Where Are All the Good Kids?

It's always a pleasure to interview child actors and their parents for our annual Spotlight on Young Performers. Most of the child actors we meet are bright and courteous, and the parents work hard to provide the best for their children.

It's such a contrast to the stereotypical child-stars-gone-wrong stories we hear about almost every day. The tabloid travails of Britney and Jamie Lynn Spears, Lindsay Lohan, the Olsen twins, Brad Renfro, Mischa Barton, Gary Coleman, Danny Bonaduce, et al., feed the impression that all child actors are destined for lives of addiction, depression, and even early death.

The truth is that most child actors grow up just fine -- even happy and successful. Of course, the entertainment industry is full of stars and behind-the-scenes pros who began as child actors: Jodie Foster, Natalie Portman, Brooke Shields, Ron Howard, Leonardo DiCaprio, Christian Bale, Reese Witherspoon, Jennifer Connelly, and Christopher Walken to name a few. There's also Peter Billingsley (Ralphie from A Christmas Story), executive producer of the upcoming superhero flick Iron Man and other films, and writer-director Sarah Polley (The Sweet Hereafter), who was nominated for a best adapted screenplay Oscar this year for Away From Her.

And what of those who've gone on to success in fields beyond show business? Shirley Temple Black -- arguably the most popular child star of all time -- has served as a delegate to the United Nations, was ambassador to Czechoslovakia and Ghana, and was the first female U.S. chief of protocol. California state Sen. Sheila Kuehl (D-Los Angeles) -- an outspoken advocate for the civil rights of children, women, and gays and lesbians -- was once best known as Zelda Gilroy on The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis. And let's not forget Little House on the Prairie's Melissa Gilbert, former national president of the Screen Actors Guild.

Many child stars go directly from early stardom into classrooms at Yale (Foster, Claire Danes, Kellie Martin), Harvard (Kuehl, Portman), Princeton (Shields), Columbia (Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Anna Paquin, Julia Stiles), and Stanford (Connelly, Picket Fences' Justin Shenkarow).

Danica McKellar, best known as girl-next-door Winnie Cooper on The Wonder Years, not only graduated from UCLA with a degree in mathematics but also co-authored a paper proving an original math theorem (the Chayes-McKellar-Winn theorem). Dubbed a  math "superstar" by The New York Times, she penned Math Doesn't Suck, a best-selling nonfiction book that encourages girls to cultivate an interest in mathematics. Blossom's Mayim Bialik is also a UCLA alumna with a doctorate in neuroscience.

McKellar's preteen Wonder Years love interest, Fred Savage, graduated from Stanford, as did his brother, Boy Meets World's Ben Savage. Fred has since become an in-demand TV director; Ben interned in the office of Sen. Arlen Specter (R-Pa.). All four actors returned to acting after achieving in academia. McKellar had a recurring role on The West Wing, Bialik has appeared on shows such as Curb Your Enthusiasm, Fred Savage has voiced animated characters in Kim Possible and Justice League, and Ben Savage won a best actor Ovation Award for his performance in Unexpected Tenderness.

An early acting career won't guarantee a child an Ivy League education any more than it will doom him or her to long stays in rehab. Most former child actors are living quiet, "normal" lives as parents and professionals all over the country. We just don't hear about them, because such tales don't sell tabloids. 

Fortunately, two child-performer advocacy groups will recognize the "good" kids at upcoming awards ceremonies. The Young Artist Foundation will present awards to young performers in film and television at its 29th annual Young Artist Awards March 30 at the Sportsmen's Lodge in Sherman Oaks, Calif.

And the BizParentz Foundation will celebrate young actors' achievements at its annual Child Actor Recognition Event (CARE), scheduled for April 13 at Universal Studios Hollywood's Globe Theatre. The organization will honor 150 kids who have not only proven themselves as actors but have also maintained a 3.0 grade point average and done community service.

We're glad to see talented, responsible kids and their parents get the red-carpet treatment they deserve. If only it happened more often!

For more information about the Young Artist Awards, visit www.youngartistawards.org. For more information about CARE, visit www.bizparentz.org.

-- Back Stage Editorial Department

Comments

[Douglas Eby]

A number of highly talented young actors recognize the value of choosing to take a break, and develop further as a person. Tina Majorino has commented, "Growing up in general is difficult for everyone. Ordinarily during the stage of your life when you're going through your adolescence and you're completely awkward and uncomfortable, the rest of the world isn't watching you with bated breath. It's different when you're an actor and you choose to work your way through that period because it only makes it worse. Taking 5 years off was the best decision I've made so far, for myself and for my career." [From the Acting: teen/young adult page on my site.]