# 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:** 8
**Author:** ![Infovore](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/infovore/32/420_2.png) [@Infovore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Infovore)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2013, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/child-actors-that-didnt-crash-and-burn/652964/141 "2013-09-20T16:59:24Z")
> [@kushiel](#): > > 1. I liked her up until the point she cheated on her boyfriend with a married man. Not only did she choose to hurt her own boyfriend, she chose to hurt someone’s wife. Double ick. Funny (not funny–pretty annoying, actually) how KS gets all the flack for this, while the guy she cheated with (who quite possibly seduced _her_–successful director vs. awkward, fame-averse early-20s actress–and everybody’s blaming the _actress_?) gets off pretty much scot-free. Yeah, I’m not feeling it. I’m not a KS fan (frankly I don’t see what anyone sees in her–she’s a lousy actress with one expression IMO) but it’s not fair to pin this one solely, or even mostly, on her. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2013, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/child-actors-that-didnt-crash-and-burn/652964/142 "2013-09-23T15:52:38Z")
How about Anna Chlumsky? At ten, the eight-year-old from UNCLE BUCK was starring in MY GIRL; she did yet more big-screen work, and got plenty of small-screen work, before turning eighteen and then dropping out of acting for a while – not for rehab or jail time, you understand; she just went to college before getting married, and then headed back for recurring parts on television and supporting roles in movies. She celebrated her fifth anniversary earlier this year; her baby was born two months ago, and last night – okay, granted, last night she had to settle for an Emmy nomination instead of getting the win, but that’s still pretty good. ---
**Author:** ![kushiel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/bbce88/32.png) [@kushiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kushiel)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2013, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/child-actors-that-didnt-crash-and-burn/652964/143 "2013-09-23T16:44:48Z")
> [@Infovore](#): > > Funny (not funny–pretty annoying, actually) how KS gets all the flack for this, while the guy she cheated with (who quite possibly seduced _her_–successful director vs. awkward, fame-averse early-20s actress–and everybody’s blaming the _actress_?) gets off pretty much scot-free. > > Yeah, I’m not feeling it. I’m not a KS fan (frankly I don’t see what anyone sees in her–she’s a lousy actress with one expression IMO) but it’s not fair to pin this one solely, or even mostly, on her. Oh, he’s a scumbag too. Cheats on his wife with the latest pretty young thing. Thing is, directors are rarely in the public eye so no one cares. If this was a ‘why does everyone hate KS AND director-dude?’ thread I’d be all over him too. ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2013, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/child-actors-that-didnt-crash-and-burn/652964/144 "2013-09-23T16:47:03Z")
> [@Sampiro](#): > > He was also in the jail scene of _Trading Places_. (Link with [NSFW language](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nl_ydH4B-18)) And the pizza boycott guy in “Do The Right Thing.” ---
**Author:** ![toast\_pakora](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3ec8ea/32.png) [@toast\_pakora](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/toast_pakora)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2013, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/child-actors-that-didnt-crash-and-burn/652964/145 "2013-09-23T17:35:38Z")
The gorgeous Diane Lane. She was 14 and _starred_ in her first film with Laurence Olivier. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2013, 3:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/child-actors-that-didnt-crash-and-burn/652964/146 "2013-09-24T03:12:09Z")
> [@Tangent](#): > > Henry Thomas (E.T. –\> small parts in lots of movies) Probably my favorite because I’m the same age and I grew up watching him in E.T. and Cloak & Dagger over and over again. I just learned he was inducted into the Texas Film Hall of Fame this past March 7, in Austin. (He was born in San Antonio.) ---
**Author:** ![Tangent](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tangent/32/3098_2.png) [@Tangent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tangent)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2013, 3:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/child-actors-that-didnt-crash-and-burn/652964/147 "2013-09-24T03:42:44Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > I just learned he was inducted into the Texas Film Hall of Fame this past March 7, in Austin. (He was born in San Antonio.) Cool. 🆒 A friend of mine in college met him once, in College Station. She said he was really nice. He’s got a role in the new series, _Betrayal_, which premieres this coming Sunday on ABC. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2013, 5:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/child-actors-that-didnt-crash-and-burn/652964/148 "2013-09-24T05:12:58Z")
Candace Cameron started her recurring role on ST ELSEWHERE at six, and was fielding episodes of ALICE and TJ HOOKER before turning nine; after everything from a Very Special Episode of PUNKY BREWSTER to a small part as Eric Stoltz’s kid sister in SOME KIND OF WONDERFUL, she was of course playing DJ Tanner on FULL HOUSE at eleven and twelve and straight on through to age nineteen before appearing in a couple of TV movies. She then got married at twenty, which could’ve been a red flag. But they’re still married seventeen years and three kids later, sure as IMDB says she did four or five more TV movies in her twenties – while producing a documentary in her spare time – before doing four or five more TV movies in her thirties, easy as spending a couple of seasons as a MAKE IT OR BREAK IT castmember. That’s not a crash-and-burn; near as I can tell, it’s steady acting work whenever she (a) feels like it, and (b) isn’t busy writing a book or opening a winery. ---
**Author:** ![bauble](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/f6c823/32.png) [@bauble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bauble)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2013, 12:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/child-actors-that-didnt-crash-and-burn/652964/149 "2013-09-24T12:50:18Z")
> [@AnalogSignal](#): > > Jackie Coogan > > The Kid (1921) - a Charlie Chaplin movie > Uncle Fester on The Addams Family - (1964 - 1966) > > plus lots of other stuff Wasn’t there something about him holding the rope for a lynch mob? (IIRC, he was part of a group that lynched the murderers of a friend of his/theirs). ---
**Author:** ![armedmonkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@armedmonkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/armedmonkey)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2013, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/child-actors-that-didnt-crash-and-burn/652964/150 "2013-09-24T16:53:26Z")
It might have been mentioned, but there was an excellent article on [Cracked.com](http://Cracked.com): [7 Reasons Child Stars Go Crazy (An Insider’s Perspective)](http://www.cracked.com/blog/7-reasons-child-stars-go-crazy-an-insiders-perspective/). It’s written by Mara Wilson who was in _Mrs Doubtfire_ and _Matilda_ among others. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2013, 1:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/child-actors-that-didnt-crash-and-burn/652964/151 "2013-09-25T13:16:49Z")
Martha Plimpton started her first big-screen movie role at ten, and has kept working steadily through her teens and twenties and thirties and forties; she’s just switched from racking up a bunch of Young Artist Award nominations to racking up a bunch of Tony nominations and Emmy nominations, is all. ---
**Author:** ![Jim\_s\_Son](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19adc/32.png) [@Jim\_s\_Son](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jim_s_Son)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2013, 4:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/child-actors-that-didnt-crash-and-burn/652964/152 "2013-09-26T04:26:05Z")
Did any of the four boys on “My Three Sons” crash and burn? None of them became successful adult actors. I still run across Tim Considine articles on automobiles and he used to substitute for William Safire “On Language” column. Don Grady died in 2012 of cancer although he wrote the theme music for “Phil Donahue”. The Livingstone brothers, Barry and Stanley, are alive. ---
**Author:** ![guizot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guizot/32/3636_2.png) [@guizot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/guizot)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2013, 6:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/child-actors-that-didnt-crash-and-burn/652964/153 "2013-09-26T06:18:44Z")
Harry Shearer, the original Eddie Haskell on _Leave it to Beaver_, has done quite the opposite of crash and burn–going from radio comedy to Saturday Night Live and, of course, playing half of the voices on _The Simpsons_. (His radio show is still his best work, IMHO.) ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2013, 8:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/child-actors-that-didnt-crash-and-burn/652964/154 "2013-09-26T08:14:36Z")
> [@guizot](#): > > Harry Shearer, the original Eddie Haskell on _Leave it to Beaver_, has done quite the opposite of crash and burn–going from radio comedy to Saturday Night Live and, of course, playing half of the voices on _The Simpsons_. > > (His radio show is still his best work, IMHO.) And Ken Osmond, who was the regular Eddie Haskell, ended up being an LA cop, wounded three times in the line of duty. ---
**Author:** ![FriarTed](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/friarted/32/1052_2.png) [@FriarTed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FriarTed)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2013, 10:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/child-actors-that-didnt-crash-and-burn/652964/155 "2013-09-26T10:01:35Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > And Ken Osmond, who was the regular Eddie Haskell, ended up being an LA cop, wounded three times in the line of duty. Didn’t Osmond do at least one porn movie? Plus he was also on The New Leave It To Beaver aka Still the Beaver. To the OP, Billy Mumy. He was interviewed on CoastToCoastAM a few hours ago & noted that most of the former child actors he knew were perfectly fine. ---
**Author:** ![FriarTed](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/friarted/32/1052_2.png) [@FriarTed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FriarTed)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2013, 10:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/child-actors-that-didnt-crash-and-burn/652964/156 "2013-09-26T10:13:33Z")
> [@bauble](#): > > Wasn’t there something about him holding the rope for a lynch mob? (IIRC, he was part of a group that lynched the murderers of a friend of his/theirs). Had never heard that before but apparently… yep! > **[Murder of Brooke Hart and the lynching of Thomas Harold Thurmond and John M. Holmes](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brooke_Hart)** > > Brooke Leopold Hart (June 11, 1911 – November 9, 1933) was the eldest son of Alexander Hart, the owner of the L. Hart & Son department store in downtown San Jose, California, United States. His kidnapping and murder were heavily publicized, and the subsequent lynching of his alleged murderers, Thomas Harold Thurmond and John M. Holmes, sparked widespread political debate. > The lynchings were carried out by a mob of San Jose citizens in St. James Park across from the Santa Clara County Jail, and... ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2013, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/child-actors-that-didnt-crash-and-burn/652964/157 "2013-09-26T14:37:02Z")
At eight, Logan Lerman was playing the young version of Mel Gibson’s character in **What Women Want** – which was kind of a no-brainer, since he’d already played the guy’s son in **The Patriot**. At nine, Lerman was playing the young version of Adam Garcia’s character in **Riding In Cars With Boys** ; after a couple of TV movies, he was eleven when playing the young version of Ashton Kutcher’s character in **The Butterfly Effect** ; after yet more TV work, he spent his teen years playing the young son of Jim Carrey’s character, and the young son of Christian Bale’s character, and even a young George Hamilton. Now in his twenties, his latest **Percy Jackson** film is still in theaters while his upcoming picture with Russell Crowe is in post-production and Lerman himself is off filming a WWII movie with Brad Pitt; it’s too soon to say for sure, but, again: Lindsay Lohan was back in rehab after falling off the Alcoholics Anonymous wagon with a spectacular DUI arrest _before_ she was old enough to buy beer; this guy’s already _plenty_ old enough to drink responsibly, and by all accounts he’s keeping his nose clean. (See what I did there? It’s a _by-this-point-Lohan-had-already-gotten-busted-for-cocaine_ gag! Comedy gold, I tell ya! And so timely!) ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2013, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/child-actors-that-didnt-crash-and-burn/652964/158 "2013-09-26T15:36:08Z")
> [@FriarTed](#): > > Didn’t Osmond do at least one porn movie? No. From [Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ken_Osmond): **“Another widely reported urban legend of the 1970s was that Osmond had grown up to become adult film star John Holmes. The story apparently began when fan magazines falsely reported that Osmond had embarked on such a career. The rumor was dispelled when a Los Angeles movie theater lit up its marquee advertising ‘Eddie Haskell of TV in _Behind the Green Door’_- X-rated,’ prompting Osmond himself, then an LAPD officer, to go into the theater to request that the manager of the theater pull the plug on the marquee.”** ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2013, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/child-actors-that-didnt-crash-and-burn/652964/159 "2013-09-26T16:05:58Z")
> [@FriarTed](#): > > Didn’t Osmond do at least one porn movie? > > Plus he was also on The New Leave It To Beaver aka Still the Beaver. > [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > No. From [Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ken_Osmond): > > **“Another widely reported urban legend of the 1970s was that Osmond had grown up to become adult film star John Holmes. The story apparently began when fan magazines falsely reported that Osmond had embarked on such a career. The rumor was dispelled when a Los Angeles movie theater lit up its marquee advertising ‘Eddie Haskell of TV in _Behind the Green Door’_- X-rated,’ prompting Osmond himself, then an LAPD officer, to go into the theater to request that the manager of the theater pull the plug on the marquee.”** Plus: Yes, he was also on The New Leave It To Beaver aka Still the Beaver. Are you saying that’s proof he crashed and burned? He did return to acting, but he also had a very honorable career as a cop. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2013, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/child-actors-that-didnt-crash-and-burn/652964/160 "2013-09-27T17:00:38Z")
Allison Mack was six when she appeared in her first TV movie (and popped up in one of the POLICE ACADEMY films); after doing another TV movie at seven, she appeared in more TV movies at eight, and yet more TV movies at nine, and another TV movie at ten and yet another at eleven (when she was also back on the big screen, in NO DESSERT, DAD, TILL YOU MOW THE LAWN) and another at twelve (when she was also back on the big screen, in CAMP NOWHERE); after yet more TV movies at thirteen and fourteen, she became a castmember on HILLER AND DILLER at fifteen not long before that teen started playing high-schooler Chloe Sullivan on SMALLVILLE. And after two-hundred-plus episodes of _ **that,** _ the next year saw her playing a recurring role on WILFRID at thirty, with her head still on straight. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/child-actors-that-didnt-crash-and-burn/652964.md?page=7) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/child-actors-that-didnt-crash-and-burn/652964.md?page=9)