Sidney Drew on AllMovie

An uncle to the Barrymores, Sidney Drew, or "Mr. Sidney Drew" as he was usually billed, had been a popular light leading man on stage with his first wife, Gladys Rankin. They entered films as a team with the old Kalem Company in 1911, but major fame came only after a switch to Vitagraph in 1913. Rankin died later that year and Sidney Drew was briefly paired with Clara Kimball Young. Remarried to Lucille McVey, a Vitagraph scriptwriter who earlier had acted under the name Jane Morrow, Drew added his new wife to his two- or three-reel comedies, always acknowledging the second Mrs. Drew's contribution both as a writer and co-director. As Mr. and Mrs. Sidney Drew, the team perfected the situation comedy style begun by that earlier Vitagraph team of John Bunny and Flora Finch -- with the difference being, of course, that Mr. and Mrs. Drew were much more attractive. Their style was usually gentle satire on married life, but they could also poke fun of the world of show business. In 1916, the popular team was lured over to Louis B. Mayer's newly founded Metro company, where they continued to dominate the field of marital comedy. Sidney Drew's son, the actor/director S. Rankin Drew, was killed in action while serving with the Lafayette Esquadrille in World War I and Sidney Drew never really recovered from the loss. The team left Metro in favor of personal appearances but had signed with a new company, V.B.K, when Sidney Drew suddenly died. Sadly, Mrs. Drew followed her husband in death less than six years later, succumbing to cancer at the young age of 35.