Submitted by Lili_Danube t3_zy6y5m in television
Willie Aames, Adam Rich and Susan Richardson didn't really turn out well in the long run after the show ended. Poor Lani O'Grady died.
It made me think of other child stars who died tragically or had no luck like Dana Plato, Gary Coleman, Jamie from SMALL WONDER, Fred Savage...etc.
The Full House kids turned out okay though Candace Cameron grew up to be a homophobe.
Didn’t he get cancelled?
Yes. Something about constantly coming into onto women on set.
I am not sure if this is a typo or not.
Farking autocorrect.
Apparently he’s been gross for a long time now. There were rumors coming out of that show he did with Rob Lowe, The Grinder.
Which is really disappointing. I love The Grinder
It was oddly compelling
The Facts of Life is a rare situation. The girls on that show turned out fine. Mindy Cohn always credited to having stable families at home that helped them all stay on track. It's also one of the very few female cast shows where they all got along. The actresses even got together for a Christmas movie Kim Fields did a couple of years ago. They all speak very highly of each other when they do interviews. It is possible for children to be stars and turn out great.
Mrs Garrett was always the bad one.
I remember when Geri Jewell came out. She wasn't even a regular but the FACT OF LIFE stars rallied up for her.
I hope that’s just a joke about Mrs. G. I’d be sad to find out Charlotte Rae was trouble.
She was a massive drinker. When George Clooney first got to LA he had a job driving for his aunt Rosemary. She would go drinking with Charlotte Rae and George would have to drive them home. One time he pulled over for them and Charlotte stepped one leg out of the car. peed like a racehorse, and pulled her leg back in.
Wonder if Mrs Garrett got to taste Clooney's goodies when he was a young stud?
Girls! Girls!! Girls!!! ~ Mrs. Garret's Bosoms
The Facts of Life skits on The Big Gay Sketch show cracked me up with that line alone.
Were any of the girls in Facts of life actually kids? They all seemed grown up to me when I was watching it as a kid in the 80sz
>Were any of the girls in Facts of life actually kids? They all seemed grown up to me when I was watching it as a kid in the 80sz
Yes, they were. Lisa Whelchel was 16 that first season. Nancy McKeon was 14 when she started the show. Mindy Cohn was 13 when she started. Kim was 10. They grew up on the show. Mindy points out a lot how she gets to see her puberty years on TV. The Facts of Life was NBC's first longest running sitcom of the 80's. It lasted 9 years.
I think the girls were also all there when Nancy was on. Dwts
>I think the girls were also all there when Nancy was on. Dwts
The girls were also supportive of Lisa when she did Survivor years ago. Stupid Penner for turning the jury against her just because she was a childhood actress. Lisa deserved to win that season. She started out slow but by the end she was ruling that game. Denise road Malcom's coattails doing nothing to win.
That’s right I had forgotten she was on!
Nancy McKeon was on DWTS?
Yeah, I forget which season she was on….maybe 25 or 26? She was with Val chemerkovskiy.
IIRC Mindy Cohn wanted nothing to do with celebrity life. She was added to the show as an afterthought.
Ralph Macchio, although an added character in later seasons, had a nice career.
Ralph Macchio is like 30 when he played a teenager
He born in 1961, the show ended in 1981. At most he was 20.
Ok 20. He was not a child star.
He was about 18 playing 15.
He was not a child star. He was a legal adult.
As was Willie Aimes, who OP explicitly mentioned in the headline.
Willie Aimes, next to Adam Rich, the youngest of the original cast, was only one year younger than Ralph Macchio when both started on the show.
Billy Zabka, too.
Did he? It felt like he was pretty much a has been until COBRA KAI happened. He spent the 80s playing teen bullies even though Johnny was always misunderstood.
Didn’t one of the full house girls get hooked on crack for awhile?
Not many child stars end up making it past adulthood in their careers
Jodie Sweetin had a bad drug addiction but she seems to be doing really well now.
She had a rough few years. Jodi stensen (sp) is now sober and living a good life
One of the twins from Everybody Loves Raymond committed suicide; the little girl from Family affair died of a drug overdose; plus all the others named. Really sad.
Jodie Sweetin was addicted to meth while married to a cop….
To be fair if I married a cop I’d probably need meth to cope with it.
The other girls all turned out well though. Sure, the Olsen twins became mannequins sometime in the early aughts, but they’re incredibly wealthy.
Candice Cameron is still an actor, also a very active parent.
Candice ia also a well-reputed homophobe... so, she's got that going for her.
And apparently the sibling of Kirk Cameron.
Another well-known homophobe.
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Jesus is dead. He's not loving anyone. FACTS.
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She promotes a parenting ideal that advises parents to spank infants as young as six months.
I mean, I won’t defend that, but on a list of child actors screwing up, that’s pretty low down there.
WHAT? Who spanks a six month?
Assholes who shouldn't have children?
And scumbag.
What do you mean? Willie Aames became BIBLEMAN!! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c_OGgx5Zr3s
>Willie Aames became BIBLEMAN!!
Worst superhero ever
Dont you mean best? He was batman with lightsabers. Mans literally had God and anime on his side.
Mark Hamill played David in the pilot.
Then he got some movie role and couldn’t commit to the tv show….
Oof he could’ve had a steady job for 5 years if he just stuck with the show.
/s
It’s weirder than that. He tried to get out of the show but they would not let him. Then he had a bad motorcycle accident that forced a recast.
I thought his motorcycle accident was after the first Star Wars movie.
I was on an episode of 8 is Enough when I was a kid. I didn't turn out that great either!! 😁
Weird to link O'Grady death to 9/11, when she died like two weeks after in California of a drug overdose.
Did OP edit their post? There's nothing there about 9/11.
Lol, yes, it was originally, "Lani O'Grady died after 9/11". It's fine the OP edited, it was already tragic she died.
Right? What’s the purpose of that?
Curb Your Enthusiasm set the standard here. Link confirmed.
Not sure Fred Savage belongs anywhere near this list. Dude has been acting and directing constantly since the Wonder Years. Literally never out of work.
OP said he “died tragically or had no luck”.
Fair. He had plenty of work until late, and it seems that his issue is he's more of a harassing jerk than an addict.
All this is in the last few years. Fred Savage doesn’t belong on this list. He’s just and everyday POS.
He’s been creepy for years and years.
I thought of that, but it's more of a comedown from being all over the TV and streaming comedy landscape steadily since he was a child. Not the same as an early flame out or spiral into obscurity like the others listed.
He gets a lot of jobs but has very little work.
Laurie Walters Slade, is my neighbor in our retirement park.she played eldest daughter Joanie...apparently she retired from hollywood in 1993...she is still active in local plays and productions.
Mark Hamill did very well for himself.
In retrospect, viewers came to learn that, in fact, eight was simply too many.
Who could've seen that coming?
Lani O'Grady died 9/25/2001 in California from an overdose.
The little kid on Family Ties had many brushes with the law.
Lani O’Grady was the younger sister of Don Grady from My Three Sons.
Cousin Oliver. 😂
Fred Savage was doing fine until recently with the Wonder Years reboot. I remember seeing his name as director for Its Always Sunny In Philadelphia around the early seasons and was like wtf.
Anissa Jones. Buffy from Family Affair. The original.
The chick from Buffy the Vampire Slayer?
No, Family Affair from the 1960’s.
While Fred Savage didn’t have a superstar career post childhood he still is involved with producing and directing shows and movies. Some of the funniest Always Sunny episodes were directed by him
Buckwheat ? Or was it another one, like Alfalfa ?
Carl "Alfalfa" Switzer was shot to death because of a dispute over a $50 debt at the age of 31.
It has to be so difficult in general to turn out fine after being a minor celebrity at that age. You’d need a good, stable support system, which these kids rarely have.
Eight Is Enough was my favorite show as a child and you're right the cast really did not go on to fame and fortune but latter series regular Macchio made quite a name for himself, I'd say.
Fred Savage I would argue had a pretty nice adult TV career. he's reportedly worth around $30 million so I'd say he's done all right. He's kind of in the world of meme fringe even if he's not in a bunch of blockbuster stuff. His adult career seems to be consistent
Fred Savage? He’s a TV director. Seems like he’s doing pretty well.
Fred Savage has directed alot and works behind the camera. I don't want to do him dirty on this list.
Screech, RIP.
It still shocks me he died. It's pretty sad.
Fred Savage isn't dead, he's just a piece of shit.
Eta- saw it also says or much luck which I wouldn't necessarily say but I wouldn't say he's on anyone radar.
Congrats on all your success, OP.
Also on not being fat and accepting of everyone as they are.
I couldn't remember his name.
Eight is enough was awful
Fred Savage is pretty well off comparatively
Judith Barsi she is well known as the voice of Ducky from The Land Before Time movies. She was brutally murdered.
This is why I wouldn’t encourage parents to put their kids into acting. I was a child actor myself and was a good friend to someone mentioned on your list (OP). Kids are treated weirdly in the industry (sometimes badly, sometimes harmfully positively, e.g., inflating their egos and forcing them into early adulthood) and I left as a teen after hearing one of my friends called a “nobody” at a party because he was t a big name actor. It grossed me out. People aren’t somebodies or nobodies. Anyway: it’s too much for almost any kid to handle, most of them get into drugs very young. I’m lucky i got out as safely as I did.
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I always wanted hair like Nicholas on Eight Is Enough.
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mikeymiggz t1_j245cui wrote
Fred Savage is more of a director now