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For Children’s Day: On Various Child Stars and Kiddie Acts in Classic Show Business
The second Sunday in June is Children’s Day in the U.S. (November 20 is World Children’s Day).
We’re not monsters here at Travalanche and we know what this day is for, so we begin by remembering the plight of children in troubled places, kids who are scared, hungry, homeless, and worse, thanks to the insane decisions of certain leaders.
The exploitation of children in show business is of a much lesser order of distress than things like war and famine, though there were casualties (Lucille Ricksen springs to mind). So we temper our celebrations of the careers of the over 250 child stars we have written about, with the acknowledgment that for many of them, it wasn’t all skittles and beer. We try to tell their stories with balance. They brought audiences joy; they sometimes weren’t bursting at the seams with happiness themselves.
And a couple of hundred others right up until more recent figures such as Brooke Shields and the kids from Diff’rent Strokes. Again, the section in its entirety here.
And here’s wishing peace, health and happiness to every child in the world.
For more on vaudeville and variety history, please see my book No Applause, Just Throw Money: The Book That Made Vaudeville Famous. For more on classic film, please read Chain of Fools: Silent Comedy and Its Legacies from Nickelodeons to Youtube.
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