The Barrymore Family seems to be blessed with a knack for acting and yet cursed with addictive personalities. Diana Barrymore was the daughter of famed Shakespearean actor John Barrymore and the poet Blanche Oelrichs Thomas, who went by the pseudonym of Michael Strange.

By the time she was a teenager, Diana was playing Ann in the touring company of Outward Bound. John called her “the best thing I’ve ever produced” yet the two weren’t very close, despite their shared interests in acting and Brandy Alexanders.

Signed by Universal to a $1,000 a week contract at the age of 20, Diana attended the premiere of her first feature film “Eagle Squadron” on the day of her father’s death - May 29, 1942. John died of cirrhosis of the liver brought about by years of alcoholism.

Not living up to the famous Barrymore name and being a bit of a diva, Diana refused to appear in an Abbott & Costello film, which prompted Universal to suspend her for six months. After that, all she got was small roles in small films.

By the age of 33, Diana had six screen credits to her name as well as two disastrous, failed marriages under her belt. She had squandered all her wealth and in addition to alcoholism and drug addiction, fought off severe depression, attempting suicide several times and making frequent stays at sanitariums. In 1957, she and Gerold Frank co-wrote her autobiography “Too Much Too Soon,” in which she spoke about her troubled life. The book was made into a movie in 1958, starring Dorothy Malone as Diana.

Death too came too soon for Diana. She was found dead in her second floor apartment by the maid on January 25, 1960. The cause of death? It was heart failure due to a combination of alcohol and sleeping pills. Diana Blance Barrymore was 33 years old.
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Tags: Acting, Barrymore, death, Diana Barrymore, Drew Barrymore, hollywood, John Barrymore, suicide

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