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Stories

Tragic Backstories Of Hollywood Child Stars Of The Past

by Lauren Novak

Published February 26, 2019

tragic-child-stars

6. Natalie Wood

natalie wood
20th Century Fox

Natalie Wood’s mother caused her a lot of pain. Her mother wanted a famous life but never achieved it, so she pushed her daughter to obtain what she couldn’t. She often pushed Natalie into abusive relationships to keep her in the public eye.

7. Jackie Coogan

jackie coogan
Wikipedia

Jackie Coogan was a little boy in the Charlie Chaplin movie The Kid. He made lots of money as a young boy, but his parents spent all of it before he got a dime. This helped to pass a law to protect child actor’s money.

Related:

  1. 10 Childhood Cartoon Characters With Disturbingly Tragic Backstories
  2. Tragic Hollywood Starlets: 11 Leading Ladies Who Hid Their Secret Past

8. Margaret O’Brien

margaret obrien
Wikipedia

Margaret O’Brien lost her mother as a teen. Around the same time that her mom died, a maid stole her Oscar. However, after 40+ years, she finally got her award back.

9. Jackie Cooper

jackie cooper
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer

Unfortunately, this child star’s father left when Jackie was only two years old. In one of the Our Gang shorts, the director (who was also Jackie’s uncle) decided to get genuine tears for a scene by pretending to shoot Jackie’s dog! How cruel.

Who is your favorite child star on this list? Did you know they had such a tragic backstory? Did we miss anyone for this list? If you enjoyed this article, please SHARE with your friends and family!

Check out this video of child stars who we lost way too soon:

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