He is known for his role as Zeke in the 1970s television series Kung Fu, which was his first role on television.
Like his father, John has had a sporadic career in film and television, mainly appearing in shlock horror movies and comedies. John found himself homeless in 2012, though he was able to get a food stamps card. While on skid row, he took to wearing a shirt printed with "I'm Drew Barrymore's brother".
After John's sister Jessica Barrymore was found dead in her vehicle in 2014, he publicly criticized half-sister Drew for not being receptive to forming a relationship with either him or Jessica.
In 2017, he appeared in an hour-long episode of "Lasagna Cat", a parody of Jim Davis's comic-strip series Garfield, by Fatal Farm. His performance consisted of an hour long tribute and in-depth philosophical analysis of a single "perfect" Garfield comic strip.
