Drew Barrymore is an Emmy Award- and Golden Globe-nominated American actress and film producer, the youngest member of the Barrymore family of American actors. She has her own production company, Flower Films. Barrymore made her screen début in Altered States (1980); her breakout role two years later was in E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial. She quickly became one of Hollywood's most recognized child actresses going on to establish herself in mainly comic roles.
Barrymore was born in Culver City, California, the daughter of American actor John Drew Barrymore and Ildiko Jaid Barrymore (née Makó), an aspiring actress. She has a half-brother John Blyth Barrymore, also an actor, and two half-sisters, Blyth Dolores Barrymore and Brahma (Jessica) Blyth Barrymore.
Barrymore was born into the acting profession. John Barrymore was arguably the most acclaimed actor of his generation.
Barrymore's career began when she was eleven months old: she auditioned for a dog food commercial. She made her film debut in Altered States (1980). A year later, she landed the role of Gertie in E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, which made her famous. She received a Golden Globe nomination for Best Supporting Actress in 1984 for her role in Irreconcilable Differences.
In the wake of this sudden stardom, Barrymore endured a notoriously troubled childhood, already a regular at the famed Studio 54 when she was a little girl, smoking cigarettes at age nine, drinking alcohol by the time she was eleven, smoking marijuana at twelve, and snorting cocaine at thirteen. She was in rehab at age 13 and a second time at 14. Barrymore later described this period of her life in her 1990 autobiography, Little Girl Lost.
Barrymore used her new-found role as a sex symbol to stage a career comeback playing a manipulative, evil teenage seductress in Poison Ivy (1992), which became a box office failure, but was popular on video and cable.
She made a comeback in the successful 1996 horror film Scream. Barrymore has continued to be highly bankable, and a top box office draw. 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). She has also produced several films, including Charlie's Angels (2000). After Charlie's Angels, Drew had a dramatic role in the comedy/drama Riding in Cars with Boys (2001). Later in 2002, Barrymore appeared in Confessions of a Dangerous Mind, alongside Julia Roberts.
Barrymore has also appeared in the films Lucky You (2007) and Music and Lyrics (2007).
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.