Book Review: People - Child Stars Then & Now - SitcomsOnline.com News Blog

Saturday, July 12, 2008

Book Review: People - Child Stars Then & Now

It is Saturday, so that must mean it is time for the mini review. Today we take a look People's Child Stars Then & Now. Ever wonderered what the actors who starred on Blossom, Saved by the Bell, Roseanne, Boy Meets World, The Wonder Years, The Cosby Show or Family Matters are doing today? Find out what happened to over 125 child actors after they outgrew their first burst of fame.

People - Child Stars Then & Now (Hardcover) (People, $29.95)

They starred in TV's The Brady Bunch, The Cosby Show, Boy Meets World and The Wonder Years and in movies like Stand By Me, The Breakfast Club, Sixteen Candles and more. Many got famous, and rich, before they got driver's licenses. What happened after that first -- and often fleeting -- burst of fame? Who got married? Who went to rehab? Who built a career behind the camera? Who's hawking hair products on infomercials? Who's delivering pizza? Find out what became of all of the kids who came of age in Hollywood in the '70s, '80s and '90s.

This book comes in two formats. The softcover version is available on newstands now until September 22. A more expensive hardcover version will be available on August 5. The front cover features 7 then photos and there are 7 now photos on the back cover. There are 144 pages and tons of photos from the past and present. A few of them get some pretty extensive updates spanning a few pages while others get only a short update. At the end of the book, there is a gone too soon section with some tributes to a few child stars that have passed away and an "I'm not a kid, but I played one on tv" section that provides no current updates.

Here is a list of who is featured (in alphabetical order):

Tatyana Ali - The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air
Chad Allen - My Two Dads, Our House
Sean Astin - The Goonies
Christopher Atkins - The Blue Lagoon
Christian Bale - Empire of the Sun
Drew Barrymore - E.T.
Jason Bateman - Little House on the Prairie, Silver Spoons, The Hogan Family
Brice Beckham - Mr. Belvedere
Elizabeth Berkley - Saved by the Bell
Valerie Bertinelli - One Day at a Time
Mayim Bialik - Blossom
Peter Billingsley - A Christmas Story
Thora Birch - Monkey Trouble
Tempestt Bledsoe - The Cosby Show
Lisa Bonet (aka Lilakoi Moon) - The Cosby Show
Brian Bonsall - Family Ties
Jonathan Brandis - seaQuest DSV
Josh Brolin - The Goonies
Chris Burke - Life Goes On
Kirk Cameron - Growing Pains
Gabrielle Carteris - Beverly Hills, 90210
Max Casella - Doogie Howser, M.D.
Keisha Castle-Hughes - Whale Rider
Lacey Chabert - Party of Five
Anna Chlumsky - My Girl
Jeff Cohen - The Goonies
Jennifer Connelly - Labyrinth
Macaulay Culkin - Home Alone, Home Alone 2
Claire Danes - My So-Called Life
Stacey Dash - Clueless
Josie Davis - Charles in Charge
Dustin Diamond - Saved by the Bell
Leonard DiCaprio - Growing Pains, This Boy's Life
Elisa Donovan - Clueless
Hilary Duff - Lizzie McGuire
Kirsten Dunst - Interview with the Vampire
Nicole Eggert - Charles in Charge
Halie Kate Eisenberg - Pepsi commercials, Paulie
David Faustino - Married... with Children
Fergie - Kids Incorporated
Corey Feldman - The Lost Boys
Danielle Fishel - Boy Meets World
Michael Fishman - Roseanne
Jodie Foster - Taxi Driver
Jaimee Foxworth - Family Matters
Will Friedle - Boy Meets World
Soleil Moon Frye - Punky Brewster
Edward Furlong - Terminator 2: Judgment Day
Sara Gilbert - Roseanne
Alicia (Lecy) Goranson - Roseanne
Joseph Gordon-Levitt - 3rd Rock from the Sun
Mark-Paul Gosselaar - Saved by the Bell
Corey Haim - The Lost Boys
Jackie Earle Haley - The Bad News Bears
Anthony Michael Hall - Sixteen Candles, The Breakfast Club, Weird Science
Neil Patrick Harris - Doogie Howser, M.D.
Melissa Joan Hart - Clarissa Explains It All, Sabrina the Teenage Witch
Noah Hathaway - The Neverending Story
Justin Henry - Kramer vs. Kramer, Sixteen Candles
Jason Hervey - The Wonder Years
Jennifer Love Hewitt - Kids Incorporated, Party of Five
Gaby Hoffman - Field of Dreams
Ron Howard - The Music Man, The Andy Griffith Show
Scarlett Johansson - The Horse Whisperer
Stacy Keanan - My Two Dads, Steby by Step
Christopher Knight - The Brady Bunch
Charlie Korsmo - Dick Tracy, Can't Hardly Wait
A.J. Langer - My So-Called Life
Diane Lane - The Outsiders
Joey Lawrence - Gimme A Break!
Jared Leto - My So-Called Life
Emmanuel Lewis - Webster
Jenny Lewis - The Wizard
Jonathan Lipnicki - Jerry Maguire
Lindsay Lohan - The Parent Trap
Mario Lopez - Saved by the Bell
Ralph Macchio - The Karate Kid
Tobey Maguire - This Boy's Life, Deconstructing Harry
Tina Majorino - Andre
Kellie Martin - Life Goes On
Maureen McCormick - The Brady Bunch
Danica McKellar - The Wonder Years
Jeremy Miller - Growing Pains
Illan Mitchell-Smith - Weird Science
Tahj Mowry - Smart Guy
Tamera Mowry - Sister, Sister
Tia Mowry - Sister, Sister
Jerry O'Connell - Stand By Me
Olsen Twins - Full House
Amy O'Neill - Honey, I Shrunk the Kids
Heather O'Rourke - Poltergeist
Haley Joel Osment - The Sixth Sense
Peter Ostrum - Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory
Sarah Jessica Parker - Square Pegs
Luke Perry - Beverly Hills, 90210
River Phoenix - Standy By Me
Corky Pigeon - Silver Spoons
Danny Pintauro - Who's the Boss?
Dana Plato - Diff'rent Strokes
Eve Plumb - The Brady Bunch
Alexander Polinsky - Charles in Charge
Natalie Portman - The Professional
Jason Priestley - Beverly Hills 90210
Keshia Knight Pulliam - The Cosby Show
Aileen Quinn - Annie
Raven-Symoné - The Cosby Show
Brad Renfro - Sleepers, The Client
Alfonso Ribeiro - Silver Spoons, The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air
Christina Ricci - The Addams Family
Ariana Richards - Tremors, Jurassic Park
Molly Ringwald - The Facts of Life Sixteen Candles, The Breakfast Club
Brian Robbins - Head of the Class
Ben Savage - Boy Meets World
Fred Savage - The Wonder Years
Scott Schwartz - The Toy, A Christmas Story
Brooke Shields - Pretty Baby, The Blue Lagoon
Taran Noah Smith - Home Improvement
Rider Strong - Boy Meets World
Tiffani Thiessen - Saved by the Bell
Henry Thomas - E.T.
Jonathan Taylor Thomas - Home Improvement
Jenna von Oy - Blossom
Lark Voorhies - Saved by the Bell
Malcolm-Jamal Warner - The Cosby Show
Gedde Watanabe - Sixteen Candles
Wil Wheaton - Stand By Me, Star Trek: The Next Generation
Jaleel White - Family Matters
Kellie Williams - Family Matters
Elijah Wood - Avalon
Tina Yothers - Family Ties

Final Comments: This book had a lot of promise, but ultimately there are simply too many updates on people that are well-known to everybody. Who doesn't know what Christian Bale, Drew Barrymore, Josh Brolin, Jennifer Connelly, Leonard DiCaprio, Fergie, Jodie Foster, Jennifer Love Hewitt, Ron Howard, Jared Leto, Lindsay Lohan, Tobey Maguire, Sarah Jessica Parker, Natalie Portman, Christina Ricci, Brooke Shields or Elijah Wood are doing today? Also, they included no updates for the people in the actors who were not really child stars section. The photos included in the book are very nice and the updates do seem to be researched well, so if you are a fan of a number of the people profiled it would still probably be worth it to check it out. The softcover version that is out now is considerably cheaper than the hardcover version that will be released next month

This book simply needed more updates like they had for Corky Pigeon from Silver Spoons and Alexander Polinsky from Charles in Charge. It would have been nice to see updates for more people that are not as well-known and no longer in the public eye. I would love to see a book devoted to more child stars from the '70s-'90s that was a bit more in depth. I'm sure I'm not alone in wanting to see updates on the actors from shows like Diff'rent Strokes, Gimme A Break!, The Hogan Family, Charles in Charge (first season cast), The Facts of Life, What's Happening!!, Head of the Class and Kate & Allie.

-- Reviewed by Todd Fuller

(3/5 stars)

To purchase this book, click below and help support SitcomsOnline.com:
Amazon.com

Related links:
Sneak Peek! Child Stars: Then & Now
Former Child Star Central

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Tyler Perry's House of Payne - "Love At First Swipe" (BET, 9:00PM ET/PT)
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Complete TV Listings

Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows (Week of March 31)

Tuesday, April 1

Adam Scott (Ghosted/Veep/Parks and Recreation/Party Down) - Catch Adam on a repeat of Jimmy Kimmel Live! at 11:35pm on ABC.
Kevin Bacon (I Love Dick) - Kevin is a guest on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon at 11:35pm on NBC.
Amanda Peet (Brockmire/Togetherness/Bent) - Amanda appears on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon at 11:35pm on NBC.
Paul Rudd (The Shrink Next Door/Living with Yourself/Wild Oats) - Paul stops by Late Night with Seth Meyers at 12:36am on NBC.
Ike Barinholtz (The Studio/The Afterparty/Bless the Harts/The Mindy Project/Eastbound & Down) - Ike appears on Late Night with Seth Meyers at 12:36am on NBC. He will also be on Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen at 9:30pm on Bravo.
Vinny Thomas (Platonic), Paul F. Tompkins (The Great North/BoJack Horseman/DAG) and Aparna Nancherla (The Great North/Lopez vs Lopez/Corporate) - Vinny, Paul and Aparna are guests on After Midnight at 12:37am on CBS.
Chase Sui Wonders (The Studio/Bupkis) and Kathryn Hahn (The Studio/Tiny Beautiful Things/Central Park/Happyish/Transparent/Free Agents) - Chase and Kathryn are guests on Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen at 9:30pm on Bravo.
Will Ferrell (The Office) and Jennifer Coolidge (2 Broke Girls/Joey) - E! News has interviews with Will and Jennifer at 11pm on E!.
Román Zaragoza (Ghosts) - Román talks about Ghosts on CBS Mornings sometime between 7-9am.
Jenny Slate (The Great North/Big Mouth/Married/Bob's Burgers) - Jenny talks about Dying for Sex on ABC's Good Morning America sometime between 7-9am.
Michael Angarano (Laid/I'm Dying Up Here/Will & Grace) and Michael Cera (Life & Beth/Arrested Development/I Was a Sixth Grade Alien) - Michael and Michael talk about Sacramento with the ladies of The View on ABC at 11am ET/10am CT-PT.
Olivia Munn (Perfect Couples) - Olivia guest co-hosts NBC's Today in the 10am hour.
Hannah Einbinder (Hacks) - Hannah talks about Hacks on NBC's Today in the 10am hour.
Tasha Smith (Survival of the Thickest/Tyler Perry's For Better or Worse/The Tom Show/Boston Common) and Tone Bell (Survival of the Thickest/Fam/Disjointed/Truth Be Told/Bad Judge/Whitney) - Tasha and Tone talk about the new season of Netflix’s Survival of the Thickest on Sherri, so check your local listings.
Kathryn Hahn (The Studio/Tiny Beautiful Things/Central Park/Happyish/Transparent/Free Agents) - Kathryn is dishing on her new comedy series The Studio on The Drew Barrymore Show, so check your local listings.
Wilmer Valderrama (That '70s Show) - Wilmer and Freddy Rodriguez chat about their podcast Dos Amigos on a repeat of Access Daily with Mario & Kit, so check your local listings.
Brenda Song (Running Point/Dollface/Dads/The Suite Life on Deck/The Suite Life of Zack & Cody) - Brenda talks about Netflix's Running Point on a repeat of Access Daily with Mario & Kit, so check your local listings.
Paul Walter Hauser (The Afterparty) - Paul is a guest on PIX11 Morning News on WPIX in New York at 9:40am.