The Drew family is an American multi-generational acting family prominent in the 19th and early 20th centuries. The family is best known as the maternal lineage of the Barrymore family, one of the most influential dynasties in American theatre and film history.
Members of the Drew family were among the earliest professional stage actors in the United States, with several achieving national prominence during the development of American theatre in the 19th century.
History The Drew family's theatrical legacy began with actor John Drew and actress Louisa Lane, both of whom were prominent figures in American stage performance during the mid-19th century. While Drew was the first actor in his family, Lane came from a stage family.
Lane was the daughter of Frederick Lane, an actor and theatre manager, and Eliza Trentner (1796–1887), a singer and actress. After her fathers death, her mother would remarry to British actor and stage manager John Kinlock."Our Foremost Actress. A Reminiscence of Mrs. John Drew and the Arch Street Theatre - Sixty Years on the Stage". Newspapers.com. The Philadelphia Times. 26 Jan 1890. Retrieved 2026-04-29. Lane's paternal grandparents, Thomas Haycraft Lane and Louisa Rouse, were also actors. Her half-sister was actress Georgiana Kinlock.
Lane and Drew would move to the United States, where they would establish their careers and eventual acting dynasty. The Drews owned the Arch Street Theatre in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where they staged performances, and she managed the business. The Arch Street was a competitor theatre of the still standing Walnut Street Theatre, also in Philadelphia. Lane was known as a theatre manager and played a significant role in sustaining repertory theatre during a formative period in American dramatic history.Bank, Rosemarie K. (2000). "Drew, Louisa Lane (10 January 1820–31 August 1897), actress and theater manager". American National Biography. doi:10.1093/anb/9780198606697.article.1800328. .
Relationship to the Barrymore family The Drew family represents the maternal branch of the Barrymore family. Through the 1876 marriage of their daughter Georgiana Drew to Maurice Barrymore, the Drew family became directly linked to the Barrymore acting dynasty. This would unite the two established theatrical families and contribute to a lineage that would dominate American stage acting for decades. This union is frequently cited by theatre historians as foundational to the emergence of the Barrymore acting dynasty in American cultural history.
Their descendants continued in the performing arts across multiple generations.
Notable members
First generation
John Drew Sr. (1827–1862) Married Louisa Lane (1820–1897) Louisa Eliza Drew (1852–1889) John Drew Jr. (1853–1927) Georgiana Emma Drew (1856–1893) Affair with Georgiana Kinlock (1829–1864) Adine Stephans (1862–1888) (rumored father)"The Duchess of Arch Street, Part 2". Adventures in Theater History: Philadelphia. 5 Nov 2021. Retrieved 29 April2026. Louisa Lane Adopted Sidney Drew (1863–1919)
Second generation
Louisa Eliza Drew (1852–1889) Married Charles Albert Mendum (1849–1945) John Albert Mendum (1873–1874) Georgie Drew Mendum (1876–1957) Edmund "Bedloe" Mendum John Drew Jr. (1853–1927), Married Josephine Baker Louise Drew (1882–1954) Georgiana Emma Drew (1856–1893) Married Maurice Barrymore (1849–1905) Lionel Barrymore (1878–1954) Ethel Barrymore (1879–1959) John Barrymore (1882–1942) Sidney Drew (1863–1919) Married Gladys Rankin (1870–1814) Sidney Rankin Drew (1891–1918) Married Lucille McVey (1890–1925)
Third generation
Georgie Drew Mendum (1876–1957) Married George Webster Parsons (div.) Louise Drew (1882–1954) Married Jack Devereaux John Drew Devereaux (1918–1995) Lionel Barrymore (1878–1954) Married Doris Rankin (div.) Mary Barrymore (died in infancy) Ethel Barrymore II (died in infancy)"A New Ethel Barrymore", The New York Times, August 30, 1908 Married Irene Fenwick (1887–1936) Ethel Barrymore (1879–1959)THE ROCK ISLAND ARGUS "Ethel Barrymore is to Bring Suit for Divorce" July 8, 1911 Married Russell Griswold Colt (div.) Samuel Peabody Colt (1909–1986) Ethel Barrymore Colt (1912–1977) John Drew Colt (1913–1975) John Barrymore (1882–1942) Married Katherine Corri Harris (div.) Married Blanche Oelrichs (div.) Diana Blanche Barrymore (1921–1960) Married Dolores Costello (div.) Dolores Ethel Mae Barrymore (1930–2003) John Drew Barrymore (1932–2004) Sidney Rankin Drew (1891–1918)
Fourth generation
Ethel Barrymore Colt (1912–1977) Married John Romeo Miglietta John Drew Miglietta (born 1946) Diana Blanche Barrymore (1921–1960) Married Bramwell Fletcher Married John R. Howard Married Robert Wilcox Delores Ethel May Barrymore (1930–2003) Married Thomas Fairbanks Hillary Klaradru Fairbanks John Drew Barrymore (1932–2004) Married Cara Williams (div.) John Blyth Barrymore (born 1954) Married Gabriella Palazzoli (div.) Blyth Dolores Barrymore (born 1960) Married Nina Wayne (div.) Jessica Barrymore (1966–2014) Married Ildiko Jaid (div.) Drew Barrymore (born 1975)
Fifth generation
John Blyth Barrymore (born 1954) Married Jacqueline (div.) John Blyth Barrymore Jr. Married Rebecca Pogrow Blyth Lane Sabrina Brooke Married Elaine Barrie née Jacobs (div.) Drew Barrymore (born 1975) Married Jeremy Thomas (div.) Married Tom Green (div.) Married Will Kopelman (div.) Olive Barrymore Kopelman (born 2012) Frankie Barrymore Kopelman (born 2014)
Notable works
The Barbarian and Other Stories Bedlum Mendum. By Bedloe Mendum. New York: F Tennyson Neely, 1899 Authored by Edmund Mendum. Published under pseudonym.
Auto-biographies
Notable accolades and nominations Spanning more than five generations, the family has acclaimed a number of accolades, nominations, and honors.
Monuments
Sidney Rankin Drew has a monument dedicated to him in Central Park in New York City. The Ethel Barrymore Theatre was opened in 1928, named for Ethel Barrymore. It is a Broadway theater at 243 West 47th Street in the Theater District of Midtown Manhattan in New York City, New York, U.S. A crater on the planet Venus is also named for Ethel. In February 2010, an intersection in Fort Lee, New Jersey, was renamed John Barrymore Way on what would have been the actor's 128th birthday. The intersection marked the spot of the former Buckheister's Hotel, where Barrymore had his 1900 stage debut in "A Man of the World".
Awards YearFamily memberAwardCategoryWorkResultRef.1925John BarrymoreRudolph Valentino MedalBest PerformanceBeau Brummel1930Lionel BarrymoreAcademy AwardsBest DirectorMadame X1932Lionel BarrymoreAcademy AwardsBest ActorA Free Soul1945Ethel BarrymoreAcademy AwardsBest Supporting ActressNone by the Lonely Heart1947Ethel BarrymoreAcademy AwardsBest Supporting ActressThe Spiral Staircase1948Ethel BarrymoreAcademy AwardsBest Supporting ActressThe Paradine Case1950Ethel BarrymoreAcademy AwardsBest Supporting ActressPinky1982Drew BarrymoreBritish Academy Film AwardsMost Outstanding Newcomer to Leading Film RolesE.T. the Extra-Terrestrial1984Drew BarrymoreGolden Globes AwardsBest Supporting Actress – Motion PictureIrreconcilable Differences1992Drew BarrymoreGolden Globes AwardsBest Actress in a Miniseries or Television FilmGuncrazy2000Drew BarrymorePrimetime Emmy AwardsOutstanding Animated Program (for Programming One Hour or More)Olive, the Other Reindeer2009Drew BarrymorePrimetime Emmy AwardsOutstanding Lead Actress in a Miniseries or a MovieGrey GardensGolden Globes AwardsBest Actress in a Miniseries or Television FilmScreen Actors Guild AwardsOutstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Miniseries or Television Movie
References General References
Briese, Nicole (22 Feb 2025). "Meet Drew Barrymore's Famous Family! All About the Actress' Hollywood Dynasty (That Goes Back Two Centuries)". People. Retrieved 23 April 2026. "The Barrymores". Hometowns to Hollywood. 2015-08-21. Retrieved 2026-04-24. "Barrymores Made Stage History Early". Newspapers.com. The Commercial Appeal. Feb 5, 1933. Retrieved 2026-05-03
References