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Mischa Barton

BIOGRAPHY

Although she was born in London, England, and often identifies herself as British, Mischa Barton, her parents and her two sisters moved to New York City when Mischa was just 5. Unlike her counterparts, Barton didn't come up in the wonderful world of Disney, and instead studied acting at the Professional Children's School in Manhattan from which she graduated in 2004.

MISCHA BARTON GETS HER START IN THE THEATER

No matter what people say about Mischa Barton and her acting skills, this particular wild child cut her teeth in the intimidating New York theater scene, and no one can take that away from her. As an 8-year-old, she worked with Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Tony Kushner in his Off-Broadway play Slavs! and followed that up with the lead in James Lapine's -- another Pulitzer Prize winner -- Twelve Dreams, which she performed at New York City's storied Lincoln Center. Eventually Hollywood casting directors began to take notice of the rising star, which led to Barton's casting in the indie darling Lawn Dogs opposite Sam Rockwell. However true stardom would continue to elude Mischa, as she spent her late teens appearing in All My Children, Once and Again and the feature films Notting Hill, The Sixth Sense and Lost and Delirious.

MISCHA BARTON STARS IN THE O.C.

Not Since Beverly Hills, 90210, has a prime-time soap catapulted a group of smoldering teenagers to superstardom the way The O.C. did in 2003. At the eye of the storm was Mischa Barton, and it wasn't long before she was gracing the cover of every magazine known to man, with her love life facing intense scrutiny on the daily. As Marissa Cooper, Barton played a sweet but troubled rich kid growing up in the suburb of Orange County, drinking, screwing and crying her way to the top of the entertainment world. To illustrate how popular she was, the show's ratings suffered a dramatic decline in its fourth season, after Barton's character was killed off in an episode that still gives us chills. That's right, we watched it. And so did you.

MISCHA BARTON, THE SPOKESPERSON

With The O.C. induced fame by her side, Mischa Barton -- the show's breakout star -- became a marketer's wet dream: a young, stunning and a burgeoning fashion icon for the hipster set. Calvin Klein, Bebe, Aéropostale, Dooney & Bourke, Neutrogena, and Keds all managed to get a piece of her during the peak of her career. Barton also became the public voice for the SAFE (Skin Awareness for Everyone) campaign as well as the TRAID campaign (Textile recycling for Aid and International Development). She's also the spokesperson for "Climate Star," an anti-global Warming initiative, Save The Children (self-explanatory), the "One Water" campaign which brings water to remote locations in Africa and is on the board of the "Lupus Research Committee" in Los Angeles. We're telling you all the good stuff now because this, we're afraid, is where it gets ugly.

MISCHA BARTON'S TROUBLED PERSONAL LIFE

In a classic case of life imitating art, Mischa Barton took a page directly out of Marissa Cooper's manual and immersed herself in the L.A. party scene, quickly gaining the reputation of a wild child. In 2007, Barton was arrested for DUI and driving without a license, and was sentenced to three years probation. In early 2008, Barton called in to Ryan Seacrest's radio show and directly addressed her arrest: "I was pulled over... just that. Obviously, I’m 100% responsible for my actions in this case, and I’m really disappointed in myself. I don’t know what to say about it, except that I’m not perfect and I just don’t ever intend to do something this stupid again." Little did she know that after a tumultuous relationship with rocker Luke Pritchard, Barton would begin showing up to parties in London and L.A. looking disheveled and behaving erratically.

Just as her career began to take off again, with the indie thriller Homecoming set to hit theaters and a lead role in Ashton Kutcher's CW drama The Beautiful Life -- Barton hit rock bottom when police were called to her home, landing her in the psych ward at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center. Filming of The Beautiful Life has been postponed while Barton -- whose struggles with drugs and alcohol have been well documented -- gets back to being her normal self. Good luck, sweetheart.