Drew Barrymore Celebrates Her 50th Birthday by Reflecting on a Life of Triumphs and Tribulations

Drew Barrymore has had more ups and downs than a roller coaster, but she has learned a lot of life lessons during her 50 years on Earth!

Born into a famous showbiz family, Drew earned her own celebrity as on of Hollywood’s most beloved child stars at age 7 in 1982’s “E.T.”

She has survived a lifetime of trials and tribulations, emerging as the warm, wise and open host of her own talk show and center square in the reboot of the game show “Hollywood Squares,” of which she is an executive producer.

“I don’t think I’ve ever known a happiness that I feel now,” Drew confides. “I just didn’t know I would ever get here.”

Looking back over the years, Drew says her “most challenging” decades – her teens and her 40s – “were my absolute favorites.”

Raised by single mom Jaid and achieving early stardom, Drew reveals, “I don’t feel like I had a childhood. Not feeling like I had a childhood has nothing to with feeling robbed of one.”

Because of her fame, she was able to go to clubs at age 7, started drinking alcohol at 9, and was using cocaine at 12 – all because no one told her not to! But “E.T.” director Steven Spielberg tried.

“Steven was like a dat,” Drew recalls. “I was getting an opportunity to meet a safe male who I looked up to and admired so much. He was very parental with me. He felt very protective of me, and I felt that from him, and it felt so good to get that care.”

At age 13 Drew entered rehab – and at the age of 14 penned her first, memoir, “Little Girl Lost.” Still, she says, “It’s a very positive decade for me. That was also where I was like, I got to be accountable and responsible.”

The star’s 20s were filled with career success, making hits like “Scream,” “The Wedding Singer,” “Charlie’s Angels” and “Fever Pitch,” with Jimmy Fallon.

Domestic life took center stage in Drew’s 30s – she married art consultant Will Kopelman and had their two daughters, Olive, 12, and 10-year-old Frankie.

But her 40s were like the month of the March – They came in like a lion and went out like a lamb. Drew decided to quit drinking at age 44 and was hit hard by her divorce from Will.

With her new career success and learning to live single, Drew reveals that heading into her 50s, “I’m actually happy.”