Child stars who do not continue into adult roles

A lot of TGE names mentioned are not too familiar to me. I will comment on the ones I know .

Sandi Deschler did some high profile films , the Last Time I saw Paris, and the Opposite Sex , the remake of the Women. She had the meaty role carried so well by Virginia Weidler in The original. Sandi was cute but did not have anything too remarkable in her performances. She always reminds me of a female Dennis the menace Jay North, a rather obvious style for the fifties, well coached but no more than that.


Dean Stockwell was one of the really astonishing child stars in film history. His sweet child’s face was accompanied by a natural way of speaking lines and an ability to project very strong emotions. His technique carried him into adult parts where he got an early chance to show his chops in Long Days Journey Into Night. Up against Ralph Richardson, Kate Hepburn and Jason Robards in one of the great roles of American theater, he fought his corner and demonstrated he was ready. He had already starred in Sons and Lovers, and Compulsion. He went on to steady work in films and some regular parts in TV.

Some might argue that Christian Bale did not make the transition unscathed. He has TGE reputation of being very difficult to work with.

Roddy McDowell did not retain the beauty he had as a child but had a successful adult career as a character actor.

Taylor - probably one of the most successful transitions from child to adult actress. Her teen films were same type of light fare offered to Shirley temple but she developed into an astonishing beauty which kept her career going until her acting and character caught up. All her life she retained an empathy for children overwhelmed by fame.

Peggy Ann Garner was one of the sad cases of a child actress who retained her skills but not her looks. Never a child beauty, her little waif face and her ability to speak truth to power made her child performances very special. She had at least one good part as an adult , in BLACK WIDOW as the murder victim. She was as good as she was in child roles, feisty and straight forward, but she was very ordinary looking. How sad is it that failure to meet the extreme standards of female beauty in Hollywood ended careers.

Re Peggy Ann Garner - Gee, I thought she bloomed rather well into a young adult: a sunny, All-American-Girl appearance, somewhere between Janet Leigh and Sandra Dee (below in the aforementioned Black Widow), certainly prettier than she was as a child. But, y'know, each to our own tastes. - Doghouse

Janet Leigh Had Tony Curtis and a killer figure. Lol. Re looks- I always recall that at an audition early in her career Meryl Streep was told she wasn’t pretty enough. Coming back on the subway in tears , Streep said to herself, “ he’s one guy, and decided to keep trying.