John Drew Barrymore, actor, father of famous actress

LOS ANGELES -- John Drew Barrymore, the reclusive and eccentric son of acting legend John Barrymore and father of Hollywood star Drew Barrymore, died yesterday, her spokesman said. He was 72.

''He was a cool cat. Please smile when you think of him," Drew Barrymore said in a statement issued through spokesman Chris Miller.

There was no immediate additional information about the circumstances of his death.

Known for a rebellious streak that led to numerous scrapes with the law, friends, and family, Mr. Barrymore had a sporadic film career that began with films including ''The Big Night" (1951) and ''While the City Sleeps" (1956).

He was the son of John Barrymore, through the actor's brief marriage to actress Dolores Costello. John Barrymore died at 60 in 1942. John Drew Barrymore said he only remembered seeing his famous father once.

His mother tried to stop him from entering the family business, acting, by sending him to a military academy. However, he dropped out and signed a movie contract at age 17, taking on acting roles for which he was not prepared and which other family members found embarrassing.

He frequently got into fights during his career and was arrested several times for drug use, drunkenness, and spousal abuse.

He had a long estrangement from his children, Drew and a son, John, and at various times was reported to be living like a derelict or a vagabond. Drew's mother, Jaid, had left Mr. Barrymore by the time she was born in early 1975.

Drew Barrymore had said there were times when she did not know where her father was. She said he was the sort of man who had not owned a pair of shoes in 40 years, did not believe in material possessions, and often muttered Scriptures to passersby.

''My father was a junkie and an alcoholic for 30 years. . . . It was hard for me to deal with growing up. It was chaotic and violent and scary," she once said.

She told Rolling Stone magazine that when she gained fame with the film ''ET" at age 7, she threw a chair at him and didn't speak to him until she was 14.

She also told Rolling Stone that in 1999 she was helping her father with his legal problems and had found him a place to stay.