TAMING OF THE DREW: I was a monster!

THE STAR REVEALS HOW SHE ESCAPED HER WILD PAST

- Judy Kean

Her difficult childhood has been well documented. But now Drew Barrymore has revealed more about her sad past, claiming, “My mother created a monster.”

The E.T. star says her mother Jaid, who had pushed her into an acting career, ended up admitting her to a psychiatric ward when she was 13 because her behaviour was out of control. She spent 18 months there, at times put in a padded room or left with her hands tied behind her.

As traumatic as the experience was at times, Drew, 46, says she forgives her mother. “This was her last gasp and I was really out of control. She probably felt she had nowhere to turn.”

Drew, who now hosts her own TV chat show, has frequently talked about how her mother got her into modelling at the age of two and then acting soon afterwards, following in the footsteps of her grandfather, Hollywood star John Barrymore, who was part of the famous Barrymore acting dynasty.

And now she’s opened up even more to radio host Howard Stern about finding herself in hospital after she ended up addicted to drugs and alcohol by the time she hit her teens.

A large part of the problem was not just becoming a star at the age of seven thanks to her role in E.T., but because Jaid, a single mum, treated her more like a friend than her child.

By eight, she was going out partying up to five times a week with her mother and her friends, and Drew was just nine when Jaid started taking her to the infamous nightclub Studio 54, where she was introduced to drugs.