Dolores Costello

Dolores Costello (September 17, 1903^{[1][note 1]} – March 1, 1979)^[2][3] 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^[2] 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

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,^[4] 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.^[2]

Within a few years of achieving stardom, Costello had become a film personality in her own right. As a young adult, her career developed to the degree that in 1926, she was named a WAMPAS Baby Star,^[5] and had acquired the nickname "The Goddess of the Silver Screen".^{[citation needed]}

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.^{[citation needed]} 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.^[6][7]

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.^[8][9] 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.^[10]

Filmography

Child roles

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

Adult roles

She restarted her movie career in 1923 after spending several years modeling in New York.^{[citation needed]}

Notes

1. ^ Costello's obituary in The New York Times says that she was born on September 17, 1905.

References

1. ^ Shulman, Terry Chester (2019). "Film's First Family: The Untold Story of the Costellos (Screen Classics)" · University Press of Kentucky, 2019 ·ISBN 0-8131-7810-X
2. ^ Flint, Peters B. (March 3, 1979). "Dolores Costello, 73, Film Star". The New York Times. Archived 29 September 2017 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 29 September 2017.
3. ^ Motion Picture Performers. A bibliography of magazine and periodical articles, 1900–1969; compiled by Mel Schuster. Metuchen, NJ: Scarecrow Press, 1971.
4. ^ Rainho, Manny (March 2015). "This Month in Movie History". Classic Images. ' (477): 26.
5. ^ Brody, Richard (18 June 2009). "Stars Are Born". The New Yorker. Retrieved 23 July 2020.
6. ^ "John Drew Barrymore". Syracuse Post Standard. 30 November 2004. Retrieved 23 July 2020.
7. ^ "WIFE DIVORCES JOHN BARRYMORE; Former Dolores Costello, Charging Desertion, Gets Children and $163,000 in Securities.". The New York Times. 10 October 1935. Retrieved 23 July 2020.
8. ^ Olive Borden: The Life and Films of Hollywood's Joy Girl   by Michelle Vogel page 89; Retrieved February 10, 2016
9. ^ Orson Welles: A Biography   by Barbara Leaming page 222; Retrieved February 10, 2016
10. ^ "Dolores Costello". Hollywood Walk of Fame. Archived February 18, 2014 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved October 3, 2023.

External links

• Dolores Costello photo gallery
• Dolores Costello at IMDb
• Photographs of Dolores Costello
• Dolores and Anita Louise with the legendary Daniel Frohman in 1936 at Actors Fund Benefit (Corbis Images)