Where Have All the Child Stars Gone?

People absolutely love 'em when they're babies. They're so cute and energetic when they're young. But sadly, when they get big, old and boring, people just don't seem to find them as endearing. No, I am not talking about puppies. I am talking about child stars.

Ah, child stars. They spouted quirky and adorable lines at all the right moments. They defined your expectations of childhood (admit it, they did). They coached you through the triumphs and travails of pre-teenage angst. And yet it seems unfortunate but true that superstar kids rarely grow up to become superstar adults. For kids, it's all about being cute and gimmicky. When they stop being cute, the public discards them. Hence we have countless low-quality films and reality shows full of former child stars and countless pounds full of former puppies.

Then there is the old "Whatever Happened to Baby Jane?" sequence: the child star, no longer adored, enters a dismal descent into depression, madness and possibly murder (although more likely drugs, alcohol or other forms of public debauchery). We've watched the horror stories unfold. Too often kids are thrust into the adult world long before they are mature enough to handle it. Britney Spears, Lindsay Lohan … the list goes on.

With the release of Dakota Fanning's first "big girl" movie, "Hounddog", I can't help but wonder if she'll be able to make a smooth transition from child star to adult actor. I, for one, hope that she can do it. Fanning is a good actress and has handled more serious roles in her career than both the Olsen twins put together.

Also coming out this week is "High School Musical 3," a franchise with which most of my 11-year-old associates (i.e. siblings) have become thoroughly disenchanted. Even the demi-goddess of Disney, Miley Cyrus, is apparently loosing her cool. While this may be the case, I am still curious to see what Zac Efron and company will look like in 10 years. Will he still be a tween heartthrob? Will he still be a household name? Will he still conspicuously wear eyeliner?

I may be biased, but I am much more inclined to admire the child stars of my generation. I like to hearken back to the glory days when Nickelodeon was funny and when the Disney Channel was unmixed with baser matter. That is to say, at least the kiddie stars of the '90s didn't have to truncate their careers because of unplanned pregnancies, a la Jamie Lynn Spears. So, in the spirit of curiosity, nostalgia and, of course, investigative journalism, I tracked down some of our favorite child stars of yesteryear. Here's what my laborious search revealed.

"Boys Meets World"-admittedly a large part of my TV diet for some time-churned out a crop of surprisingly normal and successful former child stars. Ben Savage, who played main character Cory Mathews, went on to graduate with a degree in political science from Stanford (seriously, man, Stanford?). It turns out that Ben's brother, Fred Savage, of "The Wonder Years" fame, attended (gag) Stanford as well, majoring in English. He now dabbles in directing. Also from "Boy Meets World" is Bay Area native Rider Strong, who played Cory's best pal Shawn. He apparently graduated with a degree in English from Columbia. That's pretty impressive, especially coming from a guy who has probably one of the best porn star names I have ever heard. Another Bay Area-based child star is Larisa Oleynik, better known as Alex Mack from the Nickelodeon show "The Secret World of Alex Mack". She graduated from Sarah Lawrence College in 2004 and has been sporadically involved in TV ever since. Then there is Jonathan Taylor Thomas: co-star "Home Improvement", voice of Simba in "The Lion King" and once-teen idol worshiped in a near-cultish fashion by legions of pre-hormonal girls. He is now a Harvard graduate and is continuing his education at Columbia.

Of course, other child stars haven't gone on to garner Ivy League educations. Edward Furlong, John Connor in the second "Terminator," has-besides taking odd acting jobs-released an album in Japan and (surprise, surprise) has been through rehab. Jodie Sweetin, Stephanie from "Full House," went through rehab, but has since cleaned up and gotten married. Her co-star and on-screen sister, Candace Cameron-Bure, who played D.J., has married a hockey player and now speaks to groups of Evangelical Christians.

So while the path to childhood stardom can be dangerous, disappointing, and bad for adult acting careers, I'd like to think that it is possible for child stars to grow up to be fairly normal. That is, if they can accept the fact that in the grown-up world, cute just doesn't cut it.