John Drew

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Drew, John (1853–1927), actor. Like his namesake father, his familiarity with theatre made him decide to look elsewhere for work, but a brief stint as a clock salesman for a department store in his native Philadelphia proved so boring that he reluctantly agreed to go on stage. Drew made his debut at his mother's Arch Street Theatre in 1873 and continued to act there for two seasons, until Augustin Daly spotted him and invited him to New York. His New York bow was as the seemingly impecunious suitor Bob Ruggles in The Big Bonanza (1875). He remained with Daly for many years, earning particular renown as a high comedian after the producer formed his second company in 1879. Among his great successes with the ensemble was his Petruchio. Of his performance one critic wrote, “His acting was consistently vigorous, and his speech, as usual, flawless.” But it was as a polished gentleman—a roué, a blasé prince, or an avuncular guardian—in the era's drawing room comedies that he was best known. When Drew moved from Daly to Charles Frohman, the striking‐looking actor, with the large, heavy‐lidded eyes and a drooping black moustache, continued in similar parts, mostly in works now long‐forgotten. In 1908 he played the title role in Somerset Maugham's Jack Straw, prompting the Times to exclaim, “John Drew at fifty, reveling like a boy, full of the spirit of juvenile lightheartedness, is an agreeable sight to see.” Among his last appearances were Maugham's The Circle (1921), The School for Scandal (1923), and Trelawny of the Wells (1925 and 1927). He was the uncle of Lionel Barrymore, Ethel Barrymore, and John Barrymore. Autobiography: My Years on the Stage, 1922.

John Drew 1827-62, American actor, b. Dublin. After establishing a reputation as a comedian in the 1840s, he devoted his energies to the Arch Street Theatre, Philadelphia, where he maintained a famous stock company, with his wife as co-star. His wife, Louisa Lane Drew, 1820-97, b. London, came to the United States as a child and, until her marriage in 1850, acted with such stars as J. B. Booth and Edwin Forrest. On her husband's death she assumed management of the Arch Street Theatre until 1892, establishing her reputation as a character actress. She was constantly seen on tour (1880-92) as Mrs. Malaprop in The Rivals, which was her best role. Her three children, John and Sidney Drew and Georgiana Drew (who married Maurice Barrymore ), had their early training under their mother. Her eldest son, John Drew, 1853-1927, b. Philadelphia, began his career in her company. In 1875 he joined the company of Augustin Daly in New York and played with acclaim in Daly's remarkable Shakespearean productions. In 1892 he left Daly and, as one of the first Charles Frohman stars, played in modern comedies with Maude Adams.

Bibliography: See L. L. Drew's Autobiographical Sketch; the younger John Drew's autobiography, My Years on the Stage (1922); biographies by E. A. Dithmar (1900) and P. Wood (1928); M. J. Moses, Famous Actor-Families in America (1906).

Drew, John (1853–1927), American actor, son of Mrs John Drew, under whom he first appeared on the stage in Philadelphia. In 1875 he was engaged by Augustin Daly to play opposite Fanny Davenport and later Ada Rehan. During the 1880s he was several times seen in London, being much admired as Petruchio in The Taming of the Shrew and in other parts. From 1892 to 1915 he was in a series of modern comedies under the management of Charles Frohman, often playing opposite Maude Adams and making frequent tours of the United States. A handsome, distinguished-looking man, he gave a fine performance in 1916 as Major Arthur Pendennis in a dramatization of Thackeray's novel. He was last seen on tour in Pinero's Trelawny of the ‘Wells’. He was the third president of the Players' Club, and in 1903 presented the library of the theatre historian and bibliographer Robert W. Lowe, which he had acquired, to Harvard, thus laying the foundation of the fine theatre collection there.