Dolores Costello
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia 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". She was stepmother of John Barrymore's daughter Diana by his second wife Blanche Oelrichs, the mother of John Drew Barrymore and Dolores (Dee Dee) Barrymore, and the grandmother of John Barrymore III, Blyth Dolores Barrymore, Brahma Blyth (Jessica) Barrymore, and Drew Barrymore. 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 first film appearances in the years 1909–1915 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. The two sisters appeared on Broadway together as chlorines and their success resulted in contracts with Warner Brothers Studios. In 1926, following small parts in feature films, she was selected by John Barrymore to star opposite him in The Sea Beast, a loose adaptation of Herman Melville's Moby-Dick. Warner Bros. soon began starring her in her own vehicles. Meanwhile, she and Barrymore became romantically involved and married in 1928. Within a few years of achieving stardom, the delicately beautiful blonde-haired actress had become a successful and highly regarded 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, 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 Warner Bros.'s all-star extravaganza The Show of Shows (1929). Her acting career became less 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. In 1950 Costello divorced Dr. John Vruwink, whom she had married in 1939. She spent the remaining years of her life in semi-seclusion, managing an avocado farm. She died from emphysema in Fallbrook, California in 1979.
Known For
Credits
- 2009 · Paris Hilton Inc.: The Selling of Celebrity as Self (archive footage)
- 1990 · Myrna Loy: So Nice to Come Home To as (archive footage)
- 1953 · Magic Movie Moments as
- 1950 · The Golden Twenties as Self (archive footage)
- 1943 · This Is the Army as Mrs. Davidson
- 1942 · The Magnificent Ambersons as Isabel Amberson Minafer
- 1939 · Outside These Walls as Margaret Bronson
- 1939 · Whispering Enemies as Laura Crandall
- 1939 · King of the Turf as Eve Barnes
- 1938 · Breaking the Ice as Martha Martin
- 1938 · The Beloved Brat as Helen Cosgrove
- 1936 · Yours for the Asking as Lucille Sutton
- 1936 · Little Lord Fauntleroy as 'Dearest' Erroll
- 1931 · Expensive Women as Constance 'Connie' Newton
- 1930 · Second Choice as Vallery Grove
- 1929 · Show of Shows as Performer in 'Meet My Sister' Number
- 1929 · Hearts in Exile as Vera Zuanova
- 1929 · Madonna of Avenue A as Maria Morton
- 1929 · Glad Rag Doll as Annabel Lee
- 1929 · The Redeeming Sin as Joan Billaire
- 1928 · Noah's Ark as Marie / Miriam
- 1928 · Glorious Betsy as Betsy Patterson
- 1928 · Tenderloin as Rose Shannon
- 1928 · The Circus: Premiere as Self
- 1927 · The College Widow as Jane Witherspoon
- 1927 · Old San Francisco as Dolores Vasquez
- 1927 · When a Man Loves as Manon Lescaut
- 1927 · The Heart of Maryland as Maryland Calvert
- 1927 · A Million Bid as Dorothy Gordon
- 1926 · The Third Degree as Annie Daly
- 1926 · The Little Irish Girl as Dot Walker
- 1926 · Bride of the Storm as Faith Fitzhugh
- 1926 · The Sea Beast as Esther Harper
- 1926 · Mannequin as Joan Herrick
- 1925 · Bobbed Hair as (uncredited)
- 1925 · Greater Than a Crown as Isabel Frances / Princess of Lividia
- 1923 · Lawful Larceny as Nora the maid
- 1923 · The Glimpses of the Moon as Secondary Role
- 1915 · The Heart of Jim Brice as
- 1915 · The Evil Men Do as David - as a Little Boy
- 1914 · Too Much Burglar as
- 1914 · Etta of the Footlights as
- 1914 · Some Steamer Scooping as The Little Stowaway
- 1913 · Fellow Voyagers as Little Dolores Gray
- 1913 · In the Shadow as Neighbor Girl
- 1913 · The Hindoo Charm as Dolores Tilbury - the Older Child
- 1913 · A Birthday Gift as
- 1912 · Ida's Christmas as Ida - the Little Smith Girl
- 1912 · Song of the Shell as Little Bess M.
- 1912 · The Toymaker as Little Dot Avery
- 1912 · The Irony of Fate as Fourth Child
- 1912 · Bobby's Father as Bobby Ramsay
- 1912 · Captain Barnacle's Legacy as Ruth - Barnacle's Adopted Daughter
- 1912 · Her Grandchild as Little Janet - the Grandchild
- 1912 · Vultures and Doves as Mrs. Hanley's Little Girl
- 1912 · Wanted... a Grandmother as
- 1912 · A Juvenile Love Affair as Jane - Alvin's Sweetheart
- 1912 · The Money Kings as
- 1912 · The Troublesome Step-Daughters as
- 1912 · Lulu's Doctor as Lulu
- 1912 · She Never Knew as Mr. Blinn's Granddaughter
- 1912 · For the Honor of the Family as Alice - the Child
- 1912 · The Meeting of the Ways as One of Tom's Children
- 1912 · Captain Jenks' Dilemma as One of Widow Brown's Children
- 1911 · Some Good in All as Betty Lane - John's Daughter
- 1911 · A Reformed Santa Claus as The Widow's 1st Child
- 1911 · His Sister's Children as Buster aka Budge
- 1911 · The Child Crusoes as
- 1911 · The Geranium as
- 1911 · Consuming Love; or, St. Valentine's Day in Greenaway Land as
- 1910 · The Telephone as Daughter
- 1909 · A Midsummer Night's Dream as Fairy