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Drew Blyth Barrymore (born February 22, 1975) is an American actress and film producer. She has her own production company, Flower Films.

Family

Drew Barrymore was born into the acting profession, coming from a long line of acting talent stretching back nearly 200 years; her great-great grandparents John Drew, Louisa Lane Drew, her great-grandparents Maurice Barrymore, Georgiana Drew and Maurice Costello, and her grandparents John Barrymore and Dolores Costello were all highly successful actors. She is the great-niece of Lionel Barrymore, Ethel Barrymore, and Helene Costello, and the great grandniece of John Drew, Jr., actress Louisa Drew, and silent film actor/writer/director Sidney Drew. Her father John Drew Barrymore was an actor. Her half-brother John Blyth Barrymore is an actor. Her mother, the Hungarian-American Jaid Barrymore, has also acted.

Her first name Drew was the maiden name of her paternal great-grandmother, Georgiana Drew; her middle name Blyth was the original surname of the dynasty founded by her great-grandfather, Maurice Barrymore.

Beginning of career

Her career began at the age of 11 months when she auditioned for a dog food commercial. When she was bitten by her canine co-star, the producers feared she'd cry, but she merely laughed, and was hired for the job.

She shot to fame when she co-starred in the 1982 Steven Spielberg film E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial. At the age of 7, on November 20, 1982, Barrymore became the youngest-ever guest host of Saturday Night Live. She performed in a skit where she revealed that she killed E.T. She also received a Golden Globe nomination for Best Supporting Actress in 1984 for her role in Irreconcilable Differences.

In the wake of this sudden stardom, she endured a notoriously troubled childhood, drinking alcohol by the time she was 9, smoking marijuana at 10, and snorting cocaine at 12. Barrymore later described this period of her life in her 1990 autobiography, Little Girl Lost.

Though overcoming her substance abuse problems by the time she entered adulthood, she maintained her "bad girl" image, and leveraged her new-found role as a sex symbol to stage a career comeback playing a teenage seductress in Poison Ivy, and posing nude for the January 1995 issue of Playboy.

Steven Spielberg gave her a quilt for her 20th birthday with a note that read "Cover yourself up." Enclosed was a copy of her Playboy appearance, with the pictures altered by his art department so that she appeared fully clothed.

At that time she had also appeared nude in her last five movies. During a 1995 appearance on The Late Show with David Letterman, Barrymore shocked the normally unflappable host by climbing onto his desk and flashing him (but with her back to the camera) for his birthday. She also modeled in a series of Guess? jeans ads during this time.

She had made what many consider a powerful comeback with an iconic performance in the highly successful 1996 film Scream.

Continued fame

Barrymore has continued to be highly bankable. She has been especially adept in romantic comedies, such as Wishful Thinking (1996), The Wedding Singer (1998), Home Fries (1998), Never Been Kissed (1999), 50 First Dates (2004), and Fever Pitch (2005). Summing up Drew's appeal to a 't', Roger Ebert, in his review of 50 First Dates describes Barrymore as having a "smiling, coy sincerity", describing the film as "ingratiating and lovable" Review of 50 First Dates, Roger Ebert, February 13, 2004. She has also produced several films, including Charlie's Angels. Maxim magazine featured Barrymore and her fellow Angels in their Girls of Maxim gallery after the launch of the sequel Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle in 2003.

She has also recently explored more dramatic roles in movies such as Riding in Cars with Boys, where she played a teenage mother in a failed marriage with the drug-addicted father (based on the real-life story of Beverly D'Onofrio), Confessions of a Dangerous Mind,

In Richard Kelly's debut movie Donnie Darko she was cast as Karen Pomeroy, the title character's English teacher where she had a small role.

Barrymore's career makes for colorful copy. In the words of Yahoo! Movies:

Heir to a Hollywood dynasty, child star, prepubescent drug and alcohol abuser, teenage sexpot, and resurrected vessel of celluloid purity, Drew Barrymore is nothing if not the embodiment of the rise and fall of Hollywood fortunes, self-reinvention, and the healing powers of good PR.

She was the subject of My Date with Drew (2005). In it, an aspiring filmmaker and fan uses his limited resources in an attempt to gain a date with her.

On February 3, 2004, she received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

According to reports she was offered the lead role of Sydney Prescott (which ultimately went to Neve Campbell) in Scream but turned it down requesting to star as the opening death of Casey Becker. Wes Craven wasn't too happy with the idea but cast her anyway.

Her fame continues to this day. Now she has taken a break from acting to spend time with her boyfriend. A few films are slated to release sometime in 2007.

Personal life

Barrymore was married to Welsh bartender turned bar owner, Jeremy Thomas, from March 20 to April 28, 1994, and to comedian Tom Green from July 7, 2001 to October 15, 2002 (Green filed for divorce in December 2001). Barrymore lives with drummer Fabrizio Moretti of The Strokes, who she has been with since April 2002. They are reportedly engaged and she has publicly stated that she is eager to start a family soon. She is also the Godmother to rock stars Courtney Love and Kurt Cobain's child, Frances Bean Cobain. .

Filmography

See also

• Barrymore family

Notes

External links

• Drew Barrymore Video with Johnny Carson

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