altschuk). She was of Irish and German descent. She had a younger sister, Helene, and the two made their early film appearances from 1909 to 1915 as child actresses for the Vitagraph Film Company. They played supporting roles in several films starring their father, who was a popular matinee idol at the time.

Film career

A few scenes of Dolores Costello acting in the 1927 silent film Old San Francisco.

The two sisters appeared on Broadway together as chorus line dancers, and their success resulted in contracts with Warner Bros. Pictures. In 1926, following small parts in feature films, Dolores Costello was selected by John Barrymore to star with him in The Sea Beast, a loose adaptation of Herman Melville's Moby-Dick, after which Warner soon began starring her in her own vehicles. Meanwhile, she and Barrymore became involved romantically, and married in 1928. and had acquired the nickname "The Goddess of the Silver Screen".

Warners alternated Costello between films with contemporary settings and elaborate costume dramas. In 1927, she was re-teamed with John Barrymore in When a Man Loves, an adaptation of Manon Lescaut. In 1928, she co-starred with George O'Brien in Noah's Ark, a part-talkie epic directed by Michael Curtiz.

Costello spoke with a lisp and found it difficult to make the transition to talking pictures, but after two years of voice coaching she was comfortable speaking before a microphone. One of her early sound film appearances was with her sister Helene in the Warner Bros. all-star extravaganza The Show of Shows (1929).

Her acting career became less of a priority for her following the birth of her first child, Dolores Ethel Mae "DeeDee" Barrymore, on April 8, 1930, and she retired from the screen in 1931 to devote time to her family. Her second child, John Drew Barrymore, was born on June 4, 1932, but the marriage proved difficult due to her husband's increasing alcoholism, and they divorced in 1935.

She resumed her career a year later and achieved some successes, most notably in Little Lord Fauntleroy (1936), and The Magnificent Ambersons (1942). She retired permanently from acting following her appearance in This Is the Army (1943), again under the direction of Michael Curtiz.

Making a rare radio appearance, Costello appeared as the Danish Countess Elsa on the radio program Suspense on August 28, 1943. The title of the episode was The King's Birthday, written by Corporal Leonard Pellitier, U.S. Army.

Later years Costello's final film was This Is the Army (1943). The destructive effects of early film makeup, which affected her complexion too severely to camouflage, is blamed for the end of her film career. In 1939, she married Dr. John Vruwink, an obstetrician who was her physician during her pregnancies; they divorced in 1950. She died of emphysema in California in early March 1979 at age 75. Costello has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for her contributions to motion pictures at 1645 Vine Street.

Filmography

Child roles Costello appeared as a child actress in many films made from 1909 to 1915. Among them are:

Year Film Source A Midsummer Night's Dream The Telephone Consuming Love, or St. Valentine's Day in Greenaway Land a Geranium The Child Crusoes His Sister's Children A Reformed Santa Claus Some Good in All Captain Jenks' Dilemma The Meeting of the Ways For the Honor of the Family She Never Knew; Lulu's Doctor The Troublesome Step-Daughters The Money Kings A Juvenile Love Affair Wanted...a Grandmother Vultures and Doves Her Grandchild Captain Barnacle's Legacy Bobby's Father The Irony of Fate The Toymaker Ida's Christmas A Birthday Gift The Hindoo Charm In the Shadow Fellow Voyagers Some Steamer Scooping Etta of the Footlights Too Much Burglar The Evil Men Do

Adult roles

She restarted her movie career in 1923 after spending several years modeling in New York.