These cute, precocious kids grew up on our movie and TV screens, but sadly for some of them, their early success did not continue in later life, and sometimes, they fell into obscurity, or notoriety for all the wrong reasons.  The Gloss team decided to do some investigating and see what some of our favourite child stars of the 80’s and 90’s are up to now.

Haley Joel Osment
This cute kid shot to fame after uttering those four famous words... “I see dead people”.  Acting since age 4, by the time he was 12 he had racked up an impressive resume, from starring  with Bruce Willis in The Sixth Sense,  to Steven Spielberg’s Artificial Intelligence: AI.  His role in The Sixth Sense even got him an Oscar nomination at age 11.  Sadly, success for Haley wasn’t to last.  In 2006, after crashing his car, he was charged with driving under the influence and possession of marijuana.  Haley’s mug shot was broadcast around the world and he was ridiculed for his fall from grace.  Now aged 22, Haley is yet to duplicate his early success, doing mainly voice-over work for video games and animated TV series.

Dakota Fanning
One child star who looks poised to translate her success into adult life is Dakota Fanning.  The super cute, super precocious child actress first drew attention for her role in I am Sam in 2001, a role for which she received a Screen Actors Guild nomination. Since then she has worked steadily, with highlights including starring opposite Robert De Niro in Hide & Seek in 2005, and with Tom Cruise in War of the Worlds in the same year.  In 2009, Dakota scored a coveted role in the Twilight franchise, starring as creepy vampire Jane in New Moon and Eclipse. In 2010, she proved she’s really all grown up, starring in the Joan Jett biopic The Runaways with fellow teen idol Kristen Stewart, emphasising this point by sharing an on-screen kiss with Kristen.  So far Dakota seems to be avoiding the child star curse – there have been no drug scandals, no Britney-inspired going commando, and no Miley naked picture scandals. Dakota is currently finishing high school and is a cheerleader and was voted homecoming queen!

Molly Ringwald
She was the teen queen of the 80’s – starring in most of the John Hughes films that pretty much defined the decade: Pretty in Pink, Sixteen Candles and The Breakfast Club.  Unfortunately, by the early 90’s Molly’s career went into rapid decline – she apparently turned down the lead role in Pretty Woman.  Oops.  Since the 80’s Molly hasn’t really starred in anything worth mentioning, although she’s now enjoying somewhat of a comeback starring in US television drama The Secret Life of the American Teenager as the title character’s mother.

Macaulay Culkin
There’s not a child who grew up in the 90’s who doesn’t know his name, and count the Home Alone movies as some of their childhood favourites.  Macauley went on to star in other 90’s gems, such as My Girl and Richie Rich.  During the 90’s he faded into relative obscurity, but since 2000, he has been reasonably prolific, starring on London’s West End, and starring in the 2003 films Party Monster and Saved!   Briefly married to an actress named Rachel Miner between 1998 and 2002, since his divorce he has been with actress Mila Kunis (That 70s Show, Forgetting Sarah Marshall).

 Jodie Sweetin
Sweet little Stephanie Tanner from Full House grew up to be not so sweet.  After the show finished in 1995, she went on to finish high school and attend university.  But in 2004, according to Jodie herself, she became addicted to crystal meth, after trying the drug because she was ‘bored’.  Other highlights include hosting a show called Pants Off Dance Off (which is, incidentally, exactly how it sounds – a pants less dancing competition).  She went to rehab eventually and is now clean from drugs.  Jodie has also managed to fit in 2 marriages and 2 divorces, and is mother to a daughter called Zoie, and is expecting another child with her new boyfriend later this year.

Tatyana Ali
You know you’re a child of the 90s when even today you can still recite every single word of The Fresh Prince of Bel Air rap off by heart.  The hit 90’s show made a star out of Will Smith, but what about Tatyana Ali, who played Will’s cousin Ashley Banks?  Since the show finished, Tatyana has completed a bachelor’s degree from Harvard, and has had a moderately successful turn as an R&B singer.  Her first album Kiss the Sky went gold in 1999, and she had several hits in the UK, but interestingly, not so much in the US.  Currently, she’s working on a new album and has a recurring role in the soap The Young and the Restless.

 Corey Feldman and Corey Haim
Known to 80’s teen audiences as “the two Coreys”, sadly success was fleeting for both teen stars.  Haim, star of such iconic 80’s films as The Lost Boys, and Feldman, star of my all time favourite 80’s film, The Goonies, enjoyed teen heartthrob status and rode a wave of success during the decade.  But success was not without its problems.  Both Coreys battled substance abuse throughout the 90s.  Corey Feldman has since gotten clean, and is now a vegetarian and animal rights activist and the lead singer of the band, ‘The Truth Movement’.  Tragically, Corey Haim died in March 2010 – apparently of an accidental drug overdose, although this was disputed by his agent and family members.

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