Actor John D. Barrymore, father of actress Drew Barrymore, died on Monday at the age of 72. Barrymore led a troubled life and had numerous run-ins with the law due to his violent behavior and drug use. In the end, he became a recluse. The location and cause of death were not released by the Barrymore family.

Barrymore was born into what is perhaps acting's royal family. His father, John Barrymore had a long and distinguished career on stage and in early films. His father's siblings, Lionel and Ethel Barrymore, also had distinguished acting careers. Barrymore's mother was actress Delores Costello. His daughter Drew Barrymore is also a well known contemporary actress who starred in 'ET', 'The Wedding Singer' and both 'Charlie's Angels' films.

Initially, his mother tried to convince John not to follow in the family business of acting but at 17, he rebelled and ran away to start an acting career anyway.

Unfortunately, Barrymore's rebelliousness and unstable behavior prevented his acting career from truly taking off. He appeared in such 1950s films as 'While the City Sleeps' 'Sundowners' and 'The Big Night.' By the early 60s, Barrymore was out of Hollywood and left to make films in Italy. Unfortunately, his troubles followed him there.

'I'm not a nice, clean-cut American kid at all,' he said in a 1962 interview with the Associated Press when asked about his frequent brawling. 'I'm just a human being. Those things just happen.'

Drew Barrymore released a statement on Monday when learning about her father's death, 'He was a cool cat. Please smile when you think of him,' it read.

Drew Barrymore's relationship with her father was not always good. She often described him as an abstentee or abusive father and an alcoholic. 'My father was a junkie and an alcoholic for 30 years. Nice combo, huh? So that breeds (bad) behavior. It was hard for me to deal with growing up. It was chaotic and violent and scary,' she once said.

She also added, 'I can't tell his lucid states from his unlucid states -- it's all sort of amalgamated together. I think in every family, everyone probably sits in their head and just goes a little crazy every once in a while. My dad just happens to do it all of the time. Sometimes I have a sense of humor about it. Sometimes I don't.'

Barrymore is survived by his daughter Drew and a son, John Barrymore III. Funeral arrangements were not made public.