The Unlucky Lives of the Barrymore Family

By the mid-1950s, Diana’s once-promising career was in ruins. Once promoted as “the next Barrymore star,” she had become unreliable on set and infamous for her drinking. Studios stopped calling, and theater producers quietly removed her name from casting lists. Hollywood had no patience left for her struggles.

Out of work and running out of money, she turned increasingly to alcohol and prescription pills. Friends and colleagues who had once admired her talent now avoided her calls. Living in hotels and small apartments, she became a tragic figure—famous for her last name, not her fading talent.