A little discussion for my reasons/opinions of this:
Quote:
Originally Posted by Flyingwedge
Which person are you saying is Lionel Barrymore in the 1922 photo (above, at top)?
[...]
I'm inclined to agree with Handsome Stranger.
[That the people are misidentified.]
I'm reminded of the misidentified, not-really Oliver Hardy photo we had some time ago.
|
Yes, but that photo of Hardy was identified as Hardy by others, not the photographer,
which is the case with these eBay photos that were hand written on. I'm more inclined
to think the photographer who was there knew what he was talking about (he knew "Sid"
but not the others?), though I feel it's possible to mix up which Barrymore was which. I
always have to check to make sure.
"I" was referring to the gentlemen in the photo that
E_R describes as "the heavy-set
man with gray hair." I don't think the person who wrote the names on the photo would be
talking about the person behind him unless that was noted on the photo, as I didn't even
notice that man until
E_R pointed it out.
Granted, the photo says "Barrymore" which might have been a suggestion to me, but when
I looked at the man in question I immediately thought of Lionel Barrymore in Devil Doll, which
is why I posted the photo from that film.
If you survey pictures of both John and Lionel, I find that Lionel's chin is more rounded and his
nose is flatter/wider at the base than John's is. They are all from the proverbial "acting" family,
so it wouldn't surprise me that in photos from film or stage or even appearances in public that
he might have his hair darkened. I surmised that he and perhaps, Stroheim, were just visiting the
gas station when those photos were snapped, after all
GW's link proclaimed it the
most famous
gas station in the world and
celebrities from Valentino to Gable got gas there or worked
on their cars. What better place for a photographer to snap some celebrity photos?
He (Barrymore) certainly doesn't look made up or in costume for anything in the photo, though
the other man
E_R alluded to might be, which means that's probably not John B. according to
what
Handsome Stranger's research indicates. As for gray hair or looking older, I don't know
about 1922, but in 1906 a male's life expectancy was 46. (Look at some photos of Spencer Tracy
in 1944 when he was that age.) At that time Lionel was 44 and John was 40. One thing I am sure of
is that it wasn't Ethel, who was 43.