Maurice Costello (February 22, 1877 - October 28, 1950) was an American actor and director.

Born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania to Irish immigrants Thomas Costello (born 1852) and Ellen Fitzgerald (born 1853), Costello appeared in his first motion picture in 1905, in which he had the honour of appearing in the very first film appearance of the legendary Sherlock Holmes in the movie Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, in which Costello played the title role. He made his stage debut in 1909. He then went to Vitagraph, being a member of the first motion picture stock company ever formed, playing opposite Florence Turner. Among some of his best known pictures are "A Tale of Two Cities," "The Man Who Couldn't Beat God" and "For the Honor of the Family." After an absence of some years he returned to the screen. He was married to actress Mae Costello (née Altschuk). His daughters were the actresses Dolores Costello and Helene Costello, grandson John Drew Barrymore, and great granddaughter Drew Barrymore.

Costello died at the age 73 in 1950 in Los Angeles, California and was interred at Calvary Cemetery, East Los Angeles.

Father of actresses Dolores Costello and Helene Costello.

Entered films with Thomas A. Edison in 1905.

Grandfather of John Drew Barrymore.

Great-grandfather of actress Drew Barrymore (I).

(1909) Discovered Moe Howard (I), later of The Three Stooges. Twelve-year-old Moe, who was hoping to get into movies, would hang around the American Vitagraph studio and run errands for the actors and crew. Costello was impressed with Moe because he didn't charge extra to run errands. He invited Moe into the studio. Moe, under the name Harry Howard, appeared in several Vitagraph dramas and comedies that summer.

In the early days of the movie industry, everybody on the set (actors, directors, writers, cameramen, lighting crews, grips, etc.) was expected to build sets and paint scenery. Costello was the first actor to get away with refusing this duty. He claimed that he was hired as an actor and nothing else. He often sat in a chair, reading a newspaper and drinking coffee while the others did set work.

In 1939 his financial situation was so dire that he sued his daughters Dolores Costello and Helene Costello for support.

Shares his birthday, 22nd February, with his great-grandaughter Drew Barrymore (I)

Although during the late 'teens and early '20s he was one of the most successful, and highest paid, stars in Hollywood, by the late '30s his career had declined to the point where he was reduced to taking unbilled work as a background extra for a day or two at a few dollars a day. By 1939 he was so broke that he had to sue his daughters for financial support.

Strongly opposed the marriage of daughter Dolores Costello to John Barrymore (I). Maurice knew of Barrymore's history of womanizing and heavy drinking and was strongly put off by the fact that Barrymore was closer in age to him than his daughter, and he frequently begged his daughter not to go through with it, saying that it would not last. She went against his wishes and married Barrymore anyway. Maurice was proved right when the marriage did not even last ten years.

Parents were Thomas Costello (born 1852) and Ellen Fitzgerald (born 1853).