Film Commission Celebrates Legendary Actor, Raises Funds for FLHS Thespians

Wednesday marked the 130th birthday of the legendary actor and former Fort Lee resident, John Barrymore. Members of the Fort Lee Film Commission, along with the Fort Lee Coalition for the Arts and the Fort Lee Historical Society, marked the occasion with the now annual John Barrymore birthday fundraiser, with proceeds going toward the Fort Lee High School spring production of the musical, "Mack & Mabel" to be performed in May.

The event began at the corner of Main Street and Central Road in Fort Lee—renamed by the Fort Lee Mayor and Council as “John Barrymore Way” a few years ago—where the group laid a wreath in honor of Barrymore at the location where in 1900 the then 18-year-old actor made his stage debut at the former Buckheister’s Hotel.

“We started [the celebration] a few years ago, and we decided it was something we’d like to do every year,” said former chair of the film commission and vice president of the historical society, Lou Azzollini, before the wreath-laying celebration. “It’s trying to help the schools out and give to the thespian society. It’s a good cause. When we started the film commission, it was based on saving the Barrymore house [on Myrtle Avenue in the Coytesville section of Fort Lee] so he’s a big subject for us.”

Azzollini said Barrymore’s acting debut at the original hotel in the play, "A Man of the World," directed by his father, Maurice Barrymore, was also a fundraiser.

“It was a fundraiser for the firehouse, which still exists on Washington Avenue,” Azzollini said. “And there were a bunch of crazy actors. Maurice Barrymore had a lot of friends; he was on Broadway at the time, and he brought them all here, and they had an all-night marathon run. We’re trying to bring the past together with the present, so we honor the past and give to the present.”

After the brief wreath-laying, the group moved inside to the bar at In Napoli just across Main Street, where the festivities continued, and Fort Lee Film Commission executive director Tom Meyers toasted John Barrymore.

“John Barrymore, at the age of 18, right across the street, made his stage debut with his dad, and that funded the Fire Department in Coytesville,” Meyers said. “And now John Barrymore, 130 years later, is funding our effort to help the students of Fort Lee High School.”

Meyer’s also read a quote from Barrymore on the subject of death:

Die? I should say not, dear fellow.

No Barrymore would allow such a conventional thing to happen to him.

“So John Barrymore isn’t dead,” Meyers said, by way of tribute. “He’s with us tonight, so happy 130th birthday to John Barrymore.”

Fort Lee Councilman Harvey Sohmer noted that he’s not the liaison to the film commission, but that he is now president of the Fort Lee Education Foundation, and that the event means a lot.

“I’ve been coming here for all these many years that we’ve been having this to support this great thing for Fort Lee High School,” Sohmer said. “There’s a lot of things going on in town that help the school system, and this is part of it.”

For more information and history on Barrymore’s debut, see this story written by Tom Meyers: Happy 130th Birthday to Fort Lee’s Jack Barrymore.