Terence E. Kilburn[1] (born 25 November 1926), known for his acting work prior to 1953 as Terry Kilburn, is an English-American actor. Born in London, he moved to Hollywood in the U.S. at the age of 10, and is best known for his roles as a child actor, in films such as A Christmas Carol (1938) and Goodbye, Mr. Chips (1939) in the late 1930s and the early 1940s.
Contents
1 Early life
2 Hollywood career
3 Life after Hollywood
4 Personal life
5 Filmography
6 See also
7 References
8 External links
Early life
Kilburn was born in West Ham, Essex, in Greater London[2] in 1926, to Tom and Alice Kilburn, working-class parents.[3] He did some unpaid acting as a young child, and an agent encouraged him to go to Hollywood. Kilburn and his mother immigrated to the U.S. in 1937, and his father arrived the following year. A talent scout for MGM discovered him rehearsing for Eddie Cantor's radio show, and he was cast in the British-set film Lord Jeff (1938).[4]
Hollywood career
Known for his innocent, dreamy, doe-eyed look, Kilburn achieved fame at the age of 11 portraying Tiny Tim in the 1938 Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer film version of A Christmas Carol, and also as four generations of the Colley family in Goodbye, Mr. Chips (1939). He also played leading roles in two films which starred Freddie Bartholomew: Lord Jeff (1938) and Swiss Family Robinson (1940). He was featured in The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (1939) with Basil Rathbone.
In addition to Lord Jeff (1938), Kilburn worked alongside Mickey Rooney in Andy Hardy Gets Spring Fever (1939), A Yank at Eton (1942), and National Velvet (1944). In 1946 he was in Black Beauty. In his early 20s, in 1947 and 1948, he was in four back-to-back Bulldog Drummond films, as Seymour, a reporter; and in 1950 he had small roles in two seagoing films.
After high school, Kilburn concentrated on stage work, and studied drama at UCLA.[5] He made his Broadway debut, credited as Terrance Kilburn, as Eugene Marchbanks in a 1952 revival of George Bernard Shaw's Candida.[5][6][7] He thereafter remained committed to live performances, as both actor and director.[5]
After 1952 he was credited on screen as Terence Kilburn. His final feature film role was a small part in Lolita (1962). Between 1951 and 1969, he was also in nearly a dozen teleplays, television movies, and television series episodes.
Life after Hollywood
From 1970–1994, Kilburn was artistic director of Oakland University's Meadow Brook Theatre in Rochester, Michigan.[8][9] Meadow Brook Theatre is Michigan's only LORT theatre. It presents classic plays, comedies and musicals, and is known for its annual production of Dickens' A Christmas Carol, adapted by Kilburn's partner, Charles Nolte.[10]
Personal life
Kilburn resides in Minneapolis. His partner of over 50 years, actor Charles Nolte, died in January 2010.[11]
Filmography
Year Title Role Notes
1934 No Greater Glory Paul Street Boy Film debut
1938 Lord Jeff Albert Baker
A Christmas Carol Tiny Tim
Sweethearts Brother
1939 The Great Man Votes Student
Goodbye, Mr. Chips
John Colley
Peter Colley I, II, and III
Andy Hardy Gets Spring Fever 'Stickin' Plaster
They Shall Have Music Limey
The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes Billy
1940 Swiss Family Robinson Ernest Robinson
1941 Mercy Island Wiccy
1942 A Yank at Eton Hilspeth Uncredited
1944 National Velvet Ted
1946 Black Beauty Joe
1947 Song of Scheherazade Midshipman Lorin
Bulldog Drummond at Bay Seymour
Bulldog Drummond Strikes Back Seymour
1948 The Challenge Seymour
13 Lead Soldiers Seymour
1950 Tyrant of the Sea Dick Savage
Fortunes of Captain Blood Kenny Jensen
1951 Hill Number One: A Story of Faith and Inspiration Stephen Teleplay, Family Theatre
Only the Valiant Trooper Saxton
1953 Slater's Dream Samuel Slater Teleplay, Cavalcade of America
Slaves of Babylon King Cyrus
1954 King Richard II Harry Percy TV movie
Night Must Fall Dan Ponds Theater
You Touched Me! Kraft Theatre
1956 The Honor Code Cadet Eddie Garley Teleplay, West Point
Miss Mabel Peter Lux Video Theatre
1957 The New Adventures of Martin Kane Bill Wright TV series, episode "The Railroad Story"
The Long Christmas Dinner Sam TV adaptation of play
1958 Fiend Without a Face Capt. Al Chester
The New Adventures of Charlie Chan Col. Arthur Ross TV series, episode "Safe Deposit"
1962 Lolita Man Final film
1969 Get Smart Shirtsinger TV series, episode "Hurray for Hollywood"
Terry Kilburn, actor, director, artistic director, recently talked at length with this Lavender writer about his early life, describing in cinematic detail how the only child of working class parents, Tom and Alice Kilburn, came to star in Hollywood at MGM delivering such coveted film lines as, “God bless us, every one,” and “Goodbye, Mr. Chips.” Born November 25, 1926 in London, he appeared in over 25 films, including, along with those mentioned here in detail, National Velvet (1944, with Liz Taylor), and Only the Valiant (1951, with Gregory Peck). His extensive stage work will appear in part two of this interview.
My father was a bus conductor, taking tickets on those big double-deck buses. He’d run up and down the stairs making jokes and entertaining– sometimes he’d have the whole bus laughing. I think he would liked to have gone on the stage, he was a natural entertainer.
My mother was a housewife, and in the summertime used to run a boarding house at Clackton-on-Sea, where working-class people went for their week’s holiday. She was in the kitchen and making the beds and setting tables from morning to night. My father stayed up in London and would come down on the weekends in a little baby Austin car about the size of this dining table. I had a lot of time to myself.
There was an amusement pier where a man called Clown Bertram ran a little theater. Children would come up on the stage and do a little something, then the one who got the most applause would get a prize. I was much too shy to do that although I loved watching the show.
One time, my mother had some friends who left their two children for her to take care of. The little girl sang a song and did a dance on Clown Bertram’s stage, and she won the first prize. The next day, I got over my shyness enough to go up and I sang a song. I was a big flop, but it broke the ice. I was about seven.
Without realizing it, little Terry had already been learning his craft.
My parents used to take me with them to the movies. Movies then were an incredible source of entertainment for poor and working class people. For a sixpence, or a shilling, you could see the main feature and a companion feature, a newsreel, a short subject, a cartoon. Most theaters still had a couple of stage acts from vaudeville, and on top of all that, up from the orchestra pit would come an organ, all lit up, and you’d have a community sing.
I started impersonating these people that I saw on the screen, Jean Harlow, Greta Garbo, Mae West, Zazu Pitts, Charles Laughton, and Ronald Colman. Sometimes, I’d do impersonations for relatives spontaneously, but usually, my shyness overcame me and I couldn’t. But when this girl won the first prize, that got my competitive spirit up. The second time, I went up and did some impersonations and won hands down. It was like an electric light going on over my head. Many actors will tell you of this experience, when they first realize that they have an ability to bring out that response from an audience. From then on, I was on that stage every day.
Terry neglected to tell his parents that Clown Bertram had added him, unpaid, to the regular show. Some guests finally enlightened his astonished mother.
My father was very interested, and when we got back to London he submitted me for amateur night competitions. I worked up a little act, doing my impersonations and I came on singing, “OK Toots,” an Eddie Cantor song. That’s kind of interesting because later on Eddie Cantor played an important part in my life, and I did a little tap dance that I taught myself, having seen Fred Astaire.
The first prize was something like ten pounds, while my father–this was in the Depression–was making two pounds a week. We started going around the circuit, to all these huge old variety houses that seated two thousand people. My big ending was a scene from David Copperfield, where Mr. Murdstone, the wicked stepfather, beats David. I did both parts, and ended sobbing and having hysterics on the floor as David, then standing up with a big smile and bowing.
Terry-Kilburn-Headshot
Through what we today call “networking,” one thing led to another.
Into our lives came Freddie Newton. He was a Dickensian character, a little Cockney who wore checked suits and sharp hats. He had a candy store and was a bookmaker. He helped polish up my act and took me up to the West End of London to meet an actor, Hugh Wakefield. I did my act and Wakefield commented, “I don’t quite know what I just saw, but whatever it is I think he should meet my agent.’
This turned out to be a woman who went only by “Connie,” Ralph Richardson’s agent, who told his parents, “You’ve got to get him to Hollywood.” She then introduced them to a visiting Hollywood lawyer, Roger Marchetti.
Marchetti said, “If you come to Hollywood, you can count on me. I will do everything I can to see that you get auditioned.” Well, when I heard that! Can you think of a thing in your own childhood, the thing that just meant more to you than anything and obsessed your mind? I used to sit up in bed with a globe and spin it and make it stop on the United States.
I think none of this would have happened if it hadn’t been this particular time during the Depression. People had so little to lose. There was a sense of camaraderie and an atmosphere of, “Well, let’s try it!”
There was a great resistance by the U.S. Consulate in London to giving the whole family visas. In the end, after much finagling, Tom stayed behind while Alice and Terry traveled to the United States.
My mother was an amazing combination of guts and timidity. She would take chances that other women of her generation and education would never have dreamed of doing, but she was frightened to death of dogs and the ocean. She’d never been out of London, let alone England, so she would only go on the Queen Mary. We booked the cheapest third-class passage.
Finally, we arrived in Los Angeles. Now this is in April-May of 1937. In those days, the station in downtown Los Angeles was in Chinatown and it was just awful, an old shack that was falling apart. All of our dreams of Hollywood, and out of this glamorous vision we were seeing this terrible slum. And there, in bright, blooming sunshine, was Mr. Marchetti with a huge bunch of red roses, standing next to this immense Packard convertible and chauffeur. It was a surreal picture.
They had expected to stay with Marchetti and his family but were quickly disabused of that idea. He was very much a bachelor, as well as a handsomely paid celebrity divorce lawyer, e.g., (Myrtle) Hardy vs. (Oliver) Hardy.
He didn’t want some English lady and her little boy in his house, so we ended up in a bungalow court, with Murphy beds that pulled out of the wall. We started on the rounds, seeing producers and so forth, and Mr. Marchetti was good to his word. He certainly did his best, but the problem was me. The excitement of performing on stage, or for somebody in his dressing room, seemed to stimulate me and make me a good performer. Now, to have to go into these big offices with people sitting in big swivel chairs smoking cigars–it was too much for a little boy to cope with. And my personality, everything that had made people say “Yes! He’s got something!” just disappeared.
Even more so when they made screen tests. If Marilyn Monroe hadn’t ever gotten in front of a camera, she would have been working in a beauty parlor. She came to life in front of the camera. It was just the opposite for me. The tests were usually shot in the corner of a sound stage where no movie was being filmed at the time, huge, ghostly sound stages about the size of an airplane hangar. It was overwhelming.
A year went by, and the money had run out. Mr. Marchetti said we could move into an apartment over his garage. My mother agreed. She didn’t know what else to do. So we moved, not into his Florentine mansion, but into the garage apartment. He had two Doberman pinscher dogs. My mother was terrified of them, and the apartment was infested with mice.
The whole venture was coming to a bad end. My mother finally told me, “We have to go back, we can’t just stay here forever.” At that very time, my mother got a letter from my father: “I’m getting a ship and I’m coming to Canada, and I’m going to come through the border because I know people do it all the time. I’m on my way! By the time you get this, I be on the Atlantic.”
Christmas-Carol-1938
And then, the cavalry came riding.
Mr. Marchetti had pretty much given up, but his assistant took pity on us: “One thing we haven’t tried is radio. Let me see what I can do about getting an audition.” Eddie Cantor’s business manager said, “I think Eddie would love him.” I auditioned, and he did!
Cantor’s popular radio program also showcased stars and young actors like Deanna Durbin and Bobby Breen.
We were in rehearsal when a talent scout for MGM showed up. They were about to make a movie called Lord Jeff with Freddie Bartholomew and Mickey Rooney, based on the true story of those famous English orphanages, Doctor Bernardo’s Homes, where they trained young boys to go into the Royal Navy. There was a part for a little Lancashire boy, Albert Baker. The scout asked, “Can you do a Lancashire accent?” I said, “Aye I can, I can do it.” I’d learned “‘hae t’ talk like that,” sort of through my nose. “By goom, that’s champion!” “Oh my God!,” he said. “Sam Wood will just be thrilled.”
Even at that age, an actor will see a part and say, “Oh, that is my part.” Often they’re wrong, but sometimes they’re right, like Vivien Leigh thinking she was Scarlett. So I went to see director Sam Wood, and I did a thing for him, and he said, “The accent’s great, but I really wanted Alfalfa for this part.” Alfalfa could no more do that accent than fly, so that was out. But he wanted a kid like him. I was kind of a pretty little boy, so he said, “I’m sorry, but no.”
Fortunately, Terry’s mother had become friends with Lillian Rosine, MGM’s makeup specialist.
When I came back in tears Lillian said, “Oh, for God’s sake! What does Sam Wood think I’m here for? And she put me in her makeup chair, greased down my hair with Vaseline, blacked out one of my front teeth, put freckles on my face. I’d been crying, so I already looked horrible. Then she took me back and dragged me in and said, “There now, does he look ugly enough for you?” Sam Wood laughed and said, OK.”
One day while we were shooting, somebody came and said, “You’re wanted outside.” So I went out from the dark sound stage into the bright sunshine, and standing there was my father. I just ran and leaped into his arms, and we laughed and cried and it was incredible. Lord Jeff was quite a success. I got fabulous reviews that said, “The busman’s son from London steals the show.” It was thrilling. A dream come true–and my father was there, loving every minute of it.
I also made A Christmas Carol in ’38, and played Tiny Tim. I’ll always remember going onto the set at the MGM lot the first day. I think it was London 1830, and the snow was coming down–they were actually Kellogg’s cornflakes, bleached or something, but it was so beautiful. Oh, you can imagine that for a kid who loved acting and being in fantasy, it was extraordinary.
MrChips-Goodbye
He attended school at MGM, encountering Lana Turner, Kathryn Grayson, Anne Baxter–and, briefly, Judy Garland.
I sat next to Judy Garland for one day and just fell in love with her. She found my English accent absolutely hilarious. She had this wonderful laugh. And she had a charm bracelet with a tiny gold-framed picture of Clark Gable, because that song had made her a big success: “Dear Mr. Gable.”
He appeared in Sweethearts next, with Jeanette McDonald and Nelson Eddy, and was scheduled to be in a Topper film, when his part was cut.
That didn’t bother me because by this time, just before Christmas, 1938, I was cast in Goodbye Mr. Chips, and was being sent back to England. Robert Donat would not come to this country for tax reasons. Greer Garson had been cast as the wife; she was a total unknown, had never made a movie in Hollywood. We went back on the Normandie. Greer Garson was on the ship, but she was up in first class.
“Chips” was professor Charles Edward Chipping whose career at Brookfield School progresses from young, stuffy classics prof, to beloved “Mr. Chips,” to Head of Brookfield during the Great War. Terry played four generations of Colley boys, and, as the youngest, Peter Colley III, says his iconic line to the elderly Chips who passes in his sleep recalling “his boys.” With Robert Donat, Greer Garson, John Mills, Paul Heinreid, from James Hilton’s novel.
Donat was wonderful, fascinating. I was old enough to see and respect what he was doing. Movie sets are notorious for fooling around. If it’s not much of a movie it doesn’t matter, but Donat realized this was the part of a lifetime, and he was very serous. When he got into playing the old Chips, he stayed in character the whole time, even between shots.
I tried to make each one of the four boys somewhat different, but I could only do as much as the scene allowed. Of course, I got to say, “Goodbye, Mr. Chips,” in this huge, wonderful close-up. Actors would give their souls for a close-up like that.
About that final shot: I wasn’t even supposed to be there since it was against the law for children to work that late. They just looked the other way, and it was almost midnight when I had that close-up.
Actors, like their characters, exist at the whim of chance and happenstance. For instance: What if Terry had known how to swim? What if Mickey Rooney had been taller?
There was a sequence in Lord Jeff where they wanted me to fall in the water. I couldn’t swim. I was terrified, even though they put a life jacket under my little sailor suit. I finally got up enough nerve, but only by looking first and jumping. That wasn’t what they wanted. I was so humiliated, so ashamed that I had disappointed Mr. Wood that my parents got me into swimming. I used to swim all the time, and I think that probably caused me to grow.
When I came back to Hollywood after making Chips, I was scheduled to be in a number of pictures with Mickey Rooney, playing his sidekick. But suddenly, instead of being twelve and looking ten, I was now twelve looking fourteen, and was as tall or taller than Mickey. My option was not taken up, and that began the next period of my life.
Charley's Aunt (Dec 22, 1953 - Jan 04, 1954)
Performer: Terrance Kilburn [Charles Wykeham]
PlayComedyFarceRevival
Sherlock Holmes (Oct 30, 1953 - Oct 31, 1953)
Performer: Terrance Kilburn [Walker]
PlayRevival
The Teahouse of the August Moon (Oct 15, 1953 - Mar 24, 1956)
Starring: Terrance Kilburn
Sakini - Replacement (Nov 21, 1955 - Jan 21, 1956)
Understudy: Terrance Kilburn
Sakini - Replacement
PlayComedyOriginal
Candida (Apr 22, 1952 - May 17, 1952)
Performer: Terrance Kilburn [Eugene Marchbanks]
PlayComedyRevival
A few thoughts while wondering when the Christmas 2020 spirit will take hold:
•A couple of weeks ago I wrote about the New York Times’ list of “The 25 Greatest Actors of the 21st Century (So Far)” with an eye to the inevitable reader complaints about questionable inclusions (looking at you, Keanu Reeves) and scandalous omissions (people just love Meryl Streep, I guess). Reaction was so intense, NYT reporter Sarah Bahr published a follow-up Q&A with critics A.O. Scott and Manohla Dargis in which they further explained the reasoning behind their choices. Why no Streep? Because her memorable performances have been counterbalanced by hacky ones, like the screechy Southern mother in “August: Osage County.” My favorite nugget: In an earlier version of the list, Scott included Will Ferrell, who in the early to mid-2000s was the comic force in the movies. Unfortunately, Ferrell squandered all that audience goodwill on the likes of “Holmes & Watson,” whose most interesting feature was the ampersand in the title.
•Flipping around the channels on Saturday I landed on the 1938 version of “A Christmas Carol” airing on TCM. As I watched the bustling London street scene, I assumed everyone doing all that bustling is now dead, including poor crutch-wielding Tiny Tim. But no. Tim lives! Former child actor Terry Kilburn is 94 years old and resides in Minneapolis, according to his IMDB page. He hasn’t acted since making a guest appearance on “Get Smart” in 1969, but spent many years as artistic director of Oakland University’s Meadow Brook Theatre in Rochester, Michigan. IMDB notes: “Terry Kilburn delivered two of the most famous lines in literary/film history. ‘God bless us everyone’ in ‘A Christmas Carol’ (1938) and ‘Goodbye, Mr. Chips’ in ‘Goodbye, Mr. Chips’ (1939).” Nice to know. And if you’re watching “It’s a Wonderful Life” sometime in the next couple of weeks (and why wouldn’t you be), you’ll be heartened to learn that three of the four actors playing the Bailey children are still alive. Yes, including Karolyn Grimes who played Zuzu.
•A decade after it aired, I’ve finally caught up with the comic series “Party Down” on Hulu. The saga of struggling Los Angeles actors working dead-end catering jobs while pursuing entertainment careers is funny, irreverent, and featured some terrific actors on the rise: Adam Scott, Lizzy Caplan, Ryan Hansen, Martin Starr and Ken Marino as the deluded catering chief who dreams of owning a restaurant that specializes in soups. My favorite guest actor is J.K. Simmons as a Hollywood producer whose creative use of profanity is like hearing a new and thrilling language for the first time. I understand the words he’s using, but the wondrous and vivid way he strings them together makes me feel funny inside.
•Last year, I wrote about seeing Mira Sorvino in a dreadful holiday movie and doing the typical Hallmark Double Take: Mira Sorvino in Hallmark movie? Why? Of course, her trajectory could have been much different if she hadn’t been blacklisted by Harvey Weinstein after she rejected his sexual advances as a young woman. The career sabotage he orchestrated was crippling, even for an Oscar-winning actress (“Mighty Aphrodite”). I thought of Sorvino after seeing an ad for the Hallmark movie “Love, Lights, Hannukah!” which stars Mia Kirshner. In 1994 at the age of 19, Kirshner made a splash in the psychological thriller “Exotica,” and was predicted as a star of the future. But that same year she rebuffed Weinstein (Kirshner has written about this), leading some to speculate he may have worked to derail her as well. Both actresses appear to be working steadily. And Weinstein sits in jail. Happy Karma-days.
The term child actor or child actress is generally applied to a child acting on stage or in motion pictures or television, but also to an adult who began their acting career as a child. To avoid confusion, the latter is also called a former child actor. Closely associated is teenage actor or teen actor, an actor who reached popularity as a teenager.
Many child actors find themselves struggling to adapt as they become adults, mainly due to typecasting. Macaulay Culkin and Lindsay Lohan are two particular famous child actors who eventually experienced much difficulty with the fame they acquired at a young age. Many child actors also become successful adult actors as well, a prime example of this being Jodie Foster, who was 12 years old in the film Taxi Driver in 1976 and went on to become an adult star with variety of films including The Silence of the Lambs (1991).
Contents
1 Regulation
1.1 California
1.2 United Kingdom
2 Issues
2.1 Ownership of earnings
2.2 Competitive pressure
3 Post-childhood success
3.1 Other careers
4 See also
5 References
6 External links
Regulation
In the United States, the activities of child actors are regulated by the governing labor union, if any, and state laws. Some projects film in remote locations specifically to evade regulations intended to protect the child. Longer work hours or risky stunts prohibited by California, for example, might be permitted to a project filming in British Columbia. US federal law "specifically exempted minors working in the Entertainment Business from all provisions of the Child Labor Laws." Any regulation of child actors is governed by disparate state laws.
California
Due to the large presence of the entertainment industry in Hollywood, the state of California has some of the most explicit laws protecting child actors. Being a minor, a child actor must secure an entertainment work permit before accepting any paid performing work. Compulsory education laws mandate that the education of the child actor not be disrupted while the child is working, whether the child actor is enrolled in public school, private school or even home school. The child does their schoolwork under the supervision of a studio teacher while on the set.
United Kingdom
In the United Kingdom, a child actor is defined as someone under school leaving age.[1] Before a child can work, they require a performance license from their Local Education Authority as well as a licensed chaperone; a parent can only chaperone their own child, if they are a licensed chaperone, and a chaperone's duties include acting in loco parentis and record arrival and departure time from the work place, the time a child is working, their breaks and the amount of tutoring.[1][2] A child requires three hours minimum of tutoring daily and a lesson must be a minimum of 30 minutes to count towards the total and with regards to 16 and 17-year-olds in further education, considerations are made in regards to their studies.[3]
There are regulations and guidance to safeguard all actors under the age of 18; OFCOM guidance states a child's health and safety, wellbeing and welfare is paramount in television production and factors such as their age, maturity and life experiences can affect their performance.[4] OFCOM also advises that broadcasters undertake risk assessments, consider seeking expert advice and follow best practise.[4]
Issues
Ownership of earnings
Before the 1930s, many child actors never got to see the money they earned because they were not in charge of this money. Jackie Coogan earned millions of dollars from working as a child actor only to see most of it squandered by his parents. In 1939, California weighed in on this controversy and enacted the Coogan Bill which requires a portion of the earnings of a child to be preserved in a special savings account called a blocked trust.[5] A trust that is not actively monitored can also be problematic however as in the case of Gary Coleman who after working from 1974, later sued his adoptive parents and former business advisor for $3.8 million over misappropriation of his trust fund.[6][7]
Competitive pressure
Some people[who?] also criticize the parents of child actors for allowing their children to work, believing that more "normal" activities should be the staple during the childhood years. Others[who?] observe that competition is present in all areas of a child's life—from sports to student newspaper to orchestra and band—and believe that the work ethic instilled or the talent developed accrues to the child's benefit.[citation needed]
The child actor may experience unique and negative pressures when working under tight production schedules. Large projects which depend for their success on the ability of the child to deliver an effective performance add to the pressure.[citation needed]
Ethel Merman, who several times worked in long-running stage productions with child actors, disliked what she eventually saw as their overprofessionalization - "acting more like midgets than children" - and disapproved of parents pushing adulthood on them.[8]
Post-childhood success
This section possibly contains synthesis of material which does not verifiably mention or relate to the main topic. Relevant discussion may be found on the talk page. (May 2019) (Learn how and when to remove this template message)
Jodie Foster in 1974
There are many instances of troubled adult lives due to the stressful environment to which child actors are subjected. It is common to see a child actor grow up in front of the camera, whether in films, television shows or both. However, it is not uncommon to see child actors continue their careers throughout as actors or in a different professional field.
Jodie Foster started acting at age three, becoming the quintessential child actor during the 1970s with roles in films such as Tom Sawyer (1973), Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore (1974), Taxi Driver (1976), Bugsy Malone (1976), The Little Girl Who Lives Down the Lane (1976), and Freaky Friday (1976). A child prodigy, Foster received her first Academy Award nomination at age 13 and later took a sabbatical from films to attend Yale University. She made a successful transition to adult roles, winning two Academy Awards for Best Actress before the age of 30, and starring in several successful and acclaimed films such as The Accused (1988), The Silence of the Lambs (1991), Nell (1994), Maverick (1994), Contact (1997), and The Brave One (2007), thus establishing herself as one of the most accomplished and sought-after actresses of her generation. She has also ventured into directing and her directing credits include films such as Little Man Tate (1991), Money Monster (2016) and television shows such as House of Cards, Orange Is the New Black, and Black Mirror.
Now adults, Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint and Emma Watson, the three leads of the acclaimed Harry Potter film series (2001–11), starred in all the installments in the series, and have since continued to act in film, television, and theater in their early thirties.
Dakota Fanning rose to prominence after her breakthrough performance at age seven in the film I Am Sam (2001). Her performance earned her a Screen Actors Guild Award nomination at age eight in 2002, making her the youngest nominee in SAG history. She later appeared in major Hollywood productions, in such acclaimed blockbuster films as Man on Fire (2004), War of the Worlds (2005), Charlotte's Web (2006), Hounddog (2007), The Secret Life of Bees (2008), Coraline (2009), The Twilight Saga film series (2009–12), The Runaways (2010), and The Motel Life (2012). Fanning's younger sister, Elle Fanning also rose to prominence as a child actress, having appeared in many films since before she turned three.
Miranda Cosgrove, known mainly for her role on Drake & Josh as a child, gained more attention for her role as a teenager in the show iCarly. Since the end of the show she has been featured in other roles, including as the voice of Margo in the Despicable Me franchise. Once she was of age, she decided to pursue a college degree in film at the University of Southern California.[9]
Shirley Temple became a public figure and diplomat, beginning in the 1960s. Some of her duties included representing the United Nations, and becoming a U.S. ambassador in countries such as Ghana and Czechoslovakia.[10]
Mary-Kate Olsen was treated for an eating disorder, deemed anorexia, but her twin sister remained less troubled. In an article with the magazine Marie Claire, Mary-Kate expressed the bittersweet nature of the twins' childhood. "I look at old photos of me, and I don't feel connected to them at all," she said. "I would never wish my upbringing on anyone... but I wouldn't take it back for the world." The twins now have continued success in the fashion industry with an estimated net worth of approximately $100 million.
Since the beginning of her career at age 15 in 1999, Mandy Moore is one of the child stars to have success as an adult.
Drew Barrymore started acting at age three. During her childhood she battled with drugs, but today she continues to act in films. Natalie Portman took a small break in acting to get a bachelor's degree in Psychology from Harvard University before continuing her career as an actress. Rider Strong, known as "Shawn Hunter" in Boy Meets World, was educated at Columbia University and now runs a successful blog and published a graphic novel.[11] Neil Patrick Harris got his acting start in Doogie Howser, M.D. He continues to act in television, films and theater.
Jonathan Lipnicki, known mostly for the Stuart Little films, now successfully competes in Brazilian jiu-jitsu.[11] Sara Gilbert is known for her role on Roseanne and is now successful as a talk show host on The Talk. Also from Rosanne, Michael Fishman continued to work in film, but behind the scenes and has since been nominated for an Emmy for the work he did in Sports Science.[11] Kirsten Dunst and Lacey Chabert both made the transition from a child actress to an adult actress with a rough patch including depression. After a stay in a rehabilitation center, Dunst was able to recover and continue her career. She proves that the pressures of growing up under the spotlight may not come without repercussions.[12]
Roddy McDowall, who had a long and distinguished career including as the regular star of the Planet of the Apes series; Micky Dolenz, who started his career as a child star in the 1950s, grew up to be a musician of the successful 1960s pop group The Monkees, which had its own successful television show; Ron Howard, who, in addition to being the star of both of the long running The Andy Griffith Show and Happy Days television series, became an Academy Award-winning director in adulthood; Elijah Wood, who continued his career successfully into adulthood starring as Frodo Baggins in The Lord of the Rings film series and starring as Ryan Newman in the television series Wilfred. Other child actors who have continued their careers into adulthood include Mandy Moore, Rose Marie, Hayley Mills, Ann Jillian, Johnny Whitaker, Kathy Garver, Tim Matheson, Bonnie Franklin, Melissa Gilbert, Danielle Brisebois, Erika Eleniak, Max Pomeranc, Christina Ricci, Shelley Fabares, Candace Cameron Bure, Karron Graves, Gaby Hoffmann, Hilary Duff, Molly Ringwald, Stacy Ferguson, Jennifer Love Hewitt, Lisa Whelchel, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Soleil Moon Frye, Melissa Joan Hart, Dean Stockwell, Kurt Russell, Fred Savage, Neil Patrick Harris, Michelle Chia, Shawn Lee, Joshua Ang, Aloysius Pang, Raven-Symoné and other Academy Award winners and nominees include; Mickey Rooney, Judy Garland, Scarlett Johansson, Jake Gyllenhaal, Joaquin Phoenix, Helen Hunt, Irene Cara, Reese Witherspoon, Hilary Swank, Christian Bale, Saoirse Ronan, Brie Larson, Regina King, Jennifer Lawrence, Emma Stone, Elizabeth Taylor, and Leonardo DiCaprio.
Other careers
Many actors' careers are short-lived and this is also true of child actors. Many actors out of personal choice that start their careers as child actors decide not to pursue the same careers as adults, Shirley Temple became a public figure and diplomat. Peter Ostrum, appearing in his only role, the title character of Charlie Bucket in Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory became a large-scale veterinarian surgeon. Whilst Jenny Lewis, formerly of film Troop Beverly Hills in 1989, is a well-known singer-songwriter indie rock musician.
In Poland, former child actors and identical twin brothers Lech and Jarosław Kaczyński became successful politicians, at one time Lech being President and Jarosław the Prime Minister.