“I’m in a restaurant called Columbus, and this is back … in the early ’80s,” Douglas said on Wednesday during an appearance on “The Drew Barrymore Show.”
“It was this real hot restaurant ― the hot spot up in the Upper West Side on Columbus Avenue,” he added. “And we’re heading there one night, and this waitress comes over to serve me, and it’s this 11-year-old young lady here.”
Douglas, who said he thought Barrymore was at least 14 at the time, recalled her saying, “‘Hi, can I help you please?’”
“And I said, ‘Well, is it past your bedtime?’” Douglas said, adding that the youngster was “incredible.”
Barrymore corroborated the anecdote and said that when she was younger, she “didn’t really have family.”
“I was out running around, waitressing and clubbing ― working,” she explained. “Having the best time ever, by the way. Best time. But then you get older and you’re like, ‘What life am I looking to build and be a part of?’”
“And for me, family wasn’t necessarily there and around, but now I realize it’s my everything,” she added.
Barrymore was thrust into the public eye at just 11 months old when she did her first commercial. She became a household name at age 7 when she starred in Steven Spielberg’s hit 1982 film “E.T.”
20 Years OfFreeJournalism
Your SupportFuelsOur Mission
Your SupportFuelsOur Mission
For two decades, HuffPost has been fearless, unflinching, and relentless in pursuit of the truth. Support our mission to keep us around for the next 20 — we can’t do this without you.
We remain committed to providing you with the unflinching, fact-based journalism everyone deserves.
Thank you again for your support along the way. We’re truly grateful for readers like you! Your initial support helped get us here and bolstered our newsroom, which kept us strong during uncertain times. Now as we continue, we need your help more than ever. We hope you will join us once again.
We remain committed to providing you with the unflinching, fact-based journalism everyone deserves.
Thank you again for your support along the way. We’re truly grateful for readers like you! Your initial support helped get us here and bolstered our newsroom, which kept us strong during uncertain times. Now as we continue, we need your help more than ever. We hope you will join us once again.
Support HuffPost
Already contributed? Log in to hide these messages.
The former child actor said she started clubbing around the age of 7, and held her 10th birthday party at a famous New York City nightclub. She was in rehab at 12, and later relapsed when she was 13, which led to her hospitalization for drug and alcohol addiction.
“When I was 13, that was probably the lowest,” Barrymore told The Guardian in 2015 of her struggles. “Just knowing that I really was alone. And it felt… terrible. It was a really rebellious time. I would run off. I was very, very angry.”
Need help with substance use disorder or mental health issues? In the U.S., call 800-662-HELP (4357) for the SAMHSA National Helpline.