Drew Barrymore life and biography

Drew Barrymore ( Also known as: Andrew Barrymore, Drew Blyth Barrymore) born February 22, 1975 in Los Angeles, California, United States is an American actress.


"Sidelights"

Drew Barrymore is an actress who enjoyed particular success as a child performer before succumbing to drugs and alcohol. Descending from a long line of actors (and alcoholics), Barrymore made her acting debut at age eleven months when she appeared in a television commercial. Four years later she appeared in her first motion picture, Altered States. Her next film, Steven Spielberg's E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial, turned out to be the highest grossing film to date and brought Barrymore considerable attention from the media. This movie, in which a suburban family befriends an alien from outer space, reaped hundreds of millions of dollars and earned legions of fans. As People later noted, by age seven Barrymore "was a full-fledged movie star in the most popular movie ever made."

That attention brought with it more pressure than Barrymore could withstand. Although she continued her film career with appearances in films like Irreconcilable Differences and Firestarter, by age nine she was already abusing alcohol. Soon she became addicted to cocaine. By the mid-1980s she was working infrequently, the drugs and alcohol rendering her increasingly unstable. But in 1988 Barrymore realized that she was on a course of self-destruction, and she finally sought professional help. She received treatment and counseling at the ASAP rehabilitation center in Van Nuys, California, and in a short time pronounced herself cured. In early 1989, however, she was experiencing difficulty with sobriety and having trouble with her relationships: she suffered a relapse and attempted suicide. "Emotionally," she told Jeannie Park in People, "I hit the biggest bottom ever. Everything just collapsed on me. Everything."

Barrymore returned to ASAP for intensive treatment that involved a stay with musician David Crosby and his wife, Jan Dance, themselves recovered substance abusers. The treatment and stay with the Crosbys proved successful, and Barrymore has since remained free of addictive substances. This time, however, she is more reserved about her personal triumph. "You know, when you become sober, you don't own a halo," she told People. "You've just got to do the best that you can."

After overcoming her personal problems, Barrymore revived her acting career and published Little Girl Lost, a memoir of her harrowing teen years that critics praised for its honesty. She was brought back to moviegoers' attention with her role in Poison Ivy, where she plays a sexy, scheming young woman who blithely determines to undo a family's harmony. Janet Maslin, in her New York Times review, reported, "After her long and well-publicized burnout period, Ms. Barrymore is an actress again, and quite a sly one in this coquettish role." In 1992 Barrymore also began appearing in the television series 2000 Malibu Road, in which she plays a likeable aspiring actress living with three other attractive women, including a former prostitute, in a glamorous beachfront home.


PERSONAL INFORMATION

Born February 22, 1975, in Los Angeles, CA; daughter of John (an actor) and Ildiko Jaid (an actress) Barrymore. Avocational Interests: Horseback riding. Addresses: Agent: William Morris Agency, 151 El Camino Dr., Beverly Hills, CA 90212.

AWARDS

Golden Globe Award for best performance by an actress in a miniseries or motion picture made for television, Hollywood Foreign Press Association, 2010, for Grey Gardens.

CAREER

Actress, director, and writer. Performer in motion pictures, including Altered States, 1980; E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial, 1982; Irreconcilable Differences, 1984; Firestarter, 1984; Cat's Eye, 1985; Far from Home, 1989; Poison Ivy, 1992; and Gun Crazy, 1992. Performer in television productions, including Amazing Stories, 1985; Babes in Toyland, 1986; Conspiracy of Love, 1987; and 2000 Malibu Road, 1992--. Director of the film Whip It, released by Fox Searchlight Pictures, 2009.

WRITINGS:

* (With Todd Gold) Little Girl Lost (memoir), Pocket Books, 1989.

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