Drew Barrymore’s Tie to the Old West

Actress Drew Barrymore’s great grandfather has an Old West tie.  Maurice Barrymore led a theater troupe into Marshall, TX in 1879.  He and two associates were dining in the White House Saloon on the evening of March 19 when they were accosted by a drunken railroad man named Jim Currie.  When Barrymore protested, Currie proceeded to kill one of the actors and put a bullet in Barrymore’s chest.

Barrymore somehow survived to act for another 20 years.  Jim Currie—who apparently had important connections–was acquitted on grounds of temporary insanity.