Costello, Dolores (1905–1979)

American actress. Born on September 17, 1905, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; died in 1979; daughter of Maurice Costello (1877–1950, a silent-screen actor) and his leading lady; sister of Helene Costello (1903–1957, an actress); married John Barrymore, in 1928 (divorced 1935); married John Vruwink (her obstetrician), in 1939 (divorced 1951); children: (first marriage) John Barrymore, Jr. (b. 1932, an actor); Dolores Ethel Mae Barrymore (b. 1933).

Filmography:

The Sea Beast (1926); Manon Lescaut (1926); Bride of the Storm (1926); A Million Bid (1927); When a Man Loves (1927); The Third Degree (1927); Tenderloin (1928); Old San Francisco (1928); Glorious Betsy (1928); Noah's Ark (1928); Show of Shows (1929); The Redeeming Sin (1929); Madonna of Avenue A (1929); Glad Rag Doll (1929); Expensive Woman (1931); Breaking the Ice (1931); Little Lord Fauntleroy (1936); Yours for the Asking (1936); Girls on Probation (1938); Whispering Enemies (1939); The Magnificent Ambersons (1942); This is the Army (1943).

As children, Dolores and her sister Helen (later Helene) were first seen in the Vitagraph films (c. 1911) that starred their father Maurice Costello, a matinée idol who began in films in 1907. After attending private schools and a stint at modeling for top illustrators including James Montgomery Flagg, 17-year-old Dolores began acquiring bit parts in East Coast movie productions.

In 1924, following a dance duet in George White Scandals, she and her sister were signed by Warner Bros. Two years later, John Barrymore chose Dolores, a fragile blonde beauty, for his leading lady in The Sea Beast (a silent adaptation of Moby Dick). By the time the movie was remade by Barrymore as a talkie in 1930, Costello had become Barrymore's wife (1928) and was pregnant, so Joan Bennett was given the lead. "The first version, was, at least, excitingly romantic," wrote Pauline Kael ; "this talkie is much less so—Barrymore is 48 and isn't wildly in love with his leading lady (as he quite clearly was in the first), and he's working with a whale that resembles a vast mattress."

Costello, Helene (1903–1957)

American actress. Born in 1903; died in 1957; daughter of Maurice Costello (1877–1950, a silent-screen actor) and his leading lady; sister of Dolores Costello (1905–1979); married, in 1930.

For a short time in the 1920s, Helene Costello's film career rivaled that of her sister Dolores Costello . Helene was the star of the first Vitaphone all-talking feature Lights of New York (1928). Her other films include The Man on the Box (1925), Don Juan (1926), In Old Kentucky (1927), The Heart of Maryland (1927), Midnight Taxi (1928), and The Circus Kid (1928). But Helene Costello married in 1930 and, with the advent of sound, effectively disappeared from the screen. In her later years, she was hospitalized while her sister Dolores supported her. Helene died in 1957.

As a result of The Sea Beast, Dolores Costello became a headliner throughout the 1920s, starring in Manon Lescaut (1926), Bride of the Storm (1926), A Million Bid (1927), When a Man Loves (1927), The Third Degree (1927), Tenderloin (1928), Old San Francisco (1927), Glorious Betsy (1928), Noah's Ark (1928), The Redeeming Sin (1929), Madonna of Avenue A (1929), Glad Rag Doll (1929), and Expensive Woman (1931). After the birth of her daughter in 1933, she retired. Two years later, however, following her divorce in 1935, she returned to the screen, taking on more mature roles, such as Freddie Bartholomew's mother in Little Lord Fauntleroy (1936). Her last starring role was that of Isabel Amberson in The Magnificent Ambersons (1942), directed by Orson Welles. Except for a small role in This is the Army the following year, she retired once more, living on a ranch in Del Mar, 100 miles south of Los Angeles. In 1951, Costello attempted a stage comeback with The Great Man.