Has there ever been a child actor/performer who grew up reasonably sane?

Ron Howard and Jodie Foster are the only ones I can think of.

Elizabeth Taylor

Carrie Fisher was a child star?

I'm fine.

I'm completely fine!

Totally sane!

Joaquin Phoenix, who has been acting since he was around 8, transitioned successfully into adult roles and usually plays lead roles and is now one of the highest-paid actors in Hollywood. Also, four Oscar nominations and one win. He now has a son with longtime girlfriend Rooney Mara.

Raven Symone seems alright.

R7, Phoenix is crazier than a shithouse rat.

Don't blame him, cult upbringing and so forth.

Nope.

Selena Gomez.

Butch Patrick

Sara Jessica Parker.

Matthew Broderick.

Cynthia Nixon

The male Brady kids.

Sean Astin

Micheal Jackson

Elijah Wood

Shirley Temple, Jackie Cooper, Rose Marie

Deanna Durbin

Jennifer Love-Hewitt? Don't know much about her, but she seems grounded.

Judy Garland

Sarah Polley is one of the better outcomes (now mostly a writer/director), although she's been very outspoken with her negative feelings on the child-actor experience. She has said she's never talked to anyone who went through it and came out of it without psychological damage.

Jodie Foster.

Brittney Spears

Liz Taylor was not sane nor normal.

Christina Applegate

Roddy McDowall

Dana Plato

R9 that wasn't very nice.

Sal Mineo

Nicholas Hoult

Jodie Foster, Brooke Shields, Selena Gomez and Joaquin Phoenix seem damaged.

Daniel Radcliffe seems grounded.

Diane Lane

Christian Bale. 🤣🤣

Natalie Wood

All three of the Harry Potter leads are normal.

I wouldn't necessarily say Natalie Wood was normal. She was being pimped out from a very young age,

Tony Dow and Jerry Mathers

David Nelson

R38, By an overbearing stage mother and only in one or two instances. It’s not like she was the town whore.

Deanna Durbin - Retired permanently from show business in 1949 with the classic line "I can't run around being a Little Miss Fix-It who bursts into song—the highest-paid star with the poorest material."

She took her $200,000 severance payment from Universal (about $2.5mil in todays money) and headed off to Paris. She was married for 50 years to French director Charles Henri David had a couple of kids and lived a quiet life in Paris until her death aged 92.

Danny Lloyd

THANK YOU R39. I'm stunned (or maybe too old) to think that no one mentioned Jerry Mathers until 39 replies in. He's the most sane person of anyone on the list, considering he started working around age 5. Dow was of course sane too, but had issues with deep depression for decades.

R41, Durbin's already mentioned twice.

Daniel Radcliffe had alcoholism for a little while but seems fine other than that. Emma watson seems well put together and I think the guy who played Ron just fucked off completely so hopefully he’s doing well.

Ricky Martin talks like a self help book but he didn’t go on some drug addled rampage so I’m going to count him.

SMG. Never understood her appeal but she seems pretty sane. And she had issues growing up like she totally disavowed her father and all that.

[quote] Elizabeth Taylor

WTF? She was an alcoholic and a drug addict and failed marriage seven times. She was quite fucked up.

R38 Yup to guys like Frank Sinatra and Nicholas Ray.

Mindy Cohn

Gary Coleman

[quote][R38] Yup to guys like Frank Sinatra and Nicholas Ray.

Nicholas Ray, the guy whose trophy wife Gloria Grahame seduced his 13-year-old son and later married him and had children with him?

Natalie Wood saw an analyst her entire adult life and struggled with depression. She didn't come out of child stardom unscathed.

She apparently couldn’t be bothered to learn to swim either.

😇 I wanted to, but .........

Clair Danes?

natalie portman jennifer connelly

Johnny Crawford (RIP).

The Fanning sisters, Dakota & Elle.

The Cosby kids except maybe Lisa but she supposedly came from a troubled background.

Veronica Cartwright

Angela Cartwright

Billy Mumy.

That robot who played that little girl in Small Wonder seems to have done all right.

Soleil Moon Frye, Danica Keller, Mayon Byalik. Hey the two older girls from step by step seem like they ended up relatively normal.

R51, Do a couple of suicide attempts make one abnormal?

Jodie foster is a raging dyke. She's not alright

Natalie Wood was a deeply disturbed individual, a nymphomaniac, an alcoholic, and a chronic depressive. I love her to death, but she was in no way, shape , or form, "reasonably sane"

Roddy McDowall, Hayley Mills, jackie Coogan

Since when does being an out lesbian constitute being "not reasonably sane"?! She was a good actress, and she seems to have lived no less sane a life than others both famous and non.

Ben Whishaw is and always has been an out "raging fag". Does he qualify as "not reasonably sane"?

^ was meant for R65.

Brooke Shields.

CHRISTINA RICCI

Chloe Grace Moretz comes to mind.

Though time will tell if she’s unscathed..

Neil Pat.

Nicholas Hoult, Joseph Gordon Levitt, Kieran Knigtley, Leo DeCaprio, Natalie Portman, Neil Patrich Harris, even Justin Timberlake.

Not all great talents or nice people, fun apparently sane and functioning.

R66, She was in no way a nymphomaniac nor an alcoholic. Your comment is reckless and unsubstantiated.

Hillary Duff

The Harry Potter actors seem to be okay. The “Malcolm In The Middle” kids, too, mostly. The Dewey actor didn’t have a good home life, and Bryan Cranston supposedly invited him to spend time with his family so he could experience relative “normalcy”. Although on second thought, that’s exactly what predators do. But he gets the benefit of the doubt from me. Sometimes people are just nice.

R76 Hilary's mom was (maybe still is?) a draconian, controlling, puritanical momager--described by some as 'Kris Jenner before Kris Jenner'. That woman wasn't letting Hil or Haylie for that matter put a foot out of line while under her purview.

You can tell the influence she had from watching clips of young Hilary at work--Hilary is always super conscientious and professional and hardworking, almost anxious and fearful to let anyone down or do anything wrong. That poor girl earned her fame & money more than most actresses. Hilary even had a serious eating disorder for years, probably thanks to her mother's controlling ways.

Perhaps though it was still somewhat for the better, if the only other D!sney stage-mom option is a Dinah Lohan type of situation. Hilary seems fine as a middle-aged women, and has a very enviable life.

^Hilary's former costar Christy Carlson Romano seems to have turned out well as an adult, though she admits to having problems with addiction (alcohol) and finances in her early-mid twenties. She seems to have matured into a sensible, down-to-earth Frau Mom who understands and accepts that a few bad choices have resulted in her having to live a normal non-celebrity life, and she seems sincere in claiming that she's thankful for what she does have now.

Her DH is a hot military guy who makes good money, so maybe that has something to do with it. Though she always gave off alpha lipgloss lez vibes to me...

Totally agree about Daniel Radcliffe, Sean Astin (despite a pretty 'irregular' childhood) and Elijah Wood. Tangentially, IMHO Wood was one of the best, most subtle and intelligent child actors I've ever seen.

[R77] Dave Madden did the same for Danny Bonaduce. Danny has his share of issues, but he’s always credited Dave with trying to help him.

R79 DH?

Jackie Cooper was a solid.

Jodie Foster owns this thread, not only was she a child actor, she had a maniac fan try to kill the President Of The United States in her honor. She stays out of the limelight, has raised a normal family and has been honored twice by her industry with Oscars.

[quote] Elijah Wood. Tangentially, IMHO Wood was one of the best, most subtle and intelligent child actors I've ever seen.

He should have won awards for his work on THE GOOD SON with Macaulay Culkin. That film is underrated to this day, even by critics.

Mary Badham

I’ve known many working child actors and their parents, living and raising kids in Manhattan. I think the ones who fare best have parents who are sort of quirky and arty themselves, and don’t push too hard to make their kids STARS. It’s a job for the kids, and the parents aren’t the greedy type who steal the money, are happy to let the kids choose something else when they’re older. There really is a “type” of halfway decent stage parent.

Being a “raging dyke” doesn’t equate to insanity.

Shirley Temple, fairly obviously, is the paragon of a huge child star turning into a graceful, mature and sane adult woman.

Jennifer Connelly has questionable taste in men (Josh Charles was a serial cheater, and the Depp/Heard trial revealed Paul Bettany is a creep). However, she’s always stayed out of trouble. The only bad thing she’s done is agree to be a brand ambassador for Louis Vuitton.

R85, When Siskel & Ebert reviewed the film Roger Ebert said this film showed the difference between a child actor and a child star.

Is R65 a raging MAGA? WTF?? What the fuck is wrong with being a dyke? She has an Ivy league degree, successful child, teenage and adult acting careers and even directs movies and TV. What the fuck is not sane about that?

Paul from The Wonder Years is a successful lawyer

So is Staci Keanen from My Two Dads and Step By Step

Drew Barrymore, Jodie Foster, Michael B. Jordan, Justin Timberlake, Leo DiCaprio, Brandy.

The list is endless.

[quote]Paul from The Wonder Years is a successful lawyer

Remember the '90s urban legend that he grew up to be Marilyn Manson. 😂

Kiki Dunst Michelle Williams

I've never heard that Aguilera is insane. Rude, sure. But not insane.

R95, I had a friend whose mother insisted that he would grow up to be super handsome. Now I have to google what he looks like now.

R65, wtf would make you come to this site and spew such homophobic rhetoric.

Okay, Josh Saviano is kind of attractive. BDF.

quote [That robot who played that little girl in Small Wonder seems to have done all right.]

She turned into a Republicunt.

Is is true that Milhouse in THE SIMPSONS was inspired by Paul in WONDER YEARS?

I think most do. If you understand most child actors only work a brief period of time and go back to their normal lives and get regular jobs. Most are local children from Southern California or NYC that do theatre, catalog modeling or commercials. The ones who do get in huge roles are the ones who have the most issues due to the overexposure and pressures of fame and if they have demanding and greedy stage parents who don't supervise that can cause of a whole can of worms. The ones we hear about are the ones who went crazy due to trauma but it almost always started from their family dysfunction with the pressures of acting exacerbating things. There's more child actors who grew up sane and live normal lives than does who do not. Just like how much actors aren't big A-list celebrities and live normal lives.

Eve Plumb.

No drugs, alcohol or relationship drama. Pursued her art as well as acting. Short early marriage, no kids. Married to same guy now for 30 years. Good parents who invested her money in a little Malibu beach house in 1969 I believe for 55k and she sold it a couple of years ago for 5M. Plus she's a Democrat!

Maureen had drug and family problems, Barry multiple divorces, Chris multiple divorces, Mike drinking problem, Susan divorces, drinking and MAGA insanity.

R103 agreed that's why I made sure to list stars who are famous as adults. A lot of these child stars in the past 20 years continue to be famous because of their train wrecky behavior on social media.

Christine Baranski was in the Brady Bunch, right?

[quote]The ones who do get in huge roles are the ones who have the most issues due to the overexposure and pressures of fame

So famous, so easily, so soon is not the wisest thing to be.

You won't care if they love you; it's been done before.

You'll despair if they hate you.

You'll be drained of all energy.

All the young who've made it would agree.

I worked at a Dry Cleaners.

Both of the Mills sisters have turned out ok. Although Juliet began her career when she was in her later teens.

I think all the kids from the Potter franchise turned out mostly ok because there were so many of them in it together. I imagine they all kept each other grounded. Rupert Grint appears fairly regularly in TV stints in the UK to the person mentioning that he had disappeared but he does appear to keep his life away from work very private these days. Good for him.

Ryan Gosling has done fine and I think Justin Timberlake has also managed reasonable well.

I agree with the poster upthread about Chloe Grace Moretz. I thought she was going to be a mess as she seemed very precocious in her child star years but she so far seems extremely level headed.

Also r82 the r79 is likely a frau as DH is popularly used on frau threats like mumsnet, and the like. I had to look it up once. It means “Dear Husband”.

Patty Duke's son Sean Astin 👍

Hasn't Mackenzie Astin turned out fairly functional too? I seem to recall whispers about him being troubled back in the oughts, but his resume seems to indicate consistent if not prominent acting work . And I don't recall any breaking news stories about scandals involving him.

Not only sane, but successful and thriving:

Quinn Cummings became a writer and is reliably acerbic on Twitter.

Alison Arngrim embraced Nellie Oleson, does one-woman shows, guides tours, and volunteers for AIDS charities and child abuse charities.

Danielle Spencer from "What's Happening?" has been a veterinarian in private practice for decades.

[quote] Gary Coleman

You must be nuts. He was one a crazy asshole. His wife (who no doubt married him for money) said that when he didn't get his way he would scream and stomp his feet like a toddler. He was fucked UP.

Holly Marie Combs

Tyler James Williams

Scarlett Johansson

Isn't Mark-Paul Gosselaar a good person?

Shirley Temple. I think she divorced once, but her second marriage lasted. She was quite well adjusted and led a very stable life.

Trivia: Shirley Temple auditioned for the role of Veda in Mildred Pierce.

Christopher Walken. He started acting as a kid and although he's played goofy characters, he seems like a normal guy.

Anna Paquin

Roddy MacDowell was always praised as being a good person and a gentleman.

Also perhaps there is a distinction between being a working child actor and a famous child star. Many of these people listed were not famous as kids, despite being in showbusiness and working. Leo was famous as a kid, so was Lindsay Lohan and Brandy. I'm thinking of the stars I grew up with, I don't know how famous child stars like Jodie Foster were in previous decades.

R123 Perhaps you did not read OP's post

R124 I did read his post. He seems to suggest those that come from showbiz families independent of celebrity notoriety turn out well adjusted. Perhaps you should re-read my post to have a better understanding of what I was saying.

That “My Mother Died” chick seems adjusted, at least now. It probably was a dumpster fire of a journey.

Shirley Temple.

Chad Allen seems to have come out ok. I know he had addiction issues in his 20s but he is stable and sweet on social media. Loves the outdoors. Got a doctorate.

I was going to say Joey Lawrence but he seems damaged. Major Peter Pan syndrome.

Ya betcha Blanche

That girl from Fresh Prince. Also, the dude who played Urkel

Pamela Franklin

The brat from Young Sheldon.

Not only did Jodie Foster remain successful and classy - she’s also raised two seemingly lovely sons who attended Yale and Princeton.

It’s beyond impressive given the child stardom plus that Hinckley shit plus her crazy mother.

Being a lesbian served her very well - her close male friends (Mel Gibson, James Woods, etc) are a disaster - had she been a straight woman she may have made terrible choices relationship-wise that could have gotten her off track. Or maybe not. She’s just remarkable.

Sally Field

'Truly Scrumptious' Sally Anne Howe

[quote]Many of these people listed were not famous as kids,

Who mentioned wasn't?

Douglas Booth

R80, Sean Astin brags in interviews that he has three fathers, John Astin, Desi Arnaz, Jr. and Michael Tell.

Definitely that bitch Mackenzie Phillips. Incest, my ass!

[quote]the guy who played Ron just fucked off completely so hopefully he’s doing well.

R44, filming for fourth and final season of M. Night Shyamalan’s Apple TV series, “Servant” wrapped a couple of months ago.

I’ve never watched it, I only know this because exterior scenes were filmed in my neighborhood.

All the kids from The Wonder Years (the main three that is) turned out fine.

Alicia Silverstone turned out mostly fine. So did Anna Paquin, Scarlett Johannson, Alanis Morrissette, Kirsten Dunst... The Olsen twins and their seister...

*sister

Are we considering teenagers child actors? Some of the mentions began as teens not children

But has anyone mentioned Shirley Temple?

R143, which in particular?

[quote]Drew Barrymore

She's okay now, R94, but she was in rehab when she was 12 years old and again at 13 - she had a string of engagements and marriages and I think she may have flashed David Letterman. I don't think her personal life settled down until after she divorced Tom Green.

I disagree about Drew Barrymore. Every time I hear her talk I feel like I'm listening to someone who isn't all there.

Mac Phillips, Alicia Silverstone, Brandy, Christina A, Jennifer Love Hewitt, Matt Broedrick - there's been more

R141

Fred Savage is having some problems. A mutual acquaintance knew him from college and thought he was a prick.

Though his adult life was somewhat bumpy, Freddie Bartholomew remained reasonably sane.

R48 was in response to R45

Whoops...meant R148 was in response to R145

[quote]Jodie Foster, Brooke Shields, Selena Gomez and Joaquin Phoenix seem damaged.

Agreed.

Sean and Mackenzie Astin both seem normal

[quote]Mac Phillips, Alicia Silverstone, Brandy, Christina A, Jennifer Love Hewitt, Matt Broedrick - there's been more

Alicia Silverstone was on the Wonder Years, so I figured she was still a pre-teen, but she may have been older.

Jennifer Love Hewitt was acting as a child and her first series regular gig was when she was 9.

Christina A was on MMC as a kid.

Sarah Michelle Gellar

Jennifer Love Hewitt

Jodie Foster

Alyson Hannigan

Seth Green

Ryan Gosling

Kieran Culkin.

Haley Joel Osment

Some of the people named in this thread have hit a few bumps in the road and as R32 said, some of them seem damaged. As far as people [who seem well adjusted] who continued their careers into adulthood, these are the best of the bunch; you could even add Clint Howard to this list.

[quote]Ron Howard

[quote]Kurt Russell

[quote]Sara Jessica Parker. Matthew Broderick. Cynthia Nixon

[quote]Shirley Temple, Jackie Cooper, Rose Marie

[quote]Tony Dow and Jerry Mathers. David Nelson

[quote]Mindy Cohn

[quote]The Fanning sisters, Dakota & Elle.

[quote]Roddy McDowall, Hayley Mills, jackie Coogan

[quote]Eve Plumb.

[quote]Sally Field

[quote]Mark-Paul Gosselaar

David Henesy

Lee Montgomery

Martin Stephens

Kyle Richards

Danielle Harris

Matthew Labyorteaux

Miko Hughes

Kyle Richards does not seem reasonably sane!

Gladys Cooper was a successful child model, then actress.

Patty McCormack, Oliver Robins, Mara Wilson, Hallie Eisenberg, David Dorfman, Brandon Adams, Alex Vincent

Miko Hughes

Been acting since he was a toddler.

Noel Coward was a child actor, right?

Jackie Coogan

Ron Howard.

r166, yes

Freddie Highmore.

Was terrific in Finding Neverland as a kid, then did some other movies and starred in Bates Motel for a while. Took time to go to Oxford or Cambridge and got a degree in Arabic I think. Recently got married and is currently on The Good Doctor. He seems like a regular, well adjusted person.

Valerie Bertinelli

The kid that played DJ on Roseanne.

Daryl Sabara

Alexa PenaVega

Johnny Crawford

Jerry Mathers

Joel Courtney

I haven't read the whole thread to see if he has been mentioned yet, but Robby Benson appears to be a very grounded, totally sane, really sweet guy. Although I suppose he was a little older than some of the other people mentioned here when he first attained big stardom, so maybe that helped.

Logan Lerman seems alright. Cute, too.

R154 I read Sean Astin’s book and he seems to have problems and spends a lot of time denying them. His mother, Patty Duke, had an abusive childhood and was diagnosed as bipolar. I believe she was an alcoholic as well, likely an attempt to self medicate. Both Sean and Mackenzie Austin witnessed suicide attempts, rages, and received abuse from their mother when she was ill. Mackenzie suffered from substance abuse-addiction.

Drew Barrymore . And her ratings are way up!

Mason Reese

Sara Gilbert.

Isn't Alicia Silverstone the one who chewed up food for her kids as if they were baby birds and started spouting all kinds of vegan woo-woo, including writing to Putin urging him to feed Russian prisoners vegan meals? (I'm sure they were very determined that their gruel have no meat in it...) She may be benign, but I wouldn't call her reasonably sane.

"Mac Phillips" was a goddamn heroin addict who used to fuck her father. "Reasonably sane", my ass!

Trini Alvarado. She’s a normal, well adjusted, relaxed Gen X person who works when she wants to.

I like Trini Alvarado

Baby Jane.

Mark Lester?

madonna louise ciccone

You bitches are so pressed that 189 posts went by and none of you named the one, the greatest and only one that matters...

Janet Mother Fucking Jackson!

Stay pressed! Hunties!

Drew Barrymore might be doing good as a single mom at 47 now but young Drew Barrymore was the poster child for the ravages of Hollywood on young people.

[quote] Janet Mother Fucking Jackson!

Reasonably sane for a Jackson perhaps.

Only Ron Howard comes to mind.

Harry Potter kids?

Mason Gamble. Played the lead in Dennis the Menace as a five year old around 1993 and was in Gattaca, Rushmore, and a few other movies.

He left Hollywood as a teen and went the academic route. Last I checked, he was working on a PhD in marine biology or some other science.

Peter Ostrum, Charlie Bucket from Willy Wonka, went on to become a veterinarian and totally nice guy.

Joseph Mazello was in a ton of movies as a kid and seems well adjusted. I’d love to hear some of his stories because he was in the business for a long time and worked with some big names. He still acts.

R44 didn't he have some issue with a nephew? And remember the guy who managed Ricky Martin as a child was the Menendez brothers father who the brothers accused of doing something funny to them.

I saw this on reddit once: i_call_u_faggot I was a set designer for the deathly hallows part 1 and 2 and I remember this. I think Alan Rickman tried to help him but Daniel never could stick with being sober for more than a couple days. It got really bad when he one time when he said a racial slur to one of the catering people.

Do you guys think it is true?

Dunno, R197, the rumors about Radcliffe and alcohol didn't start until he was in his 20s and the HP movies were over. That doesn't mean that he wasn't a problem drinker earlier, but if so a lid was kept on things at that point.

Radcliffe has said he spent most of the 6th movie drunk. So it was definitely an issue when he was 16/17, but I guess never so bad that he couldn’t do his job.

I’m glad he got help and got sober. Anyone seen the Weird Al movie yet?

Bill Mumy & Angela Cartwright

Isn't Joseph Mazello part of Camp Podwall? He can't be too well adjusted...

R198 and R199 that reddit post seems to imply that it happened during the 7th and 8th movie.

R190 Yeah, I wouldn't exactly say someone who thought it was a good idea to grab her tit out during the Superbowl and thought she could get away with it is my idea of a sane woman.

You'd think Aileen Quinn would be a doll, but she lunged at me with a butcher knife! Fairuza Balk was balled up in a corner with Tourette's syndrome when introduced at a recent party. I was told that Henry Thomas will hide a pile of his feces in your house if you meet with his approval. Beyond these quirks, they're really lovely people.

[Quote] Isn't Joseph Mazello part of Camp Podwall? He can't be too well adjusted...

Sort of? He did have Chace and Tyler in Undrafted.

Peter Billingsley

Dickie Moore?

R191 That’s what makes Drew such a success story and role model. Who would have figured her for anything but an early grave? People really like her and root for her because she’s a survivor.

Jodie is the shining example. She could easily have gone the Lindsay Lohan route, but she someone knew how to get out in time, shunned the limelight, got an education, survived the Hinckley debacle and came back as a fully-formed, grounded adult who knew what she wanted. It certainly helped that she is as smart as a whip. She never NEEDED to be an actor. She could have done other things. I glad she chose to continue acting. She’s one of the best we have.

Brooke Shields isn’t in Jodie’s class talent-wise, but they’ve both made similar decisions and are both survivors. who overcame difficult childhoods to come out on the other side “relatively unscathed” as Brooke once said. I mean, who would have thought the little girl from Pretty Baby would grow up to be so seemingly normal?

I still can't get my head around Teri Shields allowing her daughter to be professionally photographed nude in a bath at age 10.

The ones who go nuts had shitty parents and would've ended up in the gutter anyway.

Off the top of my head, I can't think of any trainwrecks/tragedies who came from a solid family who took care of tem.

Kirsten Dunst seems reasonably well-adjusted to me.

Desi Arnaz, Jr. was in and out of rehab until he straightened out.

Nick Jonas

Ross Lynch

Upthread, someone mentioned Sean Astin... I think that for all he endured as a child and young adult, he did grow up to be "reasonably sane" - which is this threads' criteria. In addition to what the previous poster wrote about, Sean's discussed how he gets along be acknowledging that has three fathers. Patty believed the bio-father was Desi Arnaz, Jr. (he was screwing her when he was 17 - Lucy was not pleased). Sean did get the stability of having John Astin as his step-father and then, genetic testing proved that his real bio-father was Michael Tell (a man Duke was married to for 13 days).

Wheee! Life with Patty must have been a really bad trip at times.

R196 No. The nephew is absolutely insane, abusive to women and his own family, and is lying for money.

Ricky provided proof of the nephew texting him up to 10 times a day saying he will stop if Ricky gives him money and requested to see Ricky's children, posting Ricky's phone number on instagram, and making an instagram of one of Ricky's children. And Ricky's sister/the nephew's mother showed texts (to a judge) between them showing how the nephew planned to try to get money from Ricky and hurt him. And the nephew is refusing to hand over his phone and various papers to police despite wanting them to do an investigate in the first place.

Claudia Karvan

R217 I didn't realize Claudia started acting as a kid.

[quote]Brooke Shields isn’t in Jodie’s class talent-wise, but they’ve both made similar decisions and are both survivors. who overcame difficult childhoods to come out on the other side “relatively unscathed” as Brooke once said. I mean, who would have thought the little girl from Pretty Baby would grow up to be so seemingly normal?

Even though it wasn't a conventional childhood, Foster's has never been described as "difficult". Her single Mom was very smart and protected her and her brother. She was never considered a problem child in the industry.

Clint Howard

I don't know if this is common knowledge, but my understanding is that, in order to quit drinking, Daniel Radcliffe started chain smoking instead. I don't know if he's still doing that, I hope not.

Kirsten Dunst seems okay.

Journey Smollett.

Oops, it’s Jurnee. Apologies.

Talk to folks who have worked with Dunst. She may have settled now that’s she’s married to Jesse and w/children, but she was a MESS when a single adult.

Any stories about Jonathan Tucker? He had a great body. Meh face.

I know someone mentioned Mayim Bialik earlier but she's peculiar enough that I'm not sure she can definitively be pronounced "reasonably sane." That op-ed about how she never got assaulted because she dressed modestly and never flirted was a huge red flag, in my opinion. The misinformation about vaccines and that whole "if a baby can't survive a regular birth then it's okay to let it die instead of doing a C-section" thing were even BIGGER red flags. Yikes.

Had to chuckle at the post at r197, where someone with the username "i_call_u_faggot" was complaining about someone else using a racist slur.

Kimmy Gibbler from Full House

Yeah, Kiki was a hot mess for a while. The Fanning girls were the first to come to mind, as well as Freddy Highmore. They all seem well adjusted and very talented.

Being a child star is like being a meth addict. The excessive attention remaps the brain’s wiring. It creates a need for attention and when the attention fades… look out. Look at Drew barrymore. She lights up like a fucking christmas tree when she’s on camera doing that silly talk show. Her addiction is fed.

R228 yeah...maybe that person was gay and making a joke. Hard to believe that a professional set designer would have such a username though.

R215 remember Patty Duke was bipolar (she was undiagnosed at the time) and was in a major manic depressive episode when this Desi Arnaz Jr, Michael Tell situation happened. But even with all this Sean Astin turned out to be an okay guy 👍

Does anyone remember a black child actor from the early 70s who had a career kind of like Mason Reese, where he was in lots of commercials and guest spots on TV shows? I've looked at all sorts of lists of child actors and can't find him, even in lists of black child actors.

Most of these “troubled child star” people would have had these issues, child stardom or not, because they had fucked parents or home lives.

R234, Rodney Alan Rippy?

[quote]Clint Howard

Clint and Ron wrote a lovely book that was a love story to their parents. Clint was honest and chronicled his decades long addiction.

R236 - YES!! Why couldn't I find his name anywhere, I wonder. What ever happened to him!?

Well Rodney Allen seems to have turned out sane.

Here’s adult Rodney . . .

R225, please go on. I'm curious.

McKenna Grace appears to have extremely attentive parents. I see her growing up completely unscathed and having a fabulous adult career. She's had no "awkward" period. Just beautiful and grounded.

Who's McKenna Grace?

A hugely popular child actor. Her resume is very impressive.

[quote] Elizabeth Taylor

The obese addict/alcoholic who married 100 times??

Keke Palmer

The Mowry Siblings

Ethan Embry

Pamelyn Ferdin

R243 Do they have Google where you live?

Regina King.

The Facts of Life gals. All of them seem to be reasonably well-adjusted. Lisa was worrisome but now seems to be over the Uber-Christian era of her life.

Cool

Mindy had distracting lip fillers the last time I saw her.

Thomas Dekker

Dominic Guard

R252 it was fun seeing Thomas play a bitchy gay on Swimming With Sharks.

I thought Rodney Allen Rippy grew up, changed his name to Jonathan Capehart, and now works as an anchor for MSNBC.

I can't recall the particulars, but after reading some interview with Ethan Embry years ago I was left with the impression that a complete meltdown was barrelling toward him like a freight train.

Hayley Mills. I would add Juliet but I don't think she acted as a child.

R256 What has happened to Ethan? I never liked him but was knocked out by his performance opposite Briony Tallis in Brooklyn but haven't heard a peep from him since.

Oh well, as least he has one great performance under his belt which is more most actors can say....I guess.

Danielle Harris

Like I said, I can't recall what it was that gave me the impression. I just remember thinking his fuse was lit and it wasn't a long one...

R259 She may lose her shit when you say you haven't seen any movies she's been in, but other than that, she's sane.

R261 she's just sensitive, JLC.

The two that come to mind are Danielle Brisbois and Trini Alvarado. They both left acting and are leading healthy productive lives. Danielle is a successful songwriter/musician and Trini went to Fordham and is married with child/children. I saw Trini with her family when I took my nephew close to 15 years ago in NY to a performance of the Moscow Cat Circus of all things . I recognized her immediately as she left an impression on me as we are both from NY and come from very similar backgrounds. She looked very normal , nice and happy with her child. I remember being pleased for her.

Lisa Gerritsen

Did someone say the Mowry siblings?

Are we sure they're sane? I thought word was that the boy is a self-hating, closeted, freak and one of the twins makes a lot of anti-black statements and constantly talks about how she is and should be submissive to her white husband???

Since you rarely hear about the ones who grew up perfectly normal and went to have good, normal lives, I'd say they are in the large majority. All we ever hear about are the former kid actors who ended up in some sort of trouble later in life.

Erin 'Tabitha' Murphy

[Quote] and one of the twins makes a lot of anti-black statements and constantly talks about how she is and should be submissive to her white husband???

I hope that's the one who's now divorced 🤞

R268, just looked it up. No, it's not. Tia is the one that everyone likes and she's the one that's now divorced. Tamera is the one everyone hates, and she's the one still married to her white husband.

I'd rather talk about the messes. They're so much more interesting than the goody two shoes types.

I think Chyler Leigh has done well for herself despite being an addict when she was younger. Oh and the whole making out with her brother thing.

Veronica Cartwright.

Joshua Jackson

Asa Butterfield

Taj Mowery

Jonathan Jackson- though he’s always been a super Christian dude, so I’m not sure he counts. The Uber religious are a little messed up.

Jerry O'Connell, the 'sage' of The Talk.

Alyssa Milano

Keke Palmer

Candace Cameron Bure--REASONABLY sane

Mayim Blossom

SMG

Seth Green

Dakota Fanning is a well balanced well adjusted person. She seems very grounded. So does Natalie Portman, who made her professional debut when she was 10 or 12. Christian Bale was a child actor, even before Empire of the Sun.

Ryan Gosling

Birthday girl Petula Clark, and also Julie Andrews.

Justin Berfield who played Reese on Malcolm In The Middle. He was smart enough to get out of acting and is now an executive as Chief Creative Officer of Virgin Produced

R277 are you HIGH?

Keri Russell seems unbelievably normal - and she started on Disney!

Jake Gyllenhaal.

Kimberly McCullough -- who began playing Robin Scorpio on General Hospital at seven years old -- seems to have it together, and has become a very successful TV director over the past decade. Given her somewhat chaotic home-life as a teenager, and the stuff she was exposed to on the GH set, she could have very easily gone off the rails.

R282 Explain your drama

Nicholas Hoult

How come no one around here ever mentions Kirby Furlong, seeing that "Mame" is so popular with DL? It looks like he has a Facebook page where he says he is single (hmmm), has a dog, and hates Trump.

Matt Shakman, whose most prominent role was on Just the 10 of Us.

Got a Yale degree and is a big time director. Friend in the industry says he’s a good guy and knows his stuff. Very well-liked.

I hadn’t thought about him in years. He was cute as JR on JTTOU. Glad he’s not a douche.

Alfonso Ribero.

Ilan Mitchell-Smith seems to have his life in order.

Jesse lee Soffer from the Brady Bunch movies grew up okay. He was on Chicago PD for a long time.

CZJ. Though she's barely entered adulthood, so the jury's still out.

I second Ron Howard. Bill Mumy seems to have come out all right.

R293 He was on a soap before Chicago PD

He was on AS THE WORLD TURNS for several years in the 2000s, until it ended its 50+ year run in 2010.

He received 3 Daytime Emmy nods.

The kid who plays Harrison Abbott in Y&R grows up to be Governor of Arizona 2054.

[quote]Even though it wasn't a conventional childhood, Foster's has never been described as "difficult". Her single Mom was very smart and protected her and her brother.

Jodie had the weight of the world on her shoulders from a very young age. Jodie's mom was unstable and Jodie was responsible for supporting the family and keeping things together. Jodie's dad was a highly intelligent con artist who her Mom divorced before Jodie was born. She did not have an easy, stable childhood.

Is Jodie's mom still alive? Her name was Brandy I think.

R298, And he’ll still have shoulder length hair.

I think she died several years ago R300.

Speaking of Keri Russell, I'm a house painter and went to her house in Brooklyn c. 2002 for a consultation. Her husband at the time was a contractor--decidedly not in showbiz at all--and I met with him and his brother. They were heading a massive renno job on the house. They were both very nice and I was there for a while, but he said "My wife is downstairs" or "She's in another part of the house" so many times without actually introducing us I began to suspect something.

When I got home I googled his name and he came up as Keri's husband. She probably didn't want to be bothered with meeting a "normie" or maybe they thought I'd jack the price up once I knew who his wife was. I did not get the job. It was all oil-based paint which is a high maintenance paint, and at the time my crew was not at that level.

I noticed when she turned up on the scandal sheets back then, and I recall something about her being mysteriously sequestered in an apartment in Brooklyn Heights with her co-star from The Americans, but my interest faded away. I've never seen even five minutes of The Americans, but it's great that she has a successful career and gets good notices from the critics. I think she keeps her private life private by choice, similar to someone like Marisa Tomei. Because let's face it, does anyone on DL even know the first thing about Ms. Tomei?

Reese Witherspoon. I love following her on IG. She seems to have a very happy and healthy family.

R304 aside from the alcoholism.

R304 and a very healthy love of, "Do you know who I am?"

Fellow Aussies, can we nominate Kate Ritchie? I don't like her, and she's only ever been in Home and Away, but she kinda fits the bill.

Bitches, we're slipping. Three letters...

R307 I'll allow it.

Thought of this thread last night and came here to say that Alyssa Milano is the quintessential "child star made good". Surprised to see she only has one mention. She was doing commercials and stage work before Who's The Boss catapulted her to fame at 12 and she hasn't left the public eye since. Say what you will about her politics, but in interviews she seems present and eager to have an actual conversation. She's also been an ambassador for UNICEF for decades. She was also one of the most beautiful women of her generation. She's 50 now, still beautiful, and married with two kids, which I was starting to think would never happen toward the end of her Charmed days. She also seems to have a good sense of humor, and not to take herself too seriously.

Charlie Korsmo is now a law professor.

Peter Ostrum is now a veterinarian.

Danny Lloyd is now a biology professor.

Bug Hall is now a farmer in the Midwest, living under a Catholic "vow of poverty."

Little Ricky Segall from "The Partridge Family".

Rodney Allen Rippy

R310 we disagree!

Neil Patrick Harris

Jodie Foster

Shelley Fabares

Jane Withers

R311 Bug Hall is batshit insane.

R316 how so?

R317 METH

Who names their kid Bug?

R318 that's a shame. I honestly thought Bug had quit acting until i randomly saw him show up on an episode of Nikita.

It's a nickname. But yeah, he's gone HARDCORE Catholic, ie: Divorcees are going to hell.

Bug Hall

Frenchie McGillicutty

I bet the number of child actors and performers that grew up reasonably sane is more than the ones who didn't. But, the ones who didn't get a lot of attention. No one pays attention to "reasonably sane." Reasonably sane is forgettable.

Tina Yothers.

R173 Alexa just admitted that she had weird feelings about sex due to her upbringing. To the point that her husband Carlos PenaVega considered "praying to God" to remove his desire for sex. Now Alexa compares her sex life to going to gym.

Molly Ringwald managed well. And she's now writing about working with Godard in the New Yorker.

Selena Gomez has been very open about her serious medical issues, both physical and mental, although I wouldn’t say either are linked to her upbringing or career choice. I really like her and wish her well.

Robby Benson seems very normal, and productive, and bonus, still hot.

Mara Wilson.

Claire Danes.

Natalie Portman.

Jane Withers. She had a more interesting life than I was aware of.

Very stable parents. Huge Fox child star in the 1930s. Tons of money, well-invested.

She developed into a surprisingly good belting singing voice and introduced the wistful Styne-Cahn ballad "I Guess I'll Hang My Tears Out To Dry" in a Broadway-bound revue directed by Busby Berkeley that never made it in.

Lots of charitable work.

Made a nice living as Josephine the Plumber in the '60s and '70s and did voice work for Disney in the 1990s.

No, OP.

Of course not.

ScarJo has had a great career, but I wouldn’t call her sane. It speaks volumes that she’s relatively young and already on her 3rd marriage.

Kyle Richards is a serious surviver. Of her mother. Of her sisters struggles. I really like and respect how she is as a mother and wife and human.

Lindsay Lohan 🤣

Lee H. Montgomery. A kind of chubby kid who was a total stud in his early 20's. I think he is in real estate now, and could care less about acting. Supposedly involved with Doug Barr at some point.