Early Life
Barrymore was born in Los Angeles, California to John Barrymore and Dolores Costello. His parents divorced when he was around three years old in 1935, and Barrymore claimed to have met his father only once. He also stated that he and his cousin, Dirk Drew Davenport, enlisted in the United States Navy during World War II. As both were tall for their age, the military did not discover until several weeks later that the boys were below the minimum enlistment age. Barrymore ran away when he was 17 years old and signed a film contract, but repeatedly abandoned leading roles and had no major film career.
Read more about this topic: John Drew Barrymore
Famous quotes containing the words early and/or life:
“With boys you always know where you stand. Right in the path of a hurricane. It’s all there. The fruit flies hovering over their waste can, the hamster trying to escape to cleaner air, the bedrooms decorated in Early Bus Station Restroom.”
—Erma Bombeck (20th century)
“Great geniuses have the shortest biographies. Their cousins can tell you nothing about them. They lived in their writings, and so their house and street life was trivial and commonplace. If you would know their tastes and complexions, the most admiring of their readers most resembles them.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)