Barrymore, Drew

BARRYMORE, Drew

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Nationality: American. Born: Drew Blyth Barrymore, in Los Angeles, CA, 22 February 1975; granddaughter of John Drew Barrymore (an actor); great-granddaughter of Maurice Costello (an actor in silent films). Family: Married Jeremy Thomas, 20 March 1994 (marriage ended, May 1994). Career: Actress; made her television debut in a commercial at the age of eleven months; founder of production company, Flower Films, with Nancy Juvonen. Awards: Young Artist Award for Best Young Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture, for E. T., the Extra-Terrestrial, 1983; Hollywood Film Festival Actress of the Year, 1999; Women in Film Crystal Award, 1999; Young Artist Former Child Star Lifetime Achievement Award, 1999. Agent: William Morris Agency, 151 El Camino Dr., Beverly Hills, CA 90212.

Films as Actress:

1978

Suddenly, Love (Margolin) (as Bobby Graham)

1980

Altered States (Russell) (as Margaret Jessup); Bogie (Sherman—for TV) (as Leslie Bogart)

1982

E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (Spielberg) (as Gertie)

1984

Irreconcilable Differences (Shyer) (as Casey Brodsky); Firestarter (Mark L. Lester) (as Charlene "Charlie" McGee)

1985

Cat's Eye (Lewis Teague) (as Amanda)

1986

Babes in Toyland (Donner—for TV) (as Lisa Piper)

1987

Conspiracy of Love (Noel Black—for TV) (as Jody Woldarski)

1989

See You in the Morning (Pakula) (as Cathy); Far from Home (Meiert Avis) (as Joleen Cox)

1992

Waxwork II: Lost in Time (Hickox) (as Vampire Victim); Poison Ivy (Katt Shea) (as Ivy); No Place to Hide (Richard Danus) (as Tinsel Hanley); Motorama (Shils) (as Fantasy Girl); Sketch Artist (Papamichael—for TV) (as Daisy); 2000 Malibu Road (Schumacher—series for TV) (as Lindsay); Guncrazy (Davis) (as Anita Minteer)

1993

Wayne's World 2 (Surjik) (as Bjergen Kjergen); Doppelganger (Nesher) (as Holly Gooding); The Amy Fisher Story (Tennant—for TV) (as Amy Fisher)

1994

Inside the Goldmine (Evans) (as Daisy); Bad Girls (Kaplan) (as Lilly Laronette)

1995

Boys on the Side (Ross) (as Holly); Batman Forever (Schumacher) (as Sugar); Mad Love (Bird) (as Casey Roberts)

1996

Scream (Craven) (as Casey Becker); Everyone Says I Love You (Allen) (as Skylar); Like a Lady

1997

Wishful Thinking (Park) (as Lena); Best Men (Davis) (as Hope)

1998

Ever After (Tennant) (as Danielle De Barbarac); Home Fries (Parisot) (as Sally); The Wedding Singer (Coraci) (as Julia Sullivan)

1999

Never Been Kissed (Gosnell) (as Josie Geller) (+ exec pr); Olive, the Other Reindeer (Moore—anim for TV) (as voice of Olive) (+ exec pr)

2000

Titan A.E. (Bluth and Goldman—anim) (as voice of Akima); Charlie's Angels: The Movie (McG) (as Dylan) (+ pr); Skipped Parts (Davis) (as Dream Girl)

2001

Kiding in Cars With Boys (Penny Marshall); Donnie Darko (Kelly) (as Ms. Pomeroy)

Publications

By BARRYMORE: books—

Little Girl Lost, New York, 1989.

By BARRYMORE: articles—

Interview, vol. 12, August 1982.

"Barrymore," an interview with Steven Goldman and Matthew Rolston, in Interview, vol. 21, no. 7, July 1991.

Interview with Kevin Koffler, in Seventeen, vol. 51, no. 1, January 1992.

"Tuseday Knight," in Interview, vol. 23, no. 3, March 1993.

"The Name is Barrymore but the Style is all Drew's," in The New York Times, 7 March 1993.

"Drew Barrymore: Little Girl Lost and Found," an interview with Martha Frankel, in Cosmopolitan, vol. 214, no. 5, May 1993.

"Xpansive Drew," an interview with Ricki Lake, in Interview, vol. 24, no. 10, October 1994.

"Drew Barrymore: Wild Thing," an interview with Chris Mundy, in Rolling Stone, no. 710, 15 June 1995.

"Drew Does Cinderella: Young Hollywood's Brightest Star Takes on a Classic Heroine," an interview with Jessica Shaw, in Seventeen, vol. 57, no. 8, August 1998.

On BARRYMORE: books—

Zannos, Susan, Drew Barrymore, Bear, 2000.

On BARRYMORE: articles—

Mackay, Kathy, "Those Lips, Those Eyes, That Name: The Newest Barrymore in movies is E.T. 's Earthly Sister," in People Weekly, vol. 18, 19 July 1982.

Barrett, Katherine, "Drew Takes a Holiday," in Ladies Home Journal, vol. 99, December 1982.

"A Day in the Life of Drew Barrymore," in People Weekly, vol. 22, 12 November 1988.

Park, Jeannie, "Falling Downpand Getting Back Up Again," in People Weekly, vol. 33, no. 4, 29 January 1990.

Kaufman, Joanne, "Child Star, Child Addict," in Ladies Home Journal, vol. 107, no. 3, March 1990.

"Drew Barrymore Is," in Esquire, vol. 121, no. 2, February 1994.

"Imagine," in Interview, vol. 24, no. 5, May 1994.

Cunningham, Kim, "She Moves the Male," in People Weekly, vol. 43, no. 25, 26 June 1995.

van Meterm, Jonathan, "Drew on Top," in Harper's Bazaar, no. 3421, December 1996.

Strauss, Bob, "It Had to Be Drew," in Entertainment Weekly, no. 363, 24 January 1997.

"Drew Barrymore," in People Weekly, vol. 47, no. 18, 12 May 1997.

Ressner, Jeffrey, "Too Good to Be Drew?" in Time (New York), vol. 152, no. 5, 3 August 1998.

Weinraub, Bernard, "Living Happily So Far," in The New York Times, 7 August 1998.

Millea, Holly, "Drew's Rules," in Premiere (Boulder), vol. 11, no. 13, September 1998.

Lockhart, Kim, "Drew Barrymore: Princess of the Big Screen," in Teen Magazine, vol. 43, no. 1, January 1999.

Deitch Rohrer, Trish, "True Drew: After 23 Years as an Actress, 24 Year-Old Drew Barrymore is Starting a Whole New Career as a Producer," in In Style, vol. 6, no. 3, 1 March 1999.

Sales, Nancy Jo, "Teen Peaks," in Vogue, vol. 189, no. 7, July 1999.

Desalvo, Robert B., "A Decade of Scream Queens: The Ten Divas of Dread that Make it Hip to be Scared," in Playboy, vol. 46, no. 12, December 1999.

Ault, Susanne, "ShoWest Taps Carrey, Barrymore, Minghella," in Variety (New York), vol. 377, no. 10, 24 January 2000.

* * *

Granddaughter of the legendary John Barrymore, Drew Barrymore made her own acting debut at age 3 in the 1987 TV movie, Suddenly Love. Three years later, Barrymore appeared on the big screen in the 1980 science fiction drama, Altered States. But it was in 1982 that the precocious, sweet-faced, blond tyke burst into the American consciousness in one of the most popular movies of all time, E.T., the Extra-Terrestrial. Playing the youngest of three children who help E.T. find his way home, Barrymore launched her film career by capturing the hearts of moviegoers of all ages.

Throughout her childhood, Barrymore appeared in a wide range of big and small screen films, the best-known of which was Firestarter (1984), in which she played the petulant Charlie McGee, a little girl with telekinetic fire-starting abilities linked to her bouts of anger. But Barrymore's acting career soon took a back seat to her troubled personal life. At age nine, Barrymore had her first drink, by ten she was smoking pot, and by the time she was 12 she was hooked on cocaine. Two years later, she attempted suicide, and began a string of stints in rehab. Despite finding steady work in little-seen films such as Babes in Toyland (1986), See You in the Morning (1989), and Far From Home (1989), the caliber of Barrymore's acting disintegrated along with her personal life. Soon her tabloid appearances outnumbered her acting roles, and many saw Drew as heir to the "Barrymore curse."

In 1989, the 15-year-old became the youngest person ever to publish a memoir, Little Girl Lost, which chronicled her battles with addiction. But beneath the teenager's troubles lay a steely determination to succeed in the family business. Riding the wave of publicity sparked by her memoir and a nude photo shoot in Interview, the 17-year-old Barrymore began an impressive comeback in Poison Ivy (1992), playing a part that cleverly mirrored her off-screen tabloid persona of a sluttish and seductive teen.

During the early 1990s, Barrymore was everywhere—on screen, on talk shows, on magazine covers, on billboards. And her movie career flourished. Despite a few misguided choices such as The Amy Fisher Story, America embraced Drew's bad girl persona in films such as Bad Girls and Batman Forever. But slowly more subtlety and depth began to find its way into her roles. In Boys on the Side (1995), playing the spunky Holly, one of three women who escape their lives by driving cross country together, she earned the praise of Roger Ebert who wrote that she was developing into "an actress of great natural zest and conviction."

Even as the wider public focused on wild Drew moments such as her chest-baring incident on The David Letterman Show, Barrymore was struggling to earn the respect of the movie industry powers-thatbe after forming her own production company, Flower Films. With her star in the ascendant, in 1996 the 21-year-old Barrymore earned critical praise for her diverse performances in Wes Craven's Scream and Woody Allen's Mad About You. As Casey Becker in Scream, Barrymore's ability to convey palpable fear set the tone for the film that many felt revitalized the horror genre. That same year, Barrymore successfully played against type as the fiancée of a proper young man in the Woody Allen musical.

Barrymore's growing reputation as a competent and compelling actress led to a string of immensely popular movies. In the Cinderella remake Ever After (1997), Barrymore starred as the intelligent, spirited, book-loving, and beautiful stepdaughter who wins the heart of a prince. Barrymore's next star turn was undoubtedly her most popular film since E.T. As Julia, the warm-hearted waitress in The Wedding Singer, Barrymore's soulful spunk proved the ideal counterpoint to Adam Sandler's nerdy and forlorn Robbie Hart, and the romantic comedy became the surprise blockbuster of 1998.

By 1999, Barrymore was earning $3 million a picture, and had won the respect of Hollywood as a talented actress, an audience favorite, and one of the rare young female stars who can single-handedly carry a picture. In Never Been Kissed, Drew winningly played Josie Geller, a nerdy newspaper employee sent undercover back to high school. Though the film was not a critical success, Barrymore's star remained undimmed. From child star to troubled teen to blonde bombshell to box office gold, Drew Barrymore has spent most of her life in the public eye. But she is just now beginning to come into her own as a film actress—and one can only eagerly await the performances yet to emerge from one of the film industry's most exciting young stars.

—Victoria Price