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Drew Barrymore to join TCM as co-host of The Essentials

By April MacIntyre Nov 3, 2011, 16:41 GMT

06/04/2011 - Drew Barrymore - Natural Resources Defense Council\'s Ocean Initiative Benefit Hosted by Chanel - Home of Ron Meyer and Kelly Meyer - Malibu, CA, USA © Andrew Evans / PR Photos

Drew Barrymore will co-host the 12th season of Turner Classic Movies’ (TCM) signature showcase: The Essentials.

Barrymore joins TCM host Robert Osborne each week to introduce a hand-picked classic film and offer commentary on its cultural relevance and what makes it a timeless, must-see movie. The Essentials airs on Saturday nights, with the new season premiering in March 2012.

In addition to being an award-winning actress and a huge fan of classic films, Barrymore is Hollywood royalty. 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.

“We're thrilled Drew will be joining us throughout 2012 on The Essentials,” said TCM host Robert Osborne. “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 said, “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.”

Photos of Drew Barrymore and Robert Osborne can be downloaded from the TCM pressroom at http://on.tcm.com/6a454Q.

The 12th season of TCM’s The Essentials showcase is set to launch Saturday, March 3, 2012.

The lineup of movies selected by Barrymore and Osborne will include such enduring classics as George Cukor’s star-studded comedy Dinner at Eight (1933), which features Barrymore’s grandfather, John, and great uncle, Lionel; George Stevens’ comedic romance Alice Adams (1935), starring Katharine Hepburn and Fred MacMurray; William Wyler’s atmospheric version of Wuthering Heights (1939), starring Laurence Olivier and Merle Oberon; Howard Hawks’ To Have and Have Not (1944), which paired future spouses Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall for the first time; Carol Reed’s thrilling mystery The Third Man (1949), with Joseph Cotten and Orson Welles; Charles Vidor’s film noir Gilda (1946), with Glenn Ford and the sensuous Rita Hayworth; and Billy Wilder’s gender-bending farce Some Like It Hot (1959), with Jack Lemmon, Tony Curtis and Marilyn Monroe.

Among the more contemporary films Barrymore and Osborne have chosen for The Essentials are Martin Scorsese’s Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore (1974), with an Academy Award®-winning performance by Ellen Burstyn; Herbert Ross’ film version of the hit Neil Simon comedy The Goodbye Girl (1977), which earned Richard Dreyfuss an Oscar; Steven Spielberg’s eye-popping sci-fi drama Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977), starring Richard Dreyfuss, Melinda Dillon and French New Wave auteur Francois Truffaut; Robert Benton’s domestic drama Kramer vs. Kramer (1979), with Oscar-winning performances by Dustin Hoffman and Meryl Streep; and Rob Reiner’s hilarious glam-rock mockumentary This Is Spinal Tap (1984), starring Christopher Guest, Michael McKean and Harry Shearer.

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.

Past hosts of The Essentials included filmmakers Rob Reiner, Peter Bogdanovich and Sydney Pollack. Robert Osborne took over hosting duties in 2006, paired with film critic and author Molly Haskell. He was joined by actress and bestselling author Carrie Fisher in 2007, actress Rose McGowan in 2008 and actor Alec Baldwin from 2009 to 2011.