Drew Barrymore

Drew Barrymore, born Drew Blythe Barrymore in Culver City, California, on February 22, 1975, is an American actor, producer, director, author, entrepreneur, and television host. She comes from one of Hollywood’s most famous acting families: the Barrymore and Drew theatrical line includes John Barrymore, Lionel Barrymore, Ethel Barrymore, and many other stage and screen performers. Barrymore began working as a child, appearing in commercials and then in films before becoming internationally recognizable as Gertie in Steven Spielberg’s E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial.

Her early fame was accompanied by intense public attention and personal instability, a period she later discussed in her memoir Little Girl Lost. After adolescent struggles and legal emancipation, Barrymore rebuilt her career in the 1990s with a mix of rebellious, comic, and romantic roles. Films such as Poison Ivy, Boys on the Side, Batman Forever, and Scream helped reintroduce her as an adult performer, while The Wedding Singer and Ever After made her a bankable romantic lead. She became especially associated with an accessible, slightly offbeat screen presence: warm, funny, self-aware, and able to bring sincerity to commercial comedy.

Barrymore expanded her role in the industry by co-founding Flower Films, the production company behind projects including Never Been Kissed, Charlie’s Angels, 50 First Dates, Music and Lyrics, and He’s Just Not That Into You. Her producer identity was important: she was not only starring in studio comedies but helping shape vehicles around her persona and around female-led mainstream entertainment. In 2009 she made her feature directing debut with Whip It, a coming-of-age roller-derby film. The same year she won a Golden Globe for playing Edith Bouvier Beale in HBO’s Grey Gardens, demonstrating that her dramatic work could stand alongside her comedies.