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Drew Sidney Rankin, Jr.

Name:
Sidney Rankin, Jr. Drew
Rank:
Corporal
Serial Number:
Unit:
Lafayette Escadrille
Date of Death:
1918-05-19
State:
New York
Cemetery:
Lafayette Escadrille Memorial, Marnes la Coqu
Plot:
Row:
Grave:
Decoration:
Comments:

Silent film actor and director, son of Sidney Drew and his first wife, Mrs. Sidney Drew, and first cousin of actors John Barrymore, Lionel Barrymore, and Ethel Barrymore. Although his famous parents had hoped for him to choose another career than the theatre and sent him to military school, the draw of the family tradition was too strong. He toured in plays with his parents and his cousin Lionel, who encouraged him to enter motion pictures. He had a brief but prominent career as a film actor, followed by an equally brief but more prominent period as a director. In 1915, he volunteered for service with the Lafayette Escadrille flying corps. He was shot down and killed by the Germans in the last year of the World War.