Oscar-winning actress Tatum O'Neal was busted buying cocaine and crack last night on the Lower East Side. As if it weren't bad enough that she is (a) probably one of the most famous recovering addicts in the world, (b) a mother of three, and (c) 44, which is kind of old to be buying crack (not that there's a right age for crack, but if we had to pick one, it would not be 44), at the time of her arrest, Tatum reportedly used not one but several of the Lamest Lines Used by Hollywood People Getting Arrested.

"When the police approached, she asked them, 'You know who I am, right?' " one source told The Post.

And then! She actually busted out the oft-used Winona Ryder Defense:

"Then she said, 'I'm researching a part — I'm doing this for a part'" as a junkie.

Sigh. We hate to keep harping on this, but at her age, Tatum should really know by now that that line only works in Los Angeles.

Tatum In Coke Arrest [NYP]