In 1906, after a series of disappointing appearances in plays, Barrymore and his first wife, the actress Doris Rankin, left their stage careers and travelled to Paris, where he trained as an artist. Lionel and Doris were in Paris in 1908 where their first baby, Ethel, was born. Lionel confirms in his autobiography, "We Barrymores", that he and Doris were in France when Bleriot flew the English Channel on July 25, 1909. He did not achieve success as a painter, and in 1909 he returned to the US. In December of that year, he returned to the stage in "The Fires of Fate", in Chicago, but left the production later that month after suffering an attack of nerves about the forthcoming New York opening. The producers gave appendicitis as the reason for his sudden departure. Nevertheless, he was soon back on Broadway in "The Jail Bird" in 1910 and continued his stage career with several more plays. He also joined his family troupe, from 1910, in their vaudeville act, where he was happy not to worry as much about memorizing lines.