Drew Barrymore to Co-Host The Essentials on TCM

Drew Barrymore and Robert Osborne
Drew Barrymore and Robert Osborne - TCM
Drew Barrymore has signed on to co-host the 12th season of Turner Classic Movies’ The Essentials. Barrymore will join TCM’s host Robert Osborne on the weekly series to introduce a “hand-picked classic film and offer commentary on its cultural relevance and what makes it a timeless, must-see movie.” Among the films Osborne and Barrymore will introduce are George Cukor’s Dinner at Eight (with Barrymore’s grandfather, John, and great uncle, Lionel), George Stevens’ Alice Adams (1935), William Wyler’s Wuthering Heights (1939), Howard Hawks’ To Have and Have Not (1944), Carol Reed’s The Third Man (1949), Charles Vidor’s Gilda (1946), and Billy Wilder’s Some Like It Hot (1959).
 
Barrymore and Osborne have also chosen to showcase Martin Scorsese’s Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore (1974), Herbert Ross’ The Goodbye Girl (1977), Steven Spielberg’s Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977), Robert Benton’s Kramer vs. Kramer (1979), and Rob Reiner’s This Is Spinal Tap (1984).
 
The new season will air on Saturday nights beginning March 3, 2012.
 
Commenting on Barrymore’s co-hosting gig, Osborne said, “We’re thrilled Drew will be joining us throughout 2012 on The Essentials. As an accomplished actress, director, producer and part of a legendary Hollywood dynasty, Drew has terrific insights into the world of film. I think she’s going to surprise people with her passion for great cinema and her abundant knowledge of film history. Drew is also wonderfully endearing and great fun to be around – quite a winning combination. I predict a great year ahead.”
 
Barrymore added, “I’m a TCM nut. I watch Robert Osborne every day of my life. To get to talk about classic cinema with such a brilliant man, I am simply in heaven. This is just the most wonderful opportunity to discuss my greatest passion, which is movies.”
 
More on Drew Barrymore [Courtesy of TCM]:
 
In addition to being an award-winning actress and a huge fan of classic films, Barrymore hails from one of the greatest acting dynasties in Hollywood history. She is the granddaughter of legendary actor John Barrymore and Dolores Costello; the great-granddaughter of silent film actor Maurice Costello and actress Mae Costello; and the great-niece of Oscar®-winning actors Ethel Barrymore and Lionel Barrymore.
 
Barrymore has been a favorite of film audiences for almost three decades. She is also enjoying success behind the camera as a producer under her own Flower Films banner, which has produced such hits as He’s Just Not That Into You, Never Been Kissed and 50 First Dates, as well as the actioners Charlie’s Angels and Charlie’s Angels: Full Throttle. In addition to producing the Charlie’s Angels features, Barrymore joined Cameron Diaz and Lucy Liu to star in both films, which together grossed more than a half a billion dollars worldwide.
 
Barrymore earned a Golden Globe and a Screen Actors Guild Award, as well as an Emmy® nomination, for her stunning performance opposite Jessica Lange in HBO’s Grey Gardens. She has also earned praise from both critics and audiences for her performances in a wide range of comedies, including He’s Just Not That Into You, Fever Pitch, Confessions of a Dangerous Mind, Riding in Cars with Boys, The Wedding Singer, 50 First Dates, Home Fries, Never Been Kissed, Music and Lyrics and Lucky You. She lent her voice to the animated features Beverly Hills Chihuahua and Curious George, as well as the hit TV series Family Guy and the acclaimed holiday special Olive the Other Reindeer, which she also produced.
 
In 2009, Barrymore made her feature directorial debut with the roller derby film Whip It, with Ellen Page, Kristen Wiig and Juliette Lewis. She will also be back on the big screen in Universal’s Big Miracle in February 2012.
 
Barrymore made her film debut at the age of 5 in Ken Russell’s sci-fi thriller Altered States, but it was her performance as the precocious Gertie in Steven Spielberg’s 1982 blockbuster E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial that catapulted the young actress to stardom. She went on to star in the thriller Firestarter and the comedy Irreconcilable Differences, for which she earned a Golden Globe nomination for Best Supporting Actress. Her many other film credits include Cat’s Eye, Far from Home, Poison Ivy, Bad Girls, Boys on the Side, Mad Love, Batman Forever, Everyone Says I Love You, Ever After, Scream and Everybody’s Fine. She also earned a Golden Globe nomination for the television movie Guncrazy.
 
Source: TCM – November 3, 2011