# child star **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 1, 2006, 5:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/child-star/374814 "2006-10-01T05:56:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![overeasy4](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/b9bd4f/32.png) [@overeasy4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/overeasy4)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2006, 5:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/child-star/374814/1 "2006-10-01T05:56:23Z")
Who is the most screwed up of former child stars (still living)? ---
**Author:** ![Cartooniverse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cartooniverse/32/3084_2.png) [@Cartooniverse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cartooniverse)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2006, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/child-star/374814/2 "2006-10-01T14:29:25Z")
[Danny Bonnaduce](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0093697/) gets my vote. ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2006, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/child-star/374814/3 "2006-10-01T14:37:26Z")
The _really_ screwed-up ones aren’t living: Dana Plato, “Alfalfa,” Scotty Beckett, Mickey Daniels . . . Though Baby LeRoy and Baby Peggy turned out pretty stable! ---
**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:** [October 1, 2006, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/child-star/374814/4 "2006-10-01T17:53:37Z")
I have to say, sadly, probably Robert Blake. ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2006, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/child-star/374814/5 "2006-10-01T20:34:08Z")
[QUOTE=Cartooniverse] [Danny Bonnaduce](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0093697/) gets my vote. [/QUOTE] Nah, Bonnaduce seems to have his shit together at this point. I vote for Gary Coleman. Not only has he not had any work in a couple of decades, but his grasp on reality is tenuous at best. A&E did a _Biography_ episode on him once which, for some reason, wasn’t a biography at all, they just followed Gary Coleman around for a few days. He came across as an incredibly self-absorbed, narcisistic schmuck. ---
**Author:** ![Miss\_Purl\_McKnittington](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9a140/32.png) [@Miss\_Purl\_McKnittington](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miss_Purl_McKnittington)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2006, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/child-star/374814/6 "2006-10-01T20:36:51Z")
Umm, Michael Jackson, anyone? I think he’d be pretty hard to beat, unless some child star has been arrested for habitually molesting dolphins or something like that. ---
**Author:** ![GeorgiaBoy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/cab0a1/32.png) [@GeorgiaBoy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GeorgiaBoy)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2006, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/child-star/374814/7 "2006-10-01T21:55:36Z")
[QUOTE=Eve] “Alfalfa” [/QUOTE] Aw, c’mon now. Carl Switzer wasn’t screwed up. Sure, he acted out a lot as a kid, but he wasn’t a terror. Did a few more films, then had a family and went into business. Sure, the circumstances of his death are a bit odd, and no one wants to get shot to death over an argument about money and a dog, but he was a pretty regular guy. Certainly nothing like Blake turned out to be. ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2006, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/child-star/374814/8 "2006-10-01T21:59:48Z")
[QUOTE=Miss Purl McKnittington] Umm, Michael Jackson, anyone? I think he’d be pretty hard to beat, unless some child star has been arrested for habitually molesting dolphins or something like that. [/QUOTE] I agree. Even ignoring the molestation issues (which might be unfounded, although I kinda doubt it), just what he’s purposely done to his own appearance is enough to take him to the top of the list. ---
**Author:** ![Rilchiam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/2bfe46/32.png) [@Rilchiam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rilchiam)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2006, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/child-star/374814/9 "2006-10-01T22:21:42Z")
[QUOTE=friedo] Nah, Bonnaduce seems to have his shit together at this point. [/QUOTE] Has he changed that much and that fast since his reality show, in which he was having meltdowns, sneaking drinks, and threatening suicide? ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2006, 1:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/child-star/374814/10 "2006-10-02T13:16:59Z")
[QUOTE=friedo] Nah, Bonnaduce seems to have his shit together at this point. I vote for Gary Coleman. Not only has he not had any work in a couple of decades, \ [/QUOTE] This is simply not true. Ask anyone who has seen the Broadway production of [Avenue Q](http://www.avenueq.com/about.html) ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2006, 1:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/child-star/374814/11 "2006-10-02T13:20:13Z")
[QUOTE=Miss Purl McKnittington] Umm, Michael Jackson, anyone? I think he’d be pretty hard to beat, unless some child star has been arrested for habitually molesting dolphins or something like that. [/QUOTE] Troy McClure was a child star? ---
**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:** [October 2, 2006, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/child-star/374814/12 "2006-10-02T16:56:39Z")
[QUOTE=GeorgiaBoy] Aw, c’mon now. Carl Switzer wasn’t screwed up. Sure, he acted out a lot as a kid, but he wasn’t a terror. Did a few more films, then had a family and went into business. Sure, the circumstances of his death are a bit odd, and no one wants to get shot to death over an argument about money and a dog, but he was a pretty regular guy. Certainly nothing like Blake turned out to be. [/QUOTE] stabbed, not shot, wasn’t he? ---
**Author:** ![GeorgiaBoy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/cab0a1/32.png) [@GeorgiaBoy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GeorgiaBoy)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2006, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/child-star/374814/13 "2006-10-02T17:56:15Z")
[QUOTE=FriarTed] stabbed, not shot, wasn’t he? [/QUOTE] Shot. He was training some hunting dogs for a fellow named Bud Stilz. One got away, Carl posted a reward, someone returned the dog and Carl paid him. But he added the cost to Bud’s bill, and Bud objected. They argued, and Bud shot Carl fatally in the stomach. Since no one witnessed the shooting, and Bud claimed that Carl was coming at him with a knife, there was reasonable doubt for self-defense, and Bud was acquitted. ---
**Author:** ![ddgryphon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/8c91f0/32.png) [@ddgryphon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ddgryphon)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2006, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/child-star/374814/14 "2006-10-02T19:43:06Z")
I go with Jackson – who should be rechristened the Prince of Perversion Though really, Blake is probably a close second. ---
**Author:** ![Rilchiam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/2bfe46/32.png) [@Rilchiam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rilchiam)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2006, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/child-star/374814/15 "2006-10-02T21:40:14Z")
Blake was, by all appearances, a well-adjusted adult until just a few years ago. Whatever happened is not correlated with his having been a child star. Plus it’s reaching, since he had far greater success as an adult than as a child. And for that matter, what happened is not unusual for a celebrity of any age. ---
**Author:** ![Gr8Kat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gr8kat/32/18668_2.png) [@Gr8Kat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gr8Kat)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2006, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/child-star/374814/16 "2006-10-02T21:46:13Z")
[QUOTE=Rilchiam] Has he changed that much and that fast since his reality show, in which he was having meltdowns, sneaking drinks, and threatening suicide? [/QUOTE] I guess we’ll find out soon. They were showing ads for season 2 all night last night. ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2006, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/child-star/374814/17 "2006-10-02T21:49:05Z")
[QUOTE=Rilchiam] Blake was, by all appearances, a well-adjusted adult until just a few years ago. Whatever happened is not correlated with his having been a child star. Plus it’s reaching, since he had far greater success as an adult than as a child. And for that matter, what happened is not unusual for a celebrity of any age. [/QUOTE] Possibly, but I remember some of this interview show appearances during the 70’s, and he always seemed as if he was on something.