Drew Barrymore Bio
Drew Blythe Barrymore (born February 22, 1975) is an American actress, producer, talk show host, and businesswoman. A member of the famous Barrymore family of actors, she rose to prominence as a child star with E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982) and has built a multi-decade career across film, television, and entrepreneurship. She has won a Golden Globe Award and a Screen Actors Guild Award for her portrayal of Edith Bouvier Beale in the HBO film Grey Gardens (2009) and founded the production company Flower Films.
Barrymore is also the creator and host of The Drew Barrymore Show, which premiered in 2020, and she made her directorial debut with Whip It (2009). Beyond her film and television work, she has built businesses in cosmetics, fashion, home goods, and publishing, and remains one of Hollywood’s most recognizable personalities.
Early Life and Background
Drew Blythe Barrymore was born on February 22, 1975, in Culver City, California, an inner suburb of Los Angeles. Her father was actor John Drew Barrymore, and her mother, Jaid Barrymore, was also an actor. Her parents divorced in 1984. Through her father, she has three older half-siblings, including actor John Blyth Barrymore. She is a niece of Diana Barrymore, a grandniece of Lionel Barrymore and Ethel Barrymore, and a great-great-granddaughter of the actors John and Louisa Lane Drew.
Barrymore grew up on Poinsettia Place in West Hollywood before moving to Sherman Oaks at the age of seven. She attended Fountain Day School in West Hollywood. Following her sudden stardom, she endured a troubled childhood, was placed in rehab at thirteen, and made a suicide attempt at age fourteen. After a successful juvenile court petition for emancipation, she moved into her own apartment at fifteen. She described this period of her life in her autobiography Little Girl Lost.
Path to Celebrity
Barrymore appeared in a dog food commercial when she was eleven months old and made her film debut in a small role in Altered States. She then played Gertie in E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982), directed by her godfather Steven Spielberg. E.T. was the highest-grossing film of the 1980s and made Barrymore one of the most famous child actors of her era. She won the Young Artist Award for Best Young Supporting Actress and was nominated for the Rising Star Award at the British Academy Film Awards.
In 1984, Barrymore starred in the Stephen King adaptation Firestarter and in Irreconcilable Differences, earning her first Golden Globe Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress. She also became the youngest person to guest-host Saturday Night Live, appearing during the show’s eighth season at seven years old. After a turbulent youth and a quieter period in the late 1980s, she re-emerged as a leading actress in the 1990s with roles in Poison Ivy (1992), Boys on the Side (1995), and Scream (1996).
Drew Barrymore Career
Early Career (1982–1995)
Barrymore established herself as a child star with E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial and Firestarter before transitioning into more mature roles during the early 1990s. She starred in Poison Ivy (1992) as a poor teenage girl and in Guncrazy, earning a Golden Globe Award nomination for Best Actress in a Miniseries or Television Film. She also appeared in Boys on the Side (1995) and the superhero film Batman Forever (1995), expanding her range across genres.
Throughout the 1980s and early 1990s, she won awards from the Young Artist Foundation and earned nominations from the British Academy Film Awards and the Golden Globes. Her work as a child and teenager set the foundation for a career that would later span romantic comedies, dramas, and genre films.
Breakthrough (1996–2009)
Barrymore’s breakthrough as a leading adult star came with roles in Scream (1996), The Wedding Singer (1998), and Ever After (1998). She co-founded Flower Films and produced her first project with Nancy Juvonen, Never Been Kissed (1999). In Charlie’s Angels (2000), she starred alongside Cameron Diaz and Lucy Liu in a major box-office success, reprising the role in Charlie’s Angels: Full Throttle (2003). She also produced and starred in 50 First Dates (2004) with Adam Sandler and voiced the lead in Curious George (2006).
In 2007, she starred with Hugh Grant in Music and Lyrics, and in 2009, she delivered a widely praised performance as Edith Bouvier Beale in the HBO film Grey Gardens. The role earned her the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress in a Miniseries or Television Film and the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Television Movie or Miniseries. She also made her directorial debut with Whip It (2009).
Notable Works and Milestones
Barrymore’s signature films include E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, The Wedding Singer, Charlie’s Angels, 50 First Dates, Music and Lyrics, and He’s Just Not That Into You. She received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2004 and was honored with the Former Child Star Lifetime Achievement Award by the Young Artist Foundation in 1999. Rolling Stone described her performance in Grey Gardens as a revelation.
Drew Barrymore Award Nominations
Drew Barrymore has received nominations across her career from the Golden Globe Awards, the Screen Actors Guild Awards, the British Academy Film Awards, the Young Artist Awards, and the Primetime Emmy Awards. Early in her career, she earned a Golden Globe nomination for Best Supporting Actress for Irreconcilable Differences (1984) and a Golden Globe nomination for Best Actress in a Miniseries or Television Film for Guncrazy (1992). She has been nominated for multiple Saturn Awards and Primetime Emmy Awards, including for her voice work in Olive, the Other Reindeer (1999) and her role in Grey Gardens (2009).
Drew Barrymore Awards Won
Drew Barrymore has won a Golden Globe Award, a Screen Actors Guild Award, and a Young Artist Foundation Lifetime Achievement Award. In 2009, she won the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress in a Miniseries or Television Film and the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Television Movie or Miniseries for her role in Grey Gardens. Earlier in her career, she was honored with the Young Artist Foundation’s Former Child Star Lifetime Achievement Award in 1999.
Drew Barrymore Family
Drew Barrymore comes from one of the most famous acting families in American history. Her father was actor John Drew Barrymore, and her mother, Jaid Barrymore, was also an actor. Through her father, she has three older half-siblings, including actor John Blyth Barrymore. Her paternal grandparents, John Barrymore and Dolores Costello, were both actors, as were her great-grandparents. She is a niece of Diana Barrymore and a grandniece of Lionel Barrymore and Ethel Barrymore.
Barrymore’s godparents include filmmaker Steven Spielberg, actress Sophia Loren, and Anna Strasberg, the widow of actor Lee Strasberg. She is also the godmother of Frances Bean Cobain, the daughter of Kurt Cobain and Courtney Love. Barrymore has spoken warmly of her relationship with Anna Strasberg, calling her kind and nurturing during her childhood.
Personal Life
Drew Barrymore married Jeremy Thomas in 1994; they divorced in 1995. She then married Tom Green in 2001, with their divorce finalized in 2002. From 2002 to 2007, she was in a relationship with The Strokes drummer Fabrizio Moretti, and she later had an intermittent relationship with actor Justin Long. In 2012, Barrymore married art consultant Will Kopelman; the couple separated in 2016 and finalized their divorce later that year. Together, they had two children.
Barrymore has spoken publicly about her bisexuality, her practice of meditation, and her commitment to a plant-based diet. She moved to Manhattan in 2023 to be closer to her children and their father. In 2020, she told People that she would never get married again. She hosts The Drew Barrymore Show, which premiered in September 2020, and continues to expand her work in lifestyle, publishing, and entrepreneurship.