1) Drew Barrymore, age 7, was promoting the movie E.T. at a mall appearance. She grew tired during the long event where she met with fans and signed autographs. 2) During her appearance, Drew comforted a lost 3-year-old boy named Aaron who was reunited with his mother. 3) Drew's mother was protective of not overworking Drew and ended the event early when Drew seemed exhausted. Drew perked up when able to shop for toys before returning home.

1. Sept. 11, 1982
Drew’s blues
E.T.’s tiny pal faces the fans, but she’d rather just play
By THOMAS D.N. ZAENGER
Of The News-Sentinel
he tears were straining for release in 3-year-old Aaron David Daily’s eyes when
a Southtown Mall employee brought him by the hand to the mall office last
Saturday afternoon. “We’ve got a lost one,” was Aaron’s introduction to the
room.
Calmly, patiently, the shopping center personnel decoded Aaron’s quivering voice
to learn his name and his mother’s. “Jane Daily, please report to the mail office,” a
voice boomed from the mail speakers while Aaron’s eyes made their first tentative
blink.
“You’re not lost,” a soothing voice cooed behind him. “We know where you are.
Your mommy’s the one who’s lost.”
Aaron turned to face the pretty 30- year-old woman with the reassuring voice.
Smiling sweetly, Ildiko Jaid lowered her tangled mane close to Aaron’s face and
continued cooing. “Did you see the movie ‘E.T.’?’ she asked. He had. “Would you like
to meet someone?”
Meeting the star
Taking his teary nod for a “yes,” Ildiko walked the boy over to a closed office door
and knocked. “Drew,” she called out to her daughter, “I’ve got a lost little boy out
here who’s being real brave and would like to meet you.”
Drew Barrymore, a 7-year-old movie star thanks to her role as Gertie in “E.T. – The
Extra-Terrestrial,” opened the door to the room in which she was playing games with
Kim Krieger, 10, and June Silkworth, 10, both daughters of Southtown Mall
employees. “Hi. You wanna watch us play Master Mind?” she beamed to the sniffling
boy.
For the next 10 minutes, Drew and Ildiko nursed Aaron along, making up games
and funny sayings to keep him smiling. Ildiko asked him about his favorite foods.
“How would you like aaaa ... (long pause) dirty sock sundae?” she said. “Yuck!!” Drew
and her friends responded while Aaron tested a giggle.
“How about aaaaa ... crocodile casserole?”
“Ooohh!!” the little girls responded. Another giggle.
T

2. During the games, Drew periodically slipped out of the room to see if Aaron’s
mother had arrived yet or to advise the mall personnel to page her again. “He’s
panicking in there,” the 7-year-old said with grave maternal concern.
Mother to the rescue
Aaron David Daily’s tears were almost gone when his mother, frightened and
relieved, appeared at the office door to scoop up the little boy who ran to her. “He was
a real brave boy,” Ildiko testified in her best “Mr. Rogers” voice as Aaron clung tightly
to his mother. “Goodbye,” Drew called to him as Aaron gave a timid finger-bending
wave over his mother’s shoulder.
Jane Daily never knew her son had been entertained by a movie star.
Drew Barrymore was in Fort Wayne that day as part of a promotion for a new
Southtown Mall wing. The personal appearance was a first for the little girl, a chance
for her and her mother to see how such publicity events would work out.
This one didn’t work well. Oh, the crowds were there. They had begun lining up
well before Drew’s scheduled morning appearance. They were children mostly, young
girls on the verge of adolescence or still dreaming of it. Expectant eyes stared out
from a sea of chewing gum, braces and training bras toward the simple table and
chair that had been set up on a raised platform for Drew.
No special notes
After a rushed morning, Drew arrived late to the sound of applause. The little girl
was followed by an entourage – her mother, mall publicist Lisa Benson and local
plainclothes policewoman Karen Beatty – who seated themselves behind Drew as she
mounted the platform. A few cameras clicked as the fans streamed past Drew’s table,
stopping just long enough to receive an already autographed 8x10 photo of Drew and
mumble a word or two of appreciation for “E.T.” and Drew’s role in it. Those fans who
wanted a special inscription on their photo were disappointed. Drew had strict
instructions not to sign anything that day – the labored printing of a 7-year-old hand
would hold up the line of fans far too long.
Too long is what the day seemed to Drew. At home in Los Angeles, she would have
spent the day swimming or horseback riding or playing with her friends. But the
noblesse oblige of stardom requires occasional interaction with your fans. Ildiko, a
sometimes actress herself – she plays the prostitute Joyce in the movie “Night Shift” –
recognizes this but tries to be selective about her daughter’s appearances.
“Too selective, some people say,” she admits. “I think it’s important for her to see
people her own age. I like her to be exposed to her peers, to be in touch. It means a
lot for kids to see someone from ‘E.T.’ ”

3. Ildiko abhors the “stage mother” reputation of women who push their reluctant
children into showbiz careers, and she’s determined not to do that with Drew. As a
result, the young actress doesn’t work often. Following in the theatrical tradition of
her grandfather, John Barrymore Sr., and her father, John Barrymore Jr., Drew
made her first TV commercial when she was 11 months old, then didn’t work in
another commercial until she was 2½. At 4 she worked again, a small part in the
movie “Altered States.” Now she’s in “E.T.” and has a fall film lined up, plus a TV
special with noted child-softie Danny Kaye.
And there are the personal appearances. Ildiko tries to keep such work down to
one appearance every three to six months so Drew isn’t overworked.
She felt overworked at Southtown. Halfway through her first hour-long
appearance, Drew was fidgeting in her chair, fanning herself with a stack of photos
and swinging her scuffed white shoes under her too-tall chair. Between waves of
fans, Drew kept turning around to gaze at her mother, a “How much longer?”
expression silently twisting her face.
Ildiko gave in and took Drew to lunch early. On their way through the mall, Drew
stopped at each item of “E.T.” merchandise to point out pictures of herself or her co-
star Henry Thomas (her brother Elliot in the film) to policewoman Beatty along the
way.
An anonymous lunch at MCL Cafeteria gave the 7-year-old a much-welcomed
chance to play. She loaded up her tray with tossed salad, gelatin, cottage cheese, a
chicken leg, rice, macaroni and cheese and orange soda, picking at it all before
admitting she had taken more than she could handle.
A mighty yawn
But lunch was too soon over, and Drew was back at her chair, swinging her feet,
yawning mightily and trying to smile sweetly as she passed out pictures. The stack of
photos left over from the morning session quickly dwindled, and a look of relief swept
Drew’s face as the last picture was snatched up. She was free – until publicist
Benson returned from the mall office with more photos and Drew resumed her
resigned expression.
Ildiko wasn’t happy either. She saw how tired her daughter was and knew that the
previous night’s 8:03 arrival at Baer Field and subsequent dinner at Takaoka of
Japan had kept her up well past her usual 8:30 bedtime. Now Drew needed rest, and
Ildiko fretted that the three-hour appearances that had been scheduled for Drew
were simply too unrealistic for a 7-year-old girl.
That’s why both Drew and Ildiko took advantage of the accident that toppled the
pop glass holding the flowers a fan had given Drew that morning. As soon as the
spilled water was mopped up from the table top and Drew’s dress, Ildiko whisked her

4. daughter away for an impromptu toy shopping spree. The publicist and the
policewoman followed along, unprepared for this sudden change in plans.
Perked up by toys
Once away from her duties, Drew perked up, bouncing along like the little girl she
is as Ildiko took her into Walgreen’s to search for toys to play with on that afternoon’s
plane ride back to Los Angeles. Drew studied the aisles, pointing to this and pointing
to that, begging her mother to buy it all.
“Mommy ...,” she said in the tiny-voice whine all children know.
“What is it, baby?”
“Can I have this?” she asked, pulling a Rubik’s Cube from the shelf.
“Forget it.”
“Whyyyyy?”
“Because you already have one at home.”
But Drew was more persistent than that, and a moment later her mother gave in.
While Ildiko was waiting in line to pay for her purchases, Drew was already tearing
the cube out of its container and testing its color combinations.
What Drew really wanted, though, was a Master Mind game, so she and Ildiko
went off in search of one, the publicist and policewoman trailing behind them. On
their way to Kay-Bee Toys, they passed the spot where Drew had been handing out
photos. “Look, mommy,” a little girl in the crowd called out, pointing to Drew’s
picture on a poster. “E.T’s gonna be here!” The child didn’t know that Drew had
passed right behind her unnoticed.
Time for Master Mind
Kay-Bee Toys was out of Master Mind, but. Circus World had one and Drew
happily returned to the mall offices to play with it between public appearances.
That’s when lost little Aaron David Daily walked in.
After Aaron was reunited with his mother; Drew suffered through one more public
appearance, then gratefully headed back to the mall office to pack up her belongings
and head home. “Goodbye, Drew,” a fan called out to her. “See you in your next
movie.”
As Drew enthusiastically waved back, a teenaged girl ran up to Ildiko. “Are you
Drew’s mother?” she asked breathlessly. “Can she be in my wedding? I’m getting
married in October, and I want her to be my flower girl so bad!”
Too fired to talk
Ildiko smiled and kept walking. As they packed up Drew’s toys in the office, Don
Paris, a disc jockey for WAFX, walked in, tape recorder in hand, hoping for an
interview with Drew. With a heavy sigh, the little girl was ready for the first question

5. until Ildiko said no. “You have bags under your eyes,” she told her daughter. “She
absolutely does,” she said, looking up. “She didn’t get any sleep last night.”
The disappointed Paris was ushered out of the office as Drew and Ildiko walked to
the chauffeured limousine that would take them back to the Holiday Inn Downtown.
“Mommy, while you’re packing, can I go swimming in the pool?”
“There isn’t enough time, baby. We have to catch our plane soon.”
“Please, mommy? Please? Even if it’s only for five minutes?”
“We’ll see.”
The limousine pulled away, and the 7-year-old movie star headed back to
Hollywood.