Elaine Barrie (née Jacobs; July 16, 1915 – March 1, 2003) was a New York City–born American actress who appeared in several films and one Broadway play. She was the fourth, and last, wife of actor John Barrymore.She claimed to have fallen in love with Barrymore in 1931, when she was 16, after seeing his film, the classic Svengali. They married five years later, in Yuma, Arizona, but the marriage was a rocky one and they finally divorced in 1940.In 1937, shortly before her final divorce, she was sued to prevent her from appearing in Dwain Esper's How to Undress in Front of Your Husband, by E. K. Nadel, on the grounds that it was already copyrighted by Sherill C. Coben.She moved to Port-au-Prince, Haiti and worked as a handbag designer.She died on March 1, 2003.
July 16, 1915, New York City, New York, United States
Died
March 1, 2003, New York City, New York, United States
Place Of Birth
New York City, New York, USA
Profession
Actress
Education
Hunter College
Spouse
John Barrymore (m. 1936–1940)
Movies
Midnight
Star Sign
Cancer
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Quote
1
[about John Barrymore] He made me unashamed of the natural. He made me glory in my sensuality. My head still whirls from the memories.
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Fact
1
The daughter of a traveling salesman, she claims she was first mesmerized by John Barrymore watching him in the 1931 film Svengali (1931) and vowed to marry him. She didn't actually meet him until 1935 at age 19 while a student at Hunter College. He was 53.
2
To help Christopher Plummer prepare for a one-man show on John Barrymore on Broadway in 1997, she showed him Barrymore's love letters.
3
She was the first of John Barrymore's four wives to use the Barrymore name professionally, and the first to undress onstage.
4
She was the only one of John Barrymore's former wives to attend his funeral in 1942.
5
As a Hunter College student of 19, she wrote an adoring letter to John Barrymore, then 53 and hospitalized in Manhattan. He phoned her, they had a pleasant talk and he invited her to visit him. There was a most meaningful kiss in his hospital room.
6
After her divorce from John Barrymore, she ran a business importing straw baskets and handbags from Haiti.
Actress
Title
Year
Status
Character
Midnight
1939
Simone
How to Take a Bath
1937
Short
How to Undress in Front of Your Husband
1937
Short as Elaine Barrie Barrymore
Self
Title
Year
Status
Character
Biography
2001
TV Series documentary
Herself
Famous Families
1998
TV Series documentary
Herself
Hollywood Goes to Town
1938
Short documentary
Herself
Archive Footage
Title
Year
Status
Character
Biography
2002
TV Series documentary
Herself
The Casting Couch
1995
Video documentary
Known for movies
Midnight (1939) as Simone
How to Undress in Front of Your Husband (1937) as Actress
$900,000
