She revealed how unconventional and complicated John Drew Barrymore was as a father.
Drew Barrymore's stairs to stardom were never easy. Not only did she taste the poison called fame at a very young age, but she also learned how to fight it. By the time the actress was 14 years old, she had experienced Hollywood in all its might.
According to The Guardian, at the tender age of 11, she developed a drinking problem, at 12 she began with substance abuse and became an addict. At 13, overwhelmed by everything going on in her life, she tried harming herself and was hospitalized. She was emancipated from her parents at 14. This picture captioned with a candid message shows her parents—a young John Drew and Jaid Barrymore.
She never really had a proper relationship with either of her parents. In a recent Father's Day post, the actress-author opened about the not-so-discussed aspects of the relationship with her complicated father, John Drew Barrymore. According to The Mirror, the former actor left Drew and her mother, Jaid, when she was only nine years old.
Speaking about her dad, the 45-year-old actress wrote, "My mom chose a wild card for my dad. He was a mad poet hedonist man child! But I understood that as a kid," reported People.
She admitted in her post that she inherited the wild side of her father. The child actress shot to fame after playing Gertie in the famous Steven Speilberg film E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial. Her early introduction to the glitz and glamour, along with her moms' unusual parenting styles exposed her parties and substances that she was too young to be around, according to Cheat Sheet.
She revealed that even though her father wasn't always there and that she was legally separated from her parents, she somehow had "zero baggage or dad issues." She revealed on social media, "I think I would have liked to have a dad who didn’t look so out there. Or who stayed. Or was capable of anything really. But his wildness runs through me. His gifts are here."
John Drew Barrymore was not only alcoholic but abusive as well. According to The List, she never met him till she was 3-years-old and it wasn't all hugs and kisses. While babysitting the young Barrymore, her father decided to show her a few karate moves. Allegedly he showed his moves on Barrymore until she started crying. She cut ties with him for years.
Growing up Barrymore suffered from a lot of traits similar to her father. But she fought her inner demons and overcame the hard-to-resist temptations and evolved as an actress to give us superhits like Never Been Kissed and Charlie's Angels. Addressing her similarities with her father, she wrote, " His demons to overcome are mine to break! I love him not for who I wanted him to be, but for who he was. And as I look at all the photos of dads today, doing their dad job, sure, there is my tiny self that wished for him to fit in. But he never did. And I’m not sure I did either. And I’m not sure what anything is supposed to look like, or what it really is beyond the images?!”
Now a mother of two daughters, Olive, 7, and Frankie, 5, Barrymore believes that even though her childhood wasn't an ideal one, she learned a lot of lessons from her parents, reported Today. She wrote, "Both my parents have played a major role in who I am as a parent. And none of it looks perfect. But it functions with so much love. And togetherness. And availability."
She also wrote, "I don’t have a picture of a dad today to show how great everything was. I have a picture to show what it was. And that is my story. And that is perfect in itself," reported Today. "My dad gave me the gift of life! A wicked sense of humor! And that wildness that I truly do cherish," She concluded.
In 2001, John Barrymore was diagnosed with cancer and it is then that the actress took the responsibility for his hospice care. According to her book Wildflower, when the two met three months before his demise, he said, "You were born perfect."
Reference:
https://www.mirror.co.uk/3am/celebrity-news/drew-barrymore-posts-heartbreaking-admission-22229666
https://people.com/movies/drew-barrymore-fathers-day-tribute-john-drew-barrymore/
https://www.thelist.com/44501/stunning-transformation-drew-barrymore/
