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The kids and their careers as they matured

posted 10 years ago by ben-thayer
1 reply | jump to latest

This film's cast of children all encountered difficult times in later years, despite being quite prolific during their younger days.

Mimi Gibson (Elizabeth) and Charles Herbert (Robert) both saw their careers pretty much over within 10 years after Houseboat, IMDB lists 1968 as the last acting credit for both of them.

Paul Peterson didn't really fare much better, if anything his was a harder road. He was a full on teen idol during his years on The Donna Reed Show, but after its end he never seemed to be able to recreate that success. It had to be extremely difficult to deal with that kind of rejection after being such a huge hit. He eventually left show business (as a primary career) and earned a couple of degrees, and became a published author. His biggest contribution is the creation of A Minor Consideration in 1990, a support group for child actors.

A happy ending in the film, not so much in reality.

[–] mdonln 9 years ago

That's unfortunate. I'm not an actor but I think the reason child actors have such a hard time transitioning is because it's a completely different business for a child than it is for an adult. The ones who seem to have managed to continue and do well had a definite break. They left the business for a while, whether it was voluntary or not; many went to school then they returned fresh.

They should consider themselves starting out as if they'd never been in the business before. They should not rely on past credits because child actors, even or especially when they were successful, are seen in a different light. Some people in the industry may be jealous, resentful, or dismissive of them. I'd say they should even get new representation across the board especially if their parent was in any of those roles.

Woman, man! That's the way it should be Tarzan. [Tarzan and his mate]