# Child Actors that didn't crash and burn **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 15, 2013, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/child-actors-that-didnt-crash-and-burn/652964 "2013-03-15T00:52:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Crafter\_Man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crafter_man/32/458_2.png) [@Crafter\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crafter_Man)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2013, 12:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/child-actors-that-didnt-crash-and-burn/652964/61 "2013-03-16T12:55:20Z")
Another vote for Jodie Foster. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2013, 1:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/child-actors-that-didnt-crash-and-burn/652964/62 "2013-03-16T13:22:06Z")
> [@needscoffee](#): > > Melissa Gilbert had a very [well-publicized battle](https://www.google.com/search?q=melissa+gilbert+alcoholism) with alcohol and drug abuse. So crashed, didn’t burn. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2013, 1:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/child-actors-that-didnt-crash-and-burn/652964/63 "2013-03-16T13:31:33Z")
> [@TreacherousCretin](#): > > ]Ken Osmond\*\* also did well after _LITBeaver_. He actually ended up a LAPD motorcycle cop for a while, according to [TVLand.com](http://TVLand.com). That’s about the polar opposite of “crash and burn” that you can get. [http://www.tvland.com/shows/leave-it-to-beaver/bios/ken-osmond](http://www.tvland.com/shows/leave-it-to-beaver/bios/ken-osmond) ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2013, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/child-actors-that-didnt-crash-and-burn/652964/64 "2013-03-16T14:05:45Z")
> [@tellyworth](#): > > Wil Wheaton. Not a big star now, but stable and well liked. Ditto Chris Young, who played the computer geek on Max Headroom. His career has been unspectacular but solid and he was deadly handsome in his late 20s-30s. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2013, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/child-actors-that-didnt-crash-and-burn/652964/65 "2013-03-16T14:41:14Z")
> [@bump](#): > > He actually ended up a LAPD motorcycle cop for a while, according to [TVLand.com](http://TVLand.com). That’s about the polar opposite of “crash and burn” that you can get. > > [http://www.tvland.com/shows/leave-it-to-beaver/bios/ken-osmond](http://www.tvland.com/shows/leave-it-to-beaver/bios/ken-osmond) He medically retired early because of injuries due to gun shots. Did 18 years. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2013, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/child-actors-that-didnt-crash-and-burn/652964/66 "2013-03-16T15:06:28Z")
Sarah Polley Child actor who continued to act as an adult. Now a pretty respected director. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2013, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/child-actors-that-didnt-crash-and-burn/652964/67 "2013-03-16T15:18:47Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > Sarah Polley > > Child actor who continued to act as an adult. Now a pretty respected director. When you mentioned director I thought of Eric Laneuville. Looking him up I see he barely qualifies because he was almost 18 when he started acting professionally but often played younger. After St Elsewhere he became a very successful TV director. I see his name on just about everything. ---
**Author:** ![Ruffian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/71e660/32.png) [@Ruffian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ruffian)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2013, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/child-actors-that-didnt-crash-and-burn/652964/68 "2013-03-16T16:00:26Z")
Sarah Jessica Parker and Michael J. Fox come to mind, though they were more teenagers than children. As an aside: Amanda Bynes is my childhood-through-late-20s dentist’s daughter. I watched her grow up and heard all the stories as her successes built, and up until the last two years or so, she seemed to have evaded the whole “child actor crashes and burns.” It’s been very sad as that has not proven the case. Last I heard from her dad–which was 7 years ago or more–he and his wife (who was his office receptionist) retired and moved to be closer to Amanda while she was filming, uh, something. He did tell me, appropos of nothing, in my last appointment with him, “Don’t ever let your kids get involved in show business. It ruins them.” ---
**Author:** ![AnalogSignal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/analogsignal/32/1085_2.png) [@AnalogSignal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AnalogSignal)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2013, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/child-actors-that-didnt-crash-and-burn/652964/69 "2013-03-16T16:22:48Z")
Jackie Coogan The Kid (1921) - a Charlie Chaplin movie Uncle Fester on The Addams Family - (1964 - 1966) plus lots of other stuff ---
**Author:** ![Moonlitherial](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4bbf92/32.png) [@Moonlitherial](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moonlitherial)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2013, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/child-actors-that-didnt-crash-and-burn/652964/70 "2013-03-16T18:30:43Z")
> [@Gyrate](#): > > Last I checked the Fanning girls (Dakota and Elle) seemed to be doing okay. Have I missed a front page story of a drug-addled underage sex romp or anything? I think they’re a little young to declare out of the woods but I have high hopes. They seem both incredibly mature and yet having a relatively normal childhood (they attend(ed) a regular school and slot film commitments around it’s schedule as much as possible. I don’t recall any interviews with their parents but I give them a lot of credit anyway 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2013, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/child-actors-that-didnt-crash-and-burn/652964/71 "2013-03-16T18:52:04Z")
> [@Gyrate](#): > > The OP mentioned the HP three (although IMO Emma Watson comes across as a bit big-headed in interviews - YMMV). > > Radcliffe is, I think, a bit of a nerd at heart which probably helps; there’s a YouTube clip of him singing Tom Lehrer’s _The Elements_ to a baffled Graham Norton and he positively kicked ass on _QI_ with some very esoteric knowledge of magic. And Grint seems reasonably mellow although who knows. [Here it is.](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rSAaiYKF0cs). Now I want to adopt that kid! Clearly a brilliant and insightful lad. ---
**Author:** ![bobkitty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/c67d28/32.png) [@bobkitty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobkitty)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2013, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/child-actors-that-didnt-crash-and-burn/652964/72 "2013-03-16T19:13:02Z")
> [@Loach](#): > > He medically retired early because of injuries due to gun shots. Did 18 years. I seriously read this as “because of injuries due to groin shots.” In fact, I read it that way SEVERAL TIMES. I don’t know what’s wrong with me. How about Elijah Wood and Sean Astin? ---
**Author:** ![Nawth\_Chucka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/c57346/32.png) [@Nawth\_Chucka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nawth_Chucka)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2013, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/child-actors-that-didnt-crash-and-burn/652964/73 "2013-03-16T19:29:53Z")
I don’t think any of the main child actors on Roseanne went on to headline-grabbing behaviors or the like; Becky #1 has had roles on shows like Law & Order, while Becky v.2 made Scrubs her bitch. There’s been rumors around Sundance the last few years that Joseph Gordon-Levitt enjoys altering his reality w/ various chemicals but he’s obviously got a good grip on it and it hasn’t adverselt affected his work. ---
**Author:** ![Drum\_God](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drum_god/32/44_2.png) [@Drum\_God](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drum_God)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2013, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/child-actors-that-didnt-crash-and-burn/652964/74 "2013-03-17T01:26:38Z")
Alanis Morisette has been in the public eye since _You Can’t Do That on Television_, if not earlier. She seems to have done okay for herself. ---
**Author:** ![Jungian\_Camisole](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/8baadc/32.png) [@Jungian\_Camisole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jungian_Camisole)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2013, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/child-actors-that-didnt-crash-and-burn/652964/75 "2013-03-17T01:35:22Z")
When I saw the thread titile, my first thought was Christina Applegate. It takes a clearly intelligent mind to act as a turbo slut when you’re young and not have it affect you. ---
**Author:** ![etv78](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d78d45/32.png) [@etv78](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/etv78)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2013, 1:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/child-actors-that-didnt-crash-and-burn/652964/76 "2013-03-17T01:40:51Z")
**Nawtha** -Two points: 1.Becky #2 broke Ted’s heart, leaving him at the altar 😃 2. JGL wasn’t on Roseanne (don’t think you meant to imply that) ---
**Author:** ![zamboniracer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/e9a140/32.png) [@zamboniracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zamboniracer)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2013, 1:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/child-actors-that-didnt-crash-and-burn/652964/77 "2013-03-17T01:43:57Z")
Raven Symone started as a child actress on Cosby, then went to Hangin with Mr. Cooper, and then Disney channel shows, without showing up on the scandal sheets. She’s in her late 20s now and seems to have saved all her money at least. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2013, 1:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/child-actors-that-didnt-crash-and-burn/652964/78 "2013-03-17T01:54:49Z")
Hayden Panettiere seems to be doing well - I remember her from her Ally McBeal days. Seems to be staying clean and very politically active; ISTR she got arrested (or narrowly avoided arrest) in Japan for breaking up their annual dolphin slaughter but is otherwise doing well and onto her latest hit show. ---
**Author:** ![Hermione](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/cdc98d/32.png) [@Hermione](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hermione)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2013, 2:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/child-actors-that-didnt-crash-and-burn/652964/79 "2013-03-17T02:06:39Z")
To my mind (and I could be wrong), there seems to be a different attitude towards acting from British actors as opposed to American actors. That is to say, there’s less emphasis on “stardom” and more on being the best they can at their craft.\* Could that be the reason that Daniel Radcliffe and his Potter co-stars seem to have their heads together more than many child stars? \*Someone somewhere once said that for a British actor, there’s no such thing as “slumming”, only working. Similarly, when Jay Leno interviewed Patrick Stewart many years ago, he expressed admiration for how British actors always seem to be busy. He went on to say that for the most part, American movie actors would make a blockbuster and then have a period of downtime until the next one. But a British actor might make a high-profile Hollywood movie, then a small independent one, then a run onstage in Drury Lane, then a miniseries for the BBC…but they were ALWAYS working. ---
**Author:** ![BrassyPhrase](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ea666f/32.png) [@BrassyPhrase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrassyPhrase)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2013, 2:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/child-actors-that-didnt-crash-and-burn/652964/80 "2013-03-17T02:07:33Z")
Although the Gilbert sisters were mentioned upthread–I really think Sara Gilbert is one of the best examples. She has worked consistently. She has a happy marriage with her wife and kids. (I’ve never heard of anything bad.) And she has a great gig on The Talk. I watched her grow up on _Roseanne_ and she was always my favorite character–well except for Roseanne. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/child-actors-that-didnt-crash-and-burn/652964.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/child-actors-that-didnt-crash-and-burn/652964.md?page=5)