Whether it was because of a mysterious illness, drug abuse, or a faulty car,
these child actors were taken from us too soon.
The poster children for tragic child stars are probably Corey Haim and Corey Feldman. The two
famously co-starred in 1987's "The Lost Boys," and stayed friends throughout some awful revelations
that came out decades later. This included accusations that they were preyed on by older,
powerful men in the industry. Feldman told The Hollywood Reporter that Haim's assault
was deeply traumatic, saying it explains why, quote, "he was erratic and not well-behaved on
sets and things like that." It also resulted in a well-publicized issue with drugs.
When Haim died in 2010, at just 38 years old, officials seemed to indicate that
they assumed it was drug-related, but it wasn't. The official ruling was
respiratory and heart problems, coupled with pneumonia. Even before the ruling,
Feldman spoke with CBS to say that he didn't think it was an intentional or accidental
death. What he did know for sure was that it was a loss that broke his heart. He told the outlet,
"He made a lot of mistakes... He always tried to
be the best person he could. This is a tragic loss of a wonderful, beautiful,
tormented soul, who will always be my brother, family, and best friend."
In 2021, Soleil Moon Frye, who found fame at 7 years old starring as Punky Brewster,
made a documentary called "Kid 90," about growing up in that decade. She told People
that in the process of making the doc and going through all her old '90s memorabilia,
she was a bit blindsided by all the memories of her old friend Jonathan Brandis . She recalled,
"I found so many voicemails Jonathan left me when we were kids. Some of them were 10 minutes long,
his innermost thoughts. It just made me cry listening to them. He was a real friend."
Brandis found fame in films like "The NeverEnding Story II," "It," and "Ladybugs," then went on to
star in the television show "SeaQuest." When the Los Angeles Times announced his death in 2003,
they added that the 27-year-old actor had been in front of the camera since he was 2 years old.
It was ultimately determined that Brandis had died by suicide, and his father, Greg,
has been clear that even in hindsight, he doesn't blame the industry. He told People,
"Jonathan ... was probably bipolar. [His death] wasn't
due to the entertainment industry. I look back now, and in his 20s,
he showed signs of manic depression. I hope that anyone suffering can go get help."
Jon Paul Steuer sort of lucked into his first big role, because he had a talent
unique among children. The ability to sit still for hours. The part was Worf's son on "Star Trek:
The Next Generation," and the prosthetics took a very long time to apply. The part was ultimately
recast, but Steuer went on to primetime fame as Brett Butler's son on "Grace Under Fire,"
before his parents pulled him from the show with allegations of a toxic environment.
Steuer eventually got out of the acting business,
going on to become a restaurateur and singer with the Oregon-based band P.R.O.B.L.E.M.S. In 2018,
it was reported that Steuer, then 33 years old, and performing under the name of Jonny Jewels,
had died by suicide. His death was announced by the band, who said,
"It is with heavy hearts and saddened minds that we announce the passing of
our dear friend and singer Jonny Jewels, AKA Jon Paul Steuer. The addition of Jonny to
our dysfunctional band family was one of the best choices that we have ever made,
and he brought a much-needed sense of fun and lightheartedness to everything we did."
Gary Coleman was an absolute phenomenon, and the face of child acting in the 1970s
and 1980s. His longest-lasting role was "Diff'rent Strokes," where he appeared
in nearly 200 episodes. After that, his acting career was peppered with one-time appearances,
voiceover work, and the occasional movie. He more commonly made headlines for personal problems.
"If I lose, or she loses, she goes that way, I got that way."
"But she went not just this way, she called the police and said that you had assaulted her."
Coleman had struggled through a lifetime of health-related issues. He had been diagnosed
with congenital kidney disease that required constant treatment and several kidney transplants,
including one that took place when he was just five years old.
Coleman died in 2010 at 42. According to his obituary,
he was hospitalized after falling and suffering a brain hemorrhage. The same year,
he had been through seizure-related health problems. It was reported that he had lost
consciousness, and his former wife made the decision to remove him from life support.
After his death, his mother gave a statement in which she shared her regret. She'd hoped
she would reconcile with her estranged son before his death, but Coleman's comments
about his childhood seemed to suggest that there was little room for that to happen.
First appearing in television commercials as a child, then making his way to Hollywood,
he was lauded for his comedic timing and delivery even as a child. But regarding his celebrity,
he once said in an interview with The Associated Press,
"I would not give my first 15 years to my worst enemy, and I don't even have a worst enemy."
Gary Coleman wasn't the only child star of "Diff'rent Strokes" to die young. In 1999,
the Los Angeles Times reported on the death of 34-year-old Dana Plato. She made her first
on-screen appearance at 10 years old and found fame in the sitcom at 13 years old. But after her
time on the show ended, she struggled. Released from her contract when she became pregnant,
she married, gave birth to her son, and appeared in a series of B and erotic films. By the 1990s,
she had several run-ins with the law for robbery and drug charges. She
revealed in a 1992 interview that she'd been through "Three years of nonstop drinking."
Her death on May 8, 1999, was initially ruled an accidental overdose, then, suicide. The day prior,
she had interviewed with Howard Stern, in which she had said that she was clean.
Her former co-stars have addressed her struggles with addiction,
and on what would have been her 55th birthday, Todd Bridges tweeted,
"You were the one person I could always talk to.
You were one of my best friends. I will never forget you and love you forever."
Bridges has said that just days before her death, he had tried to convince her
to check into a rehab center, and wrote that he still mourned her loss years after her death.
Lucille Ricksen isn't a household name these days. But her life is a sort of cautionary
tale that needs to be remembered. Michael G. Ankerich researched her for his book,
"Dangerous Curves Atop Hollywood Heels." Although Ricksen was a massive star when
she died in 1925, she was only 14 years old when she passed away.
Ricksen had already worked as a model and on the stage by the time she was five
years old. It wasn't long before she was starting to be cast in roles that today,
the world would see as wildly age-inappropriate. In "The Rendezvous," for example, the 12-year-old
played an unhappy and abused wife. She was regularly cast in adult roles, and movie studios
routinely advertised her age as 16. She filmed 10 movies in the space of about seven months,
and although she always swore that she loved her work, even her doctors said she needed to stop.
In 1925, Ricksen's mother collapsed and died on her daughter's bed while she was taking
care of the bedridden teenager. Ricksen herself passed away three weeks later,
and although her official cause of death was tuberculosis, it's believed that extreme overwork
had something to do with it as well. She and her mother were cremated and placed in the same urn.
Child stars hit their stride in many ways, and Lee Thompson Young was doing some heavy lifting
from the beginning. He was just 10 years old when he played a young Martin Luther
King Jr. in "A Night of Stars and Dreams." That kick-started his own dream to become an actor.
He starred in "The Famous Jett Jackson," and went on to a slew of other roles including a
regular spot on "Rizzoli & Isles." Then, in August of 2013, friends called authorities to
request a welfare check, and it was discovered that the 29-year-old had died by suicide.
After his death, his mother, Velma Love, spoke openly about her son's struggles. She
explained to WIS10 that he had been diagnosed with bipolar disorder when he was a teenager, saying,
"Some of a person's inner life, you really don't know. He would sometimes call me and
say he was feeling a little sad again. It was always a quick recovery and I, too,
feel that he was always concerned about us. He was always protective of us."
Love, along with her daughter went on to found the Lee Thompson Young Foundation
and told Healthline that they hoped they could fight the stigma that's long been
associated with mental illness by promoting programs geared toward
educating adults about what to look for in children that might be struggling.
Child actors can make or break a movie, and when he was just 10 years old,
Brad Renfro made it clear that he could carry a movie. He was cast alongside Susan Sarandon
and Tommy Lee Jones in the adaptation of John Grisham's "The Client." After starting with the
complicated job of playing the witness to a mob boss' suicide, he didn't shy away from the heavy
roles. That included "Apt Pupil," opposite Ian McKellan's ex-Nazi, and "Sleepers," as a young
version of Brad Pitt's character, who suffers brutal abuse in a juvenile detention facility.
"The advice I have for people who want to get into acting would be numero uno:
check your motives for wanting to get into it."
In the early days of 2008, the 25-year-old Renfro was found dead in his California
home. The years leading up to his death had been punctuated with headline-making arrests
for drug use. Although his friends said that he had been making strides toward sobriety,
the official cause of his death was ultimately ruled as heroin and morphine intoxication.
One of his first arrests happened when he was just 16 years old for marijuana and cocaine possession.
Even more shocking is that according to what he often told those he worked with, he'd been
dabbling in drugs for four years at that point. After his first arrest, he revealed to People,
"I'm glad I got arrested, because it taught me a lot. I've had several months of being sober — I
wouldn't have it any other way. ... If you've never done it, don't. If you have done it, pray."
British actress Mya-Lecia Naylor was best known for television shows "Tati's
Hotel," "Millie Inbetween," and "Almost Never," but she'd made the jump over to
Hollywood too. She starred alongside Tom Hanks in the mind-bending "Cloud
Atlas" when she was just nine years old. Naylor died in 2019, at the age of 16.
According to The Guardian, she was pronounced dead not long
after emergency services were called to her home. The official cause of
her death was ruled as misadventure. According to what her parents said,
"She had not been her normal self... she was stressed about her exams. She knew she needed
to get on with her revision, and she had plans scheduled out for her revision. ... I genuinely
believe she did not mean to do it... She clearly had plans for the future."
Naylor had previously spoken about those plans, saying that she had some goals in
mind for promoting her YouTube channel once her exams were behind her. Tributes poured in
from across England, with the director of BBC Children's, Alice Webb, saying,
"It's unthinkable that she won't be part of our journey going forward."
It's no secret that it was the kids who made Jack Black's "School of Rock" so endearing,
and Freddy Jones, played by Kevin Clark, had incredible musical talent. He'd been drumming
for most of his young life by the time he was cast, and according to what co-star Rivkah
Reyes had to say on TikTok, he was the one who pitched the idea for the movie's ending. Still,
even though he was in the massively popular movie, he didn't stick with acting. He did,
however, stick with music, teaching at a School of Rock, and playing in several bands.
According to the Chicago Sun-Times, he had started another band shortly before he was
killed in a car accident. He was riding his bike and passing through a notoriously dangerous
intersection when he was hit and pronounced dead at the hospital. He was 32 years old.
Tributes poured in, including a then-and-now photo
of Clark with Jack Black, posted on Black's Instagram. Black wrote,
"Devastating news. Kevin is gone. Way too soon. Beautiful soul. So many great memories.
Heartbroken. Sending love to his family and the whole School of Rock community."
Heather O'Rourke was the adorably unsettling little girl from the "Poltergeist" films,
featured in what's perhaps one of the most iconic images in horror movie history. While shooting,
the cast and crew developed deep bonds with each other,
and Craig T. Nelson would later describe his on-screen daughter to Vanity Fair, saying,
"Heather was just a sweetheart, and shy and beautiful. She was just this wonderful
little girl, and she was perfect for the role, perfect for just who she was in her innocence."
O'Rourke would reprise her role as Carol Anne in two more "Poltergeist" films,
including 1988's "Poltergeist III."
"We're back."
That was the same year she passed away at only 12 years old,
the apparent victim of a condition that she had been living with her entire life.
According to her obituary, she had been rushed to the hospital after complaining of abdominal pain.
She was diagnosed with a severe obstruction, which led to septic shock, cardiac and pulmonary arrest,
and ultimately her death. Although her parents didn't comment at the time,
they later told People that they were filing a lawsuit over her death. They
claimed that she had never been diagnosed with the intestinal condition that may
have been revealed by something as simple as an X-ray. O'Rourke had been suffering
mysterious symptoms since the previous year. The lawsuit was settled out of court.
When 27-year-old Anton Yelchin was killed in a freak accident in 2016, it was the kind of story
that just didn't seem possible. Yelchin had been acting for years by the time he got his big break
in J. J. Abrams' "Star Trek," and he had such a big impact that The Guardian compared his death
to that of Heath Ledger and Paul Walker. The details were horrible: Yelchin's Jeep
Cherokee rolled backward, killing him in what was ruled to be "blunt traumatic asphyxia."
There was a tragic footnote to this story, and that's the fact that his car,
along with 1.1 million other vehicles, was the subject of a recall that had
been issued after they were found to present a significant risk of rolling.
Yelchin's parents, Victor and Irina Yelchin, filed a lawsuit against the manufacturer,
Fiat Chrysler. That lawsuit was settled in 2018 for an undisclosed amount,
and according to the Los Angeles Times, Victor explained that it
had been an incredibly difficult thing to do even as they mourned their son, saying,
"In spite of our unbelievable grief,
we decided to come here to prevent other families from the same tragedy."
Tommy Rettig might not be a household name these days, but in the 1950s,
he absolutely was. Even today, those who have never seen a single episode
of 1950s-era television probably know his most famous role. He was the first boy on television
to be cast alongside everyone's favorite dog, Lassie. Despite starring in some pretty big
movies with some pretty big names, including Marylin Monroe, Natalie Wood, Jimmy Stewart,
Barbara Hale, and Robert Mitchum, he didn't stick with acting. Instead,
got into computer software in the 1980s, and also became an early proponent of legalizing marijuana.
Back in 1983, Rettig spoke with the Los Angeles Times
regarding California's attempt at legalization and offered an
opinion that sounds like it would be right at home in the 2020s. He said,
"The use of drugs has been made synonymous with the abuse of drugs. For the most part,
they are natural substances and have been around
long before man. Prohibition never worked; education is the answer."
Rettig died in 1996, at the young age of 54. According to his obituary,
it was ruled that he had died of natural causes in his home. He left behind two sons.
Before passing away at the incredibly young age of 20 years old, Cameron Boyce had already
established himself as one of the industry's wildly prolific and incredibly talented
up-and-coming stars. And he already had a ton of credits to his name. That included just under 100
episodes of the television show "Jessie." He was featured in a starring role in "Gamer's
Guide to Pretty Much Everything." He also had credits for voiceover work in "Captain Jake and
the Never Land Pirates," and "Descendants." He also earned honors for his charity work,
particularly with the clean drinking water initiative the Thirst Project.
When Boyce's death was announced in 2019, it was ruled as a result of "an ongoing
medical condition." The outpouring of grief and condolences was instant,
and it took his parents a while to speak publicly about his death. When they did,
it was to raise awareness of something called SUDEP.
SUDEP stands for "sudden unexpected death in epilepsy." Boyce had been diagnosed with epilepsy
a few years prior, had only a few seizures, and his parents revealed that they had considered the
diagnosis a relatively minor health issue. Libby Boyce was candid with "The Doctors" about the fact
that time does not heal all wounds. She said that she felt like she was in a tunnel, and continued,
"So, if people say, 'You come out the other side,' — you do not come out
the other side from this kind of a loss, ever."
Talking about River Phoenix is far from easy. Decades after he died outside Johnny Depp's Viper
Room, it's still a complicated story. His breakout role was in one of the best movies from the 1980s,
"Stand By Me." In 2018, director Rob Reiner told The Guardian that he had always been surrounded
by his parents and family, but that ended up being complicated in itself. There was
his childhood in the Children of God cult, his feelings of being the one supporting his family,
and the pressures of earning enough to send his siblings to school.
It took Phoenix's girlfriend, Samantha Mathis,
a long time to open up about the night he died. She later explained to USA Today,
"I knew something was wrong that night, something I didn't understand. I didn't
see anyone doing drugs, but he was high in a way that made me feel
uncomfortable — I was in way over my head. Forty-five minutes later, he was dead."
That was October 31, 1993. Phoenix, it turned out, had purportedly spent the previous day
with John Frusciante of the Red Hot Chili Peppers. They'd been using pretty heavily,
and it would later be ruled that his death had come from an overdose of cocaine and
heroin. Years later, his brother Joaquin Phoenix would say to the Independent,
"I feel like virtually every movie that I made, there was a connection to River in some way.
And I think that we've all felt his presence and guidance in our lives in numerous ways."
Some animated movies define the childhood of anyone around their release. One of those
was 1988's "The Land Before Time." Judith Barsi was the voice of Ducky,
and in addition to doing voice work for "All Dogs Go To Heaven," she also starred in "Jaws:
The Revenge," and around 100 commercials.
Barsi was killed when she was 10 years old, and the details are horrific. In 1988, the
Los Angeles Times reported on a murder-suicide in which the bodies of Barsi and her mother, Maria,
were discovered in their San Fernando Valley home. Both had been shot and killed before being set on
fire. According to their neighbor, that's exactly what her father Jozsef Barsi had threatened to do.
Neighbor Eunice Daly said that she had repeatedly tried to convince Maria to leave her husband, but
"She said, 'I can't, because he'll come after us and kill us,
and he's threatened to burn down the house.'"
Jozsef's remains were also found in the house, and it was ruled that he had died by suicide.
If you or someone you know may be the victim of child abuse or domestic abuse,
please contact: Childhelp National Child Abuse Hotline
at 1-800-4-A-Child (1-800-422-4453) or contact their live chat services.