She had a few chorus roles in London,[9] including one in a musical comedy that won critics praise for her "nearly natural performance".

[10] In New York she met Broadway producer Charles Frohman who gave her the stage name Fenwick and the ingénue role in The Brass Bottle (1910).

[10] A vivacious redhead, adept at both drama and comedy, she had a forceful stage presence that belied her tiny stature of 4'11".

The following year in the play The Family Cupboard, she was touted as a young actress with "the tact and intelligence of a veteran player".

Barrymore was replaced by his brother John in his famous annual radio broadcast as Ebenezer Scrooge in A Christmas Carol for that year.