Who would you think of if asked for a name of Greatest Child Star Ever? Wouldn’t you automatically think of those child stars who have made something of their lives, transitioning from the difficulties of child fame to make their mark as adults? Apparently, becoming a well-adjusted adult is not a requirement for being considered Greatest Child Star Ever:
"VH1 has named Gary Coleman No. 1 on its list of the top 100 child stars ever. Home Alone star Macaulay Culkin was second, and the Olsen twins were third.
"Coleman, now 37, was the precocious star of the hit sitcom Diff’rent Strokes, which ran from 1978-86. Coleman played Arnold, who along with his older brother Willis (Todd Bridges) moves from Harlem to live with an affluent white family in Manhattan.
"In 2003 Coleman joined 134 other candidates to run for governor of California. Arnold Schwarzenegger successfully replaced the recalled Gov. Gray Davis, but Coleman got a few more minutes in the spotlight.
"’This is really interesting and cool and I’ve been enjoying the heck out of it because I get to be intelligent, which is something I don’t get to do very often,’ the 4-foot-8 actor said then."
Coleman doesn’t get to be intelligent very often? Poor man.
Director-actors Ron Howard and Jodie Foster did manage to hit the top ten. But the article didn’t even mention Shirley Temple Black, possibly the iconic child movie star and a woman who made her mark not only in acting but also in the U.S. Foreign Service as an ambassador to Ghana and to Czechoslovakia.
‘Course, that’s small potatoes compared to running for governor of California in a come-one, come-all special election open to anyone with $3,500 and 65 signatures.
wow… the first thing that comes to my mind is Shirley Temple… child star par excellance.
Um, yeah, my first thought was Shirley Temple as the top child star
Two words for ya: Bart Simpson
Bart Simpson?
Well, maybe…after 16 years as a fourth grader I would hope he got good at it. 😉
Haha, I was in Las Vegas this past weekend and saw Macaulay Culkin. My friend took one look at him and just laughed. I kind of felt bad for the kid, but then I thought about the way he treated his parents. But it’s not for us to judge and I always have to remember that.
I thought ‘Shirley Temple’ immediately too.
How Macauley Calkin treated his parents? How about how his parents treated him? He spent three years of life living in conditions that were not fit for a dog. His parents neglected the most basic care for him. He and his brother had teeth that were rotting out, and to top it all off, his father cheated on his mother, and both got into fistfights. On top of that, his father was a greedy, conniving wretch who tried to take his son for as much money as he possibly could. Is it any wonder that he chose to treat his parents like that?
“Mo money, mo problems.”
Apparently Vh1 does not realize that the world existed prior to 1970. Shirley Temple was light years ahead of anyone you’d want to put as the second greatest child star. Gary Coleman? Give me a break.