Drew Barrymore

Drew Blythe Barrymore (born February 22, 1975) is an American actress, author, director, model, and producer. She is a member of the Barrymore family of American stage and film actors, and the granddaughter of John Barrymore. She made her breakout role as a child actress in Steven Spielberg's film E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982).

Following a highly publicized, turbulent childhood marked by drug and alcohol abuse with two stints in rehab, she released her autobiography, Little Girl Lost (1991). Barrymore subsequently appeared in a string of successful films, including Poison Ivy (1992), Scream (1996), and Ever After (1998). She has also starred with Adam Sandler in The Wedding Singer (1998), 50 First Dates (2004), and Blended (2014).

In 1995, Barrymore and Nancy Juvonen formed a joint production company, Flower Films, and went on to produce several films in which she also starred, such as Never Been Kissed (1999), Charlie's Angels (2000), Donnie Darko (2001), Fever Pitch (2005), Music and Lyrics (2007), and her directorial debut Whip It (2009). Barrymore won a Screen Actors Guild Award and a Golden Globe Award for her performance in the HBO drama film Grey Gardens (2009). Since 2017, she has starred in the Netflix television series Santa Clarita Diet.

Ancestry

 * See also: Barrymore family

Barrymore was born in Culver City, California, to actor John Barrymore and aspiring actress Jaid (born Ildikó Jaid Makó). Jaid was born in a displaced persons camp in Brannenburg, West Germany, to Hungarian World War II refugees. Barrymore is one of four children with a half-brother, John, who is also an actor. Her parents divorced in 1984, when she was nine years old.

She was born into an acting dynasty: All of her paternal great-grandparents—Maurice and Georgie Drew Barrymore, Maurice and Mae Costello ( Altschuk)—as well as her paternal grandparents, John Barrymore and Dolores Costello, were actors, with John being arguably the most acclaimed actor of his generation. Barrymore is a niece of Diana Barrymore, a grandniece of Lionel Barrymore, Ethel Barrymore, and Helene Costello, and a great-great-granddaughter of Irish-born John and English-born Louisa Lane Drew, all of whom were also actors. She was a great-grandniece of Broadway idol John Drew, Jr. and silent film actor, writer and director Sidney Drew.

Her godmothers are actress Sophia Loren and Lee Strasberg's widow Anna Strasberg; Barrymore described her relationship with the latter as one that "would become so important to me as a kid because she was so kind and nurturing." Her godfather is director Steven Spielberg.

Her first name, "Drew", was the maiden name of her paternal great-grandmother, Georgie Drew, and her middle name, "Blythe," was the original surname of the dynasty founded by her great-grandfather, Maurice Barrymore. Barrymore recounted in her 1991 autobiography, Little Girl Lost, early memories of her abusive father, who left the family when Barrymore was six months old. They never had anything resembling a significant relationship and seldom spoke to each other.

Childhood
Barrymore grew up on Poinsetta Place in West Hollywood until the age of 7, when she moved to Sherman Oaks. In her 2015 memoir Wildflower, she says she talks "like a valley girl" because she grew up in Sherman Oaks. She moved back to West Hollywood, upon becoming emancipated at 14. Barrymore attended elementary school at Fountain Day School in West Hollywood and Country School.

In the wake of her sudden stardom, Barrymore endured a notoriously troubled childhood. She was already a regular at the racy Studio 54 as a young girl, smoking cigarettes at the age of nine, drinking alcohol at age eleven, smoking marijuana at age twelve and snorting cocaine at age thirteen. Her nightlife and constant partying became a popular subject with the media. She was in rehab at the age of fourteen, and spent eighteen months in an institution for the mentally ill. A suicide attempt, also at 14, put her back in rehab, followed by a three-month stay with singer David Crosby (of rock group Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young) and his wife. The stay was precipitated, Crosby said, because she "needed to be around some people that were committed to sobriety." Barrymore later described this period of her life in her autobiography, Little Girl Lost. After a successful juvenile court petition for emancipation, she moved into her own apartment at the age of fifteen.

1980s
Barrymore's professional career began at eleven months, when she auditioned for a dog food commercial. She was nipped by her canine costar, to which she merely laughed and was hired for the job. After her film debut with a small role in Altered States (1980), she played Gertie in E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982), directed by Steven Spielberg. He felt that she had the right imagination for her role after she impressed him with a story that she led a punk rock band. E.T. is the highest-grossing film of the 1980s and made her one of the most famous child stars of the time. For her work, she won a Young Artist Award for Best Supporting Actress.

In the 1984 science fiction horror adaptation of the 1980 eponymous Stephen King novel Firestarter, Barrymore played a girl with pyrokinesis who becomes the target of a secret government agency known as The Shop. The same year, she played a young girl divorcing her famous parents in Irreconcilable Differences, for which she was nominated for her first Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress. In a review in the Chicago Sun-Times, Roger Ebert stated, "Barrymore is the right actress for this role precisely because she approaches it with such grave calm."

She endured a troubled youth and continued to act intermittently during the decade. She starred in the 1985 anthology horror film Cat's Eye, written again by Stephen King. The film received positive reviews and Barrymore was nominated for a Young Artist Award for Best Leading Young Actress. She starred alongside Jeff Bridges and Alice Krige in the 1989 romantic comedy See You in the Morning. Vincent Canby of The New York Times criticized "the fashionable phoniness" of the film, but positively singled out Barrymore for her performance. After her twelve-day rehab treatment at ASAP, Barrymore starred in Far from Home (1989), as a teenager who gets stranded with her father in the small town in a remote part of the desert. The film went largely unnoticed by audiences and received negative reviews from critics, who dismissed the sexual portrayal of her role.

1990s
In the early 1990s, her rebelliousness played itself out on screen and in print. Barrymore forged an image as a manipulative teenage seductress, beginning with Poison Ivy (1992), which was a box office failure, but was popular on video and cable. Her character Ivy was ranked at #6 on the list of the top 26 "bad girls" of all time by Entertainment Weekly. In 1992, Barrymore posed nude for the cover of the July issue of Interview magazine with her then-fiancé, actor Jamie Walters, as well as appearing nude in pictures inside the issue.

In the crime thriller Guncrazy (1992), Barrymore starred as a teenager who kills her sexual abusive stepfather, after he teaches her how to use a gun. Variety remarked that she "pulls off impressively" her character, and Barrymore was nominated for the Golden Globe Award for her performance. In 1993, she took on the role of the younger sister of a murdered ballerina in No Place to Hide and starred as a writer followed by what is apparently her evil twin in Doppelganger. Both thrillers were panned by critics and failed to find an audience. She appeared in the western comedy Bad Girls (1994), which follows four former prostitutes on the run following a justifiable homicide and prison escape. Roger Ebert, in his review for the film, wrote for Chicago Sun-Times: "What a good idea, to make a Western about four tough women. And what a sad movie."

When she was nineteen, she posed nude for the January 1995 issue of Playboy. Steven Spielberg, who is also her godfather, gave her a quilt for her twentieth birthday with a note that read, "Cover yourself up." Enclosed were copies of her Playboy pictures, with the pictures altered by his art department so that she appeared fully clothed. During her appearance on the Late Show with David Letterman, Barrymore climbed onto David Letterman's desk and bared her breasts to him, her back to the camera, in celebration of his birthday. She modeled in a series of Guess? jeans ads during this time.

In Boys on the Side (1995), Barrymore played a pregnant girl who wants to escape from her abusive boyfriend. The film went little seen in theaters, but was positively received by critics. In the same year, she briefly appeared in Joel Schumacher's film Batman Forever, as Sugar, a moll to Two-Face (Tommy Lee Jones). In 1996, she made a brief but notable appearance in Wes Craven's slasher Scream. Barrymore read the film's script and was interested in being involved, approaching the production team herself to request a role. The producers were quick to take advantage of her unexpected interest, and signed her to play the lead role of Sidney Prescott, but when she was faced with unexpected commitments, she instead played the smaller role of Casey Becker. Scream was released to critical acclaim and made an impressive US$173 million worldwide. By the mid- and late 1990s, Barrymore re-established her image and continued to be a highly bankable star.

In The Wedding Singer (1998), Barrymore played Julia Sullivan, the love interest of Robbie Hart (Adam Sandler). Variety found the film to be a "spirited, funny and warm saga" that serves them up "in a new way that enhances their most winning qualities". Budgeted at US$18 million, the film grossed US$123.3 million internationally. Barrymore starred in two other 1998 film releases—Home Fries and Ever After. Home Fries saw her play a pregnant woman unknowingly falling for the stepson of the deceased father of her baby. In the romantic drama Ever After, inspired by the fairy tale Cinderella, she took on the leading role; the film, which made US$98 million globally, served as a reminder, according to Roger Ebert, of how well Barrymore "can hold the screen and involve us in her characters".

Barrymore voiced the title role of an anthropomorphic Jack Russell Terrier in the television Christmas special Olive, the Other Reindeer, for which she was nominated for an Primetime Emmy Award. After Barrymore and Nancy Juvonen established Flower Films in 1995, she produced the company's first film, Never Been Kissed (1999), in which she also starred as an insecure 25-year-old copy editor for the Chicago Sun-Times enrolling in high school as part of assigned research. While reviews from critics were mixed, CNN noted: "There are two words which describe why this film works: Drew Barrymore. Her comedic timing and willingness to go all out in her quest for a laugh combine to make Never Been Kissed a gratifying movie-going experience". The film was a commercial success, grossing US$84.5 million.

2000s
In Charlie's Angels (2000), Barrymore, Cameron Diaz and Lucy Liu played the trio of investigators in Los Angeles. The film was a major box office success and helped solidify the standing between Barrymore and the company. Barrymore starred in Riding in Cars with Boys (2001), as a teenage mother in a failed marriage with the drug-addicted father (based on Beverly Donofrio's real-life story). When the production of Richard Kelly's Donnie Darko was threatened, Barrymore stepped forward with financing from the company, and played the title character's English teacher. Although the film was less than successful at the box office in the wake of 9/11, it reached cult film status after the DVD release, inspiring numerous websites devoted to unraveling the plot twists and meanings.

In 2002, Barrymore starred with Sam Rockwell and Julia Roberts in George Clooney's directorial debut Confessions of a Dangerous Mind, based on the autobiography of television producer Chuck Barris. In 2003, she reprised her role as Dylan Sanders in Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle, and starred with Ben Stiller in Duplex. Flower Films and Adam Sandler's Happy Madison Productions produced 50 First Dates (2004), in which Barrymore took on the role of woman with short-term memory loss and the love interest of a marine veterinarian (Sandler). Summing up Barrymore's appeal, Roger Ebert, in his review for the film, remarked that Barrymore displayed a "smiling, coy sincerity," in what he described as a "ingratiating and lovable" film. 50 First Dates was a commercial success; it made US$120.9 million in North America and US$196.4 million worldwide.

In the American adaptation of the 1997 eponymous British remake Fever Pitch (2005), Barrymore played the love interest of an inmature school teacher (Jimmy Fallon). The film grossed a modest US$50 million worldwide and was favorably by reviewers who felt it "has enough charm and on-screen chemistry between [Fallon and Barrymore] to make it a solid hit". She and Hugh Grant starred in Music and Lyrics, which focuses on the relationship that evolves between a former pop music idol and an aspiring writer as they struggle to compose a song for a reigning pop diva. The romantic comedy, released in February 2007, received largely positive reviews, with The Washington Post finding the two to be "great together" in it. The film was a commercial success, grossing US$145 million globally. Barrymore starred in Curtis Hanson's poker-themed film Lucky You, as an aspiring singer and the subject of affections of a young and talented poker player. A lukewarm critical and commercial reception greeted the film upon its release, with The New Yorker remarking that her role "belongs in front of a sixth-grade class, not [where the film is set]."

In the commercial hit Beverly Hills Chihuahua (2008), Barrymore voiced the titular character, a richly pampered pet who gets dognapped in Mexico and has to escape from an evil Doberman. She reunited with Never Been Kissed director Raja Gosnell for the film, after Gosnell called her and offered the script, on which he remarked: "[Drew] clearly understood the character. She has a very endearing nature that comes through in her voice because that’s part of who [she] really is".

In 2009, Barrymore starred in the ensemble comedy He's Just Not That Into You, which garnered mixed reviews from critics, who observed her limited time on screen,  while it grossed US$178 million worldwide. She played the lead role of Edith Bouvier Beale, the daughter of Edith Ewing Bouvier Beale (Jessica Lange), in the HBO film Grey Gardens, directed by Michael Sucsy and based on the 1975 documentary of the same name. The television film was a huge success, winning five Primetime Emmy Awards and two Golden Globe Awards. Rolling Stone writer Peter Travels found Barrymore to be a "revelation" in her role and she won the Best Supporting Actress – Series, Miniseries or Television Film for her performance.

Barrymore made her directorial debut with the sports dramedy Whip It (2009); she also starred opposite Ellen Page and Marcia Gay Harden in the film, about a high-schooler (Page) who ditches the teen beauty pageant scene so she participate in an Austin roller derby league. Barrymore worked with screenwriter Shauna Cross for months on script revisions, with Barrymore pushing her to "avoid her story's tidier prospects, to make things 'more raw and open ended.'" While the film found limited box office receipts, it was favorably received; according to review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes, critics agreed that her "directorial debut has enough charm, energy, and good-natured humor to transcend its many cliches". For her venture, Barrymore garnered nominations for a Bronze Horse at the Stockholm Film Festival and for the EDA Female Focus Award at the 2009 Alliance of Women Film Journalists. In Everybody's Fine, her last 2009 film release, Barrymore played the daughter of a recently widowed retiree (Robert De Niro). The drama flopped at the box office, but Stephen Holden for The New York Times considered Barrymore "as ingenuous as ever" in what he described as a "small role".

2010s
In 2010, Barrymore starred with Justin Long in Nanette Burstein's Going the Distance. The film follows a couple dealing the ups and downs of a long-distance relationship, while commuting between New York City and San Francisco. It garnered generally mixed reviews by critics, who summed it as "timelier and a little more honest than most romantic comedies", and budgeted at US$32 million, the film made US$40 million at the worldwide box office.

On August 2, 2011, Barrymore directed the music video for the song "Our Deal," for the band Best Coast, which features Chloë Grace Moretz, Miranda Cosgrove, Tyler Posey, Donald Glover, Shailene Woodley and Alia Shawkat. Barrymore starred with John Krasinski in the drama Big Miracle (2012), which covers Operation Breakthrough, the 1988 international effort to rescue gray whales from being trapped in ice near Point Barrow, Alaska. The film saw her play Rachel Krameron, based on Greenpeace activist Cindy Lowry. Despite a positive critical reception, the film flopped at the box office.

In Blended (2014), Barrymore played Lauren Reynolds, a recently divorced woman ending up on a family resort with Jim Friedman (Adam Sandler). Film critic James Berardinelli dismissed the "hit-and-miss humor" of the story and wrote that "as [Sandler and Barrymore] are concerned, the third time is definitely not the charm", as part of an overall lukewarm critical response. The film, however, ultimately grossed US$128 million worldwide. She and Toni Collette starred in Miss You Already (2015), as two long-time friends whose relationship is put to the test when one starts a family and the other becomes ill. Reviewers embraced the film, while it received a limited theatrical release.

Since February 2017, Barrymore has starred in the Netflix television series Santa Clarita Diet, portraying a family wife who, after experiencing a physical transformation into a zombie, starts craving human flesh. Along with co-star Timothy Olyphant, Barrymore also serves as a executive producer on the single-camera series, which was favorably received upon its premiere; Rolling Stone felt that "much of [the series' laughs] comes down to the uncrushable Drew Barrymore charm" and furthermore remarked: "The show is a welcome comeback for Barrymore, the eternally beloved grunge-era wild thing—it's not just her big move into TV, but her first high-profile performance anywhere in years. In a way, it circles back to the roles she was doing in the early [90s], playing deadly vixens in flicks like Guncrazy or Doppelganger". A second season was released in March 2018, and a third one is slated for 2019.

Barrymore is attached to produce and star in Jamie Babbit's upcoming romantic comedy The Stand-In.

Image and fashion
Barrymore became a CoverGirl Cosmetics' model and spokeswoman in 2007. In February 2015, she remained one of the faces of CoverGirl, alongside Queen Latifah and Taylor Swift. The company partnered with her because "she emulates the iconic image of CoverGirl with her fresh, natural beauty and energetic yet authentic spirit," said Esi Eggleston Bracey, Vice President and General Manager of CoverGirl Cosmetics North America. She brought not only her personality into this endorsement but also her creative side, as she also helped create the ads. She was No. 1 in People's annual 100 Most Beautiful People list in 2007. Later, she was named the new face for the Gucci jewelry line. As a model, Barrymore signed a contract with IMG Models New York City. She also was a spokeswoman for Crocs.

She launched a women's fashion line in fall 2017 in conjunction with Amazon.com called Dear Drew which featured a pop-up shop in New York City that opened in November.

Other work
In May 2007, Barrymore was named Ambassador Against Hunger for the United Nations World Food Programme and later donated $1 million to the cause. As a guest photographer for a magazine series called "They Shoot New York," she appeared on the cover holding a Pentax K1000 film camera. She expressed hopes of exposing her work in a gallery one day, as she had documented the most recent decade of her life with a Pentax camera.

Personal life
At age 16 in 1991, Barrymore became engaged to Leland Hayward, namesake and grandson of Hollywood producer Leland Hayward. The engagement was called off a few months later. Barrymore was engaged to and lived with musician and actor Jamie Walters from 1992 to 1993.

She married her first husband, Welsh-born Los Angeles bar owner Jeremy Thomas, at age nineteen on March 20, 1994. She filed for divorce from him less than two months later.

In late 1994, Barrymore began dating Hole guitarist Eric Erlandson, followed by MTV host and comedian Tom Green in 1999; she and Green were engaged in July 2000 and married a year later. Together, they starred in Charlie's Angels and Green's directorial film debut Freddy Got Fingered. Green filed for divorce in December 2001, which was finalized on October 15, 2002.

In 2002, she began dating The Strokes drummer Fabrizio Moretti shortly after they met at a concert. Their five-year relationship ended in January 2007. She began dating Justin Long, but they broke up in July 2008. While filming Going the Distance, Barrymore and Long reunited in 2009, but broke up again the next year. 

In early 2011, Barrymore began dating art consultant Will Kopelman, the son of former Chanel CEO Arie Kopelman. The couple announced their engagement in January 2012, and married on June 2, 2012 in Montecito, California. Four days later, the couple's wedding image appeared on the cover of People magazine. Barrymore and Kopelman have two daughters: Olive Barrymore Kopelman (born 2012) and Frankie Barrymore Kopelman (born 2014). On April 2, 2016, Barrymore and Kopelman released a statement confirming they had separated and intended to divorce. On July 15, 2016, Barrymore officially filed for divorce, which was finalized on August 3, 2016.

Barrymore said in an interview with Contact Music in 2003 that she had always considered herself bisexual.

Barrymore is the godmother of Kurt Cobain and Courtney Love's daughter, Frances Bean Cobain.

Awards, honors, and nominations
In 1999, Barrymore was honored by the Young Artist Foundation with its Former Child Star "Lifetime Achievement" Award commemorating her outstanding achievements within the film industry as a child actress.

For her contributions to the film industry, Barrymore received a motion pictures star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2004. Her star is located at 6925 Hollywood Boulevard.

Barrymore's films compiled a worldwide box office gross that stood at over US$2.3 billion. According to The Hollywood Reporter's annual Star Salary Top 10, she was tied for eighth place on the top ten list of actresses' salaries, commanding 10 to 12 million dollars per film for 2006. Barrymore became the youngest person to have hosted Saturday Night Live (SNL) having hosted on November 20, 1982 at 7 years of age, a record that remained unbroken as of 2018. On February 3, 2007, Barrymore hosted SNL for the fifth time, making her the second female host (after Candice Bergen) in the show's history to do so. She hosted again on October 10, 2009, becoming the first female to host six times.