Drew Barrymore: The Biography

At the tender age of 7, starring in Steven Spielberg’s landmark film E.T.—The Extra-Terrestrial, Drew Barrymore won our hearts in a way that no other child had since Shirley Temple. Before the age of 12, she was a movie star, an international icon, and, sadly, the heir to her legendary family’s legacy of substance abuse. Her burgeoning career was soon eclipsed by her off-screen antics. At the age of 12, she was addicted to cocaine. In 1988, she entered rehab, got clean a year later, but not before a relapse and a suicide attempt. Drew Barrymore might have lived out her years as a washed-up child star, but after a two-year absense, she returned in the pivotal Poison Ivy. From the mid-90s, she appeared in a string of hit films, including Scream, The Wedding Singer, Woody Allen’s Everyone Says I Love You, and 50 First Dates. The actress has also added another string to her bow as producer and co–star of the highly successful Charlie’s Angels films.