by Ronnie Reese

Created on: October 10, 2010

Spoiled Rotten

In the land of ‘once upon a time’, we idolized them. We tried to speak like them, act like them, and sing like them. We wanted to be popular, just like them. If only we could have swapped places with them for a day. Then years later we see what their early success did to them. We see how the rest of their life was tainted by the early gleams of stardom. The following accounts are just a few…

At the age of 5 this childhood star sang ‘What Child is This?’ at her kindergarten graduation. In 1992 she became one of the kids on the ‘M-I-C-K-E-Y  -   M-O-U-S-E Club’. Today we know her as Britney Jean Spears.

Another child was the son of a devout Jehovah’s Witness. At the age of 8 he began singing backup in a group his brother’s started. The group set a record for the music industry in that their first 4 singles all made number 1 on the top 100 hits. Those songs were- ‘I Want You Back’, ‘The Love You Save’, ‘I’ll Be There’, and ‘ABC’. It’s hard to believe that innocent little Michael Jackson could have ever gotten into some of the situations later on in life that he did.

How many of you remember the sweet blue eyes that the kid from ‘Sixth Sense’ had. Fast forward a few years later and you see Haley Joel Osment drunk behind the wheel of an automobile at 18-years- of age. He was arrested for DUI and for possession of marijuana that was discovered in his Saturn station wagon.

Hollywood is full of its problem children. Jodie Sweetin from ‘Full House’ became a Meth Addict. Danny Bonaduce from ‘The Partridge Family’ became a drug addict with coke/crack. Jessica Biel from ‘7th Heaven’ displayed her scantily clad body in ‘Gear’ magazine.  Dustin Diamond, who portrayed Screech on ‘Saved by the Bell was later involved in a sex tape scandal as a porn star. Lindsay Lohan, who starred in ‘The Parent Trap’ later became a regular for drug rehab. Chris Brown, a double platinum recording star at the age of 16 was arrested in 2009 for felony assault and making criminal threats.

And what about the cast of of ‘Diff’rent Strokes’? Dana Plato later became a regular in porn magazines. She was also prosecuted for armed robbery and for forging a Valium prescription. She died in 1999 from a drug overdose.

Todd Bridges, who played the part of Willis, also became a drug addict.

And Gary Coleman, who played the cute cuddly Arnold Jackson would later be known for bankruptcy, assault, and disorderly conduct.

True, in the land of ‘once upon a time’, we did idolize them. We did try to speak like them, act like them, and sing like them. We wanted to be popular, just like them. But since that time…we’ve seen the outcome. We’ve seen what their early successes did to them. We’ve seen how their lives were tainted by the early gleams of stardom.

Yes, we did idolize them and we even coveted their stardom, but we got over it.

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