This was a 60's child star.
Does anyone else see Honey BooBoo?
That little girl above was chewed up and spit out and dead at 18.
Her name was Anissa Jones.
Things do not often work out for the rest of their lives when kids are exploited.
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But Danny Bonaduce (Danny from the "Partridge Family"
who is still alive, said it best, "If you're cute, and you suck, when you're no longer cute you just suck."
I had this penetrating stare that made people very uncomfortable. And then I'd look away if they started talking. Or else I would babble on about insects. Or run away.
There's not much demand for skittish four year old entomologists as actors in Hollywood.
My grandma introduced all her grandkids to Hollywood. She and her sister were insiders. They knew people. Two of my siblings have screen credits but decided as young adults that the Hollywood life, waiting on tables between jobs, wasn't for them. My brother played minor cowboy or biker gang characters. My sister was a biker girl, athlete, cheerleader, or one-line California girl at the beach. Baywatch stuff. (She's a firefighter-paramedic now, don't mess with her...)
My mom was a runaway to Hollywood and my dad was a Hollywood kid. The only thing that spared my dad the fate of childhood actor was that his dad was a military officer called to Washington D.C. during World War Two.
My parents first met in Hollywood, doing Hollywood business. Both my parents were entirely honest and transparent with us about the business. They suffered no illusions.
All of my siblings have abandoned Hollywood. I have one cousin still there, her husband is an actor-director while she writes software for the industry. But both are far removed from the mainstream. Struggling artists.
My first major in college was television engineering and technology. I'd probably be better off financially if I'd stuck with that but my true love was biology. My wife and I were Los Angeles Unified School District science teachers when we met.
A couple of my own high school classmates became celebrities as adults, but other stories are horrible. A girl who was one of the rare girls who was nice to me in high school (I was an icky autistic spectrum worm) later committed suicide (or was murdered), caught up in drugs and porn. The industry ain't got much use for trouble-making worn-out teen porn stars.
I always feel bad for celebrities like Lindsay Lohan or Miley Cyrus.
