Ethel Barrymore was born in Philadelphia, the daughter of a famous actor and actress, Maurice and Georgiana Barrymore. Her grandmother, Mrs. John Drew, owned and operated a theater in Philadelphia. Ethel had an older brother, Lionel, and a few years later acquired a younger brother, John.

The Barrymore family lived with Mrs. Drew in Philadelphia. From earliest childhood Ethel heard her parents practicing parts to act out on the stage. Often her grandmother took her to the theater to see her parents acting in a play. Always she was proud and thrilled and eager to become an actress herself.

While Ethel was still quite young, the Barrymores took her and her brother Lionel on a theatrical tour of eastern and mid-western cities. The children greatly enjoyed traveling in a private car and stopping along the way. They were delighted to find their parents enthusiastically cheered by large audiences.

A little later the Barrymores spent two years in England. During this time Maurice Barrymore acted in the famous old Haymarket Theater in London. One day while exploring the city with her mother, Ethel tried vainly to get a guard at Buckingham Palace to smile.

After the Barrymores returned from London, Ethel attended school in Philadelphia. When she was fourteen, her grandmother Drew telegraphed her from Montreal, Canada, asking her to take part in a play which she herself was starring. Playing with her grandmother was a great thrill to Ethel.

Within a few years Ethel Barrymore rose to great heights in popularity. In the prime of her life, she was hailed as "The First Lady of the Theater." Finally she and John and Lionel came to be known as "The Royal Family of Broadway." In later life she played leading roles in many motion pictures.

During her theatrical career Miss Barrymore came to know many important people in the world. On her seventieth birthday, she received special greetings from President Harry S. Truman, Winston Churchill, Herbert Hoover, Eleanor Roosevelt, and many other prominent persons. "If I had my life to live over," she said "I would live it the same way."

From the dust jacket