Lionel Barrymore
Actor
Biography
Lionel Barrymore (born Lionel Herbert Blythe; April 28, 1878 – November 15, 1954) was an American actor of stage, screen and radio as well as a film director. He won an Academy Award for Best Actor for his performance in A Free Soul (1931), and remains best known to modern audiences for the role of villainous Mr. Potter in Frank Capra's 1946 film It's a Wonderful Life. He is also particularly remembered as Ebenezer Scrooge in annual broadcasts of A Christmas Carol during his last two decades. He is also known for playing Dr. Leonard Gillespie in MGM's nine Dr. Kildare films, a role he reprised in a further six films focusing solely on Gillespie and in a radio series entitled The Story of Dr. Kildare. He was a member of the theatrical Barrymore family.
Filmography
It's a Wonderful Life
as Mr. Potter 1946
Key Largo
as James Temple 1948
You Can't Take It with You
as Martin Vanderhof 1938
Grand Hotel
as Otto Kringelein 1932
Duel in the Sun
as Sen. Jackson McCanles 1946
Captains Courageous
as Captain Disko Troop 1937
Camille
as Monsieur Duval 1936
Mark of the Vampire
as Professor Zelin 1935
Dinner at Eight
as Oliver Jordan 1933
The Devil-Doll
as Paul Lavond 1936
Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ
as Chariot Race Spectator (uncredited) 1925
The Musketeers of Pig Alley
as The Musician's Friend 1912
David Copperfield
as Dan Peggotty 1935
Treasure Island
as Billy Bones 1934
Test Pilot
as Howard B. Drake 1938
That's Entertainment!
as (archive footage) (uncredited) 1974
Mata Hari
as General Serge Shubin 1931