Some child actors, like Shirley Temple, Christian Bale or Jodie Foster, manage to go on to have rather successful careers and not spiral into a depressing life of drugs and alcohol. Others like Judy Garland, Dana Plato, Macaulay Culkin or Jerry Mathers aren’t so lucky.
What makes some child actors make it and others fail?
My strong suspicion would be parental control. Someone, a parent or parent figure, remained in a position of appropriate authority for that child. I haven’t studied this in depth, but it seems that when child actors crash and burn, they were given too much say over their lives at too young an age. Even if he or she is acting in movies, a young child should have an enforced bedtime, for example, or curfew, or assigned household chores, whichever is appropriate for the family. I remember hearing an interview with Ron Howard in which he commented that he didn’t pay for his parents’ house, and they didn’t let him stay out late. That’s appropriate. Using a child actor’s earnings to pay for family necessities is not appropriate - hazy memory suggests this is the case for Macaulay Culkin. Letting a child do whatever they want because they make more money than the parent, or are famous is not appropriate.
I’m not suggesting Spartan discipline, child abuse or anything similar, I’m just saying that adults have a hard time keeping grounded when fame and fortune strikes, children are much more vulnerable.
In the process of watching a show about Dana Plato, I can say that she had a -multitude- of problems, started with drinking at age 12, had an addictive personality as well. Her (adoptive) Mom had a disorder (scleroderma?) that eventually led to her death at age 49; when Dana was beginning to have problems with drinking while on Diff’rent Strokes, her mother was in and out of the hospital as a result of the scleroderma. Her mother’s death sent her into a downward spiral of drinking and pills that eventually led to her own death. It’s a very sad story and definitely one that the pressure of being a child “star” had a negative impact on.
That being said, I don’t think that it’s possible to make generalizations about the causes of some child star’s downfalls other than it’s a huge pressure cooker which some can deal with while others cannot. And that’s a very gross generalization, I’ll admit. I think it’s something that can only be explained on a one-by-one basis.
What happened to Jerry Mathers? Are you considering him a failure because he did not continue in acting? Frankly, the ones who get out of the business are the winners, in my book. Paul Peterson, who played Jeff on The Donna Reed Show, has been a spokesperson for child actors for some time now, speaking out against the many problems that childhood stardom created for many young actors/actresses. He knows whereof he speaks.
JMHO, mind you.
I don’t know if I’d include Mr Culkin in the “washed up has-been” category just yet, since according to IMDB he has leading roles in three movies due to come out this year.
Judy Garland failed as an adult? Her life may have been mess, but she had quite a career after “The Wizard of Oz.”
It would help to know whether we’re talking about personal lives, careers, or both.
(If it’s careers, I have one word: talent. A lot of child stars don’t have the right talents in order to get into adult acting (Shirley Temple, although a success in private life, is a perfect example). In addition, some actors get typecast while child actors, hurting their careers later.)
Well, to be fair, one of them is completed and received a rating of 4.6 out of 10 from viewers so far, a second one has been completed but not yet released (and he’s listed third in the cast), and a third one is in post production (and he’s listed second). Of course, the latter two might change in terms of who’s credited where.
From the shows I have seen, a huge red flag is when the child becomes the breadwinner for the family. This leads to a rediculous schedule of public appearances and an incredible amount of pressure on the kid. It seems this situation is usually created by a pathetic parent who is using the child to realize fame for his/her self.
One problem seems to be surviving the transition. For example, you have a kid who’s sweet and adorable-all of a sudden, he hits puberty, his voice starts cracking, acne, etc. He’s at an awkward stage-too young for teenage roles, but not cute anymore.
Some people manage to survive this stage, some don’t.
As far as the career is concerned, ultimately, it whether the star can make the transition. Some find it hard and vanish. Others (e.g. Roddy McDowell) seem to make it so easily that people forget they even were child stars (I suspect Drew Barrymore will fall into this category).
Some don’t bother. Some were too young to remember they acted (Baby Leroy, W.C. Field’s foil, for instance).
As far as personal lives go, it like anyone else – some people just can’t handle adulthood. The pressure on a former child star is probably greater than the average person, which would account for how common it is, though that also may be a function of the fact that once they have a problem, it’s spread over the tabloids.
A & E had a program called Child Stars: Their Story that covered all of these topics, positive and negative, through interviews and a round table discussion involving former child stars.
Let us not forget arguably the second-most-successful child-to-adult transition ever: Kurt Russell.
Having said that, who says child actors have any more trouble than adult actors? Most actors don’t last; it doesn’t matter if they’re young or old. Adult actors having success at 27 and still being successful at 37 are just as unusual as child actors getting from 10 to 20. The failure rate of child actors isn’t any worse than it is for adult actors.
Macauley Culkin was interviewed by Barbara Walters not long ago. Contrary to tabloid rumors, he’s living a quiet and fairly happy life. He never got addicted to drugs, and he still has all of his money. He said he quit acting at age 14 simply because he couldn’t stand it anymore…which is why he seemed to disappear, leaving people to suspect the worst.
I’m also reminded of Kristy McNichol who as an adult became afflicted with bipolar disorder, which destroyed her career and lead many people to blame drugs. Clearly, she would have had a rough time in ANY life…
I agree with Governor Quinn its talent as far as a career goes. Also many child actors are so identified with a particular character that they can’t get taken seriously for other roles (Brady kids, for instance).
Sometimes real talent will out, though (Jodie Foster, Kurt Russel, Elijah Wood). I think that Ron Howard is an example of someone who was able to transcend an identification with not just one but two familiar characters by pretty much giving up acting and going into directing. He also never seems to have acquired a Hollywood ego. I’m sure his parenting had a lot to do with that.
I think the OP was including Miss garland in the “depressing life of drugs and alcohol” category. Which is an amazing over-simplification of one of the more complicated lives in show business history.
Let’s not forget Corey Feldman in any serious discussion of this topic. I watched “Surreal Life” from beginning to end (I’m not sure why, but I was entertained), and the differences in the two child stars (Emmanuel Lewis and Corey Feldman) were incredible. Corey seemed to be an incomplete, unhappy person who will never be satisfied with anything, and Manny seemed fairly well-grounded and able to live a “normal” life. I would be very interested to hear Corey’s story about why he turned out as screwed up as he is.
Let’s talk child actors, not child stars. There are a couple of reasons I’ve seen why child actors don’t become adult actors, besides total meltdowns. The first is that they just don’t want to do it anymore. Kids who act don’t have a lot of other options for jobs that make as much money, but they know very well the small percentage of auditions you hit. They might rather major in economics, where the paycheck is guaranteed, than stay with acting. They know very well the thrill of acting is vastly overrated.
Second, from 15 to 18 or so there are very, very few jobs. Union rules make it expensive to hire kids these ages, and young looking adult actors (think Michael J. Fox) are a lot cheaper. Unless you are a real star, forget it.
Notice I don’t say they’ve rebelled against their parents. Above the age of 5 or so, agents and casting directors check very carefully for kids who are getting pushed, and who don’t want to do it. All auditions and interviews are done without parents present for this very reason.
Ooops, that would be Paul Petersen, btw–sorry for the typo on his last name!
How about The Olsen twins? They are doing pretty well & have been in the business for years. They are going to be 18 soon.
bean_shadow writes:
> Some child actors, like Shirley Temple, Christian Bale or Jodie
> Foster, manage to go on to have rather successful careers and
> not spiral into a depressing life of drugs and alcohol. Others like
> Judy Garland, Dana Plato, Macaulay Culkin or Jerry Mathers
> aren’t so lucky.
This is a weird grouping of people you’ve put together here. Everyone of them has had a different sort of acting career and adult life:
Shirley Temple: Made a lot of money as a child actor, but by her late teens it started to become clear that she wasn’t really a great actor. Like some other child actors, was able to get by as a child because she was great at memorizing her lines, but didn’t really have the acting skills to become a great adult actor. Had a short, unhappy first marriage, but has had a happy second marriage. After getting out of acting, has done other things, including political work. Fairly happy personal life.
Christian Bale: A good child actor who seems well on the way to having a long, solid acting career. Hard to tell as yet if he’ll be considered a great actor. Apparently fairly happy personal life.
Jody Foster: A very good child actor who has had a great acting career in her twenties and thirties. Like most good actresses at about the age of 40, not getting offered the great roles that she should be. Apparently fairly happy personal life.
Judy Garland: Pretty good acting career in her teen years, but started getting fewer good roles in her twenties. Really more of a singer than an actress and still has many fans who think she was a great singer. Not a happy personal life. Got into drugs, which eventually killed her.
Dana Plato: Reasonably good teen actress, but didn’t really have the skills to become a great adult actress. Got into drugs early and they prevented her from being even a decent actress. Had quite an unhappy life and eventually the drugs killed her.
Macaulay Culkin: Good child actor, but was lucky in that he got a role which made him a star. It’s hard to tell how his life will turn out. Reasonably happy personal life. Has left acting for good, apparently.
Jerry Mathers: A decent child actor, but didn’t have the skills to become a great adult actor. Was lucky in getting a good TV role. Has worked in various different fields in the entertainment industry. Came back to acting to do a TV series about the children in Leave It to Beaver after they had grown up. Apparently a reasonably happy personal life.