WHERE ARE THEY NOW: 14 child stars of the 1970s
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It's been almost five decades since the '70s.
Since then, the child stars of that era have all grown-up, and then some.
Brooke Shields has been in the spotlight since she starred in "Pretty Baby" and remains an A-lister.
Child stardom isn't easy for anyone, and for the kids of the '70s, it wasn't any different.
While some stars rose to A-list success, like Jodie Foster and Brooke Shields, some are mainly known to younger generations for their reality TV careers. Still others have struggled with mental health and addiction, sometimes to tragic ends.
From the kids of "The Brady Bunch" to Oscar-nominated actors who left Hollywood for good, here's what 14 child stars of the '70s are up to now.
Gary Coleman stole our hearts as Arnold on "Diff'rent Strokes," which aired from 1978 to 1986.
AP
Coleman's precocious portrayal of Arnold earned him a spot in the sitcom hall of fame, especially due to his catchphrase, "What'chu talkin' 'bout Willis?" He was just 10 years old when "Diff'rent Strokes" began airing in 1978. He appeared on the show until it ended in 1986.
Coleman was born with focal segmental glomerulosclerosis, a kidney disease that stunted his growth (he reached 4 feet 8 inches tall as an adult).
Coleman passed away in 2010 at the age of 42.
Mark Mainz/AP
Coleman's life post-"Diff'rent Strokes" was marked by financial and legal troubles. He sued his adoptive parents and business advisor in 1989 for misappropriating his trust fund. Coleman was awarded $1.3 million in 1993, though he filed for bankruptcy protection six years later.
Coleman didn't act much after "Diff'rent Strokes" ended, but he regularly made appearances as himself in comedies like "Dirty Work" and "Frank McKlusky, C.I."
He died in May 2010 as the result of a subdural hematoma.
Jodie Foster received an Academy Award nomination in 1976 when she was 14 for her performance in "Taxi Driver."
AP
Foster began acting in the '60s, but her role in "Taxi Driver" is what really put her on the map. Foster was nominated for an Academy Award for her portrayal of an underage prostitute.
The film drew controversy for her casting as Foster was just 12 years old when she was cast, but it eventually received rave reviews.
She achieved teen idol status for her roles in 1976's "Freaky Friday" and 1977's "Candleshoe."
Foster continues to be a force in Hollywood, and was awarded the honorary Cecil B. DeMille Award at the 2013 Golden Globes.
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Foster attended Yale University, and, after graduating, was eventually cast in legal drama "The Accused" in 1988. She won her first Academy Award for her role in the film. Three years later, she had a career-defining performance in "The Silence of the Lambs" as FBI agent Clarice Starling. It earned her her second Oscar.
Foster, now 56, continued acting through the 2000s with roles in "Panic Room," "Flightplan," and "Inside Man." Since then, she's focused more on directing.
For many years, Foster's sexuality was questioned and speculated upon in the media. While she thanked her then-partner in 2007, Foster didn't publicly come out as a lesbian until her 2013 Golden Globes speech.
Donny Osmond broke away from his brothers in the '70s and achieved solo success as a teen.
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Just a few years before his younger sister would hit the scene, Donny Osmond took the world by storm. The 14-year-old released his first two albums in 1971: "The Donny Osmond Album" and "To You with Love, Donny." Both were certified gold and reached 12 and 13, respectively, on the Billboard 200. He released two more albums in 1972, "Portrait of Donny" and "Too Young" that peaked at six and and 11.
"Had I not hit it so big as a teen idol, and I would have just established myself as a theater actor or a musical entertainer, it would have been a lot different. But I probably wouldn't have the audience I have today,"he told The Washington Post in 2014.
He'll be wrapping up his extremely successful Las Vegas show alongside his sister, Marie, in November.
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Osmond, now 61, had trouble trying to escape his teenybopper status, but eventually found success as a pop singer. He earned a No. 2 song in 1989, "Soldier of Love."
In the '90s, Osmond starred in the Broadway musical "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat" as Joseph, and also appeared in the film version. For kids, he's probably best known as the singing voice for Li Shang in the Disney classic "Mulan."
Osmond also won "Dancing with the Stars" in 2009, and was the runner-up for the first season of "The Masked Singer," losing the crown to T-Pain.
Speaking of Marie Osmond, she was also a successful singer when she was a teen in the '70s.
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Unlike her brothers, the Osmond daughter was more country than pop, but she was still a bona fide teen idol.
In 1973, she released her first solo single, "Paper Roses," which topped both the US Country chart and the Adult Contemporary chart. It reached No. 5 on the Hot 100. That same year she released her debut album, also titled "Paper Roses," which peaked at No. 1 on the Country chart. Osmond was just 13 years old.
Besides the Vegas show with her brother, Osmond will be the newest co-host of "The Talk" in September.
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Her Vegas show with her brother, aptly titled "Donny & Marie," has been running since 2008, and will wrap up this year in November. But the 59-year-old has a new gig all lined up, as the newest co-host of "The Talk." She's set to replace "Roseanne" star Sara Gilbert in September.
In her personal life, Osmond has been married three times to two different men. She married Stephen Craig in 1982, and the two divorced in 1985. Osmond then married Brian Blosil in 1986, and the two remained together until 2007. Four years later, she remarried her first husband, Craig, in the same dress she had worn in 1982.
Mike Lookinland starred in "The Brady Bunch" as the second-youngest Brady, Bobby, from ages nine to 14.
CBS Television
As the youngest Brady, Lookinland was just nine years old when the show premiered. He remained on the show through its end, and appeared in the various specials, TV movies, and spin-off shows that "The Brady Bunch" inspired.
He also appeared in the 1974 movie "The Towering Inferno."
Lookinland has retired from acting, and currently runs a decorative concrete business in Utah.
Chris Pizzello/AP
Now 58, Lookinland is fully concentrated on his concrete business. He opened up about his struggles with alcoholism in 2013, saying he believes everything about the entertainment industry is fake.
He's been married to Kelly Wermuth since 1987, and the couple has two children.
Brooke Shields was just 12 years old when she starred in 1978's controversial "Pretty Baby."
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Shields began working as a model when she was only 11 months old, but her big break came in 1978 when she was cast as an underage prostitute in "Pretty Baby." Shields was just 12 years old when the film came out and it generated a lot of controversy due to the amount of nudity in it.
She followed that up with another film in 1979, "Wanda Nevada," a western.
Most recently, Brooke Shields can be seen in the past two seasons of "Jane the Virgin."
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Shields, 54, has remained on Hollywood's A-list since the '70s. She was nominated for two Golden Globes for her performance in "Suddenly Susan," a sitcom that lasted four seasons. Shields also starred in "Lipstick Jungle" and can currently be seen on "Jane the Virgin" as a tongue-in-cheek version of herself.
Shields has also been extremely outspoken about her struggles with postpartum depression, and wrote a book about her experiences called "Down Comes the Rain."
She was married to tennis pro Andre Agassi from 1997 to 1999. She then married screenwriter Chris Henchy in 2001. They have two daughters.
The youngest Brady was played by Susan Olsen until the show's conclusion in 1974.
Paramount Domestic Television
Olsen was only eight years old when she was cast as "the youngest one in curls" on "The Brady Bunch." She appeared in every other "Brady" property besides 1988's "A Very Brady Christmas" because it was shot while she was on her honeymoon.
Olsen now acts sporadically, and hosted a radio show until 2016 when she was fired after being accused of making homophobic comments on Facebook.
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Since playing Cindy Brady, Olsen hasn't acted much. She pivoted towards graphic design in the '90s, and even collaborated with Converse. Olsen, 57, is also passionate about animal rights.
Until 2016, Olsen co-hosted the radio show "Two Chicks Talkin' Politics." She was fired in December of that year due to a feud between herself and gay actor Leon Acord-Whiting. During a tirade on Facebook, she repeatedly used homophobic slurs, reported Us Weekly. He successfully lobbied for her firing.
Leif Garrett released three albums in the '70s, as well as starring in movies and TV shows.
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Garrett's breakthrough as a teen idol came when he starred in the show "Three for the Road" when he was only 14.
Garrett released his first album two years later in 1977, despite having no musical training. His immense popularity helped propel his music career, and he released four more albums through 1981.
He later returned to acting and appeared in '80s classics "The Outsiders" and "Thunder Alley."
Garrett openly spoke about his problems with addiction on "Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew."
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Garrett has been arrested multiple times throughout his career for drug possession. The 57-year-old also appeared on season four of "Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew," which was also his last on-screen appearance to date.
His upcoming memoir, "Idol Truth," will be released in November 2019.
Peter Ostrum starred as Charlie Bucket in the 1971 film "Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory" at age 12.
Paramount Pictures
Ostrum was 12 years old when he was cast as Charlie in "Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory." He was discovered by talent agents in Cleveland while acting in a play. After a relatively lengthy casting process, he was told to be in Munich, Germany, in the next 10 days to begin filming.
The studio was prepared to offer Ostrum a three-movie deal, but he declined.
Read more: 12 child stars who quit Hollywood for good
That was the only film Ostrum ever appeared in. He retired from acting after completing "Willy Wonka," and grew up to become a veterinarian.
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Ostrum, 61, decided to ditch the acting business after "Willy Wonka" — it just wasn't for him. He decided to keep his role as Charlie private from almost everyone in his life, including his wife, who he didn't tell until right before she was going to meet his mother.
"Acting was fine, but I wanted something more steady, and the key is to find something that you love doing, and that's what my profession has given to me," Ostrum said of his current career. Even though he keeps a low profile, he does stay involved with his community, and goes around to public schools to talk about his time on "Willy Wonka" and his time as a vet.
Quinn Cummings was 10 years old when she was nominated for an Academy Award for her performance in 1977's "The Goodbye Girl."
Warner Bros.
Cummings only appeared in one other movie besides "The Goodbye Girl," 1989's "Listen to Me."
She was only 10 when she was nominated for Best Supporting Actress for "The Goodbye Girl," making her one of the youngest Oscar nominees of all time.
From 1978 to 1980, she appeared in 36 episodes of ABC drama "Family" as a young orphaned girl that the titular Lawrence family adopts.
Though Cummings hasn't acted since 1991, she's written three books.
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Cummings' last on-screen role was a 1991 episode of "Blossom."
Cummings, 51, pivoted towards writing in the 2000s, first with her blog called "The QC Report," and then with her three books. She published her memoir, "Notes From The Underwire: Adventures from My Awkward and Lovely Life," in 2009. Her second book about home schooling, "The Year of Learning Dangerously," was published in 2012. Her most recent book, "Pet Sounds," was released in 2013.
Cummings also penned a piece concerning the #MeToo movement for Esquire in 2017, detailing her experiences with sexual assault and problematic behavior in Hollywood.
Valerie Bertinelli starred on "One Day at a Time" for nine years, beginning in 1975.
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Bertinelli was 15 years old when "One Day at a Time" premiered in 1975. She appeared in 208 of 209 episodes of the show, until it ended in 1984.
Throughout the decade she also appeared on other famous shows like "The Hardy Boys" and "Battle of the Network Stars."
Bertinelli married musician Eddie Van Halen in 1981 when she was 21 and he was 26. They had one son together, Wolfgang.
Bertinelli now hosts two cooking shows on the Food Network: "Valerie's Home Cooking" and "Kids Baking Championship."
Richard Shotwell/Invision/AP
Bertinelli divorced Van Halen in 2007 after separating in 2001. She attributed the end of their relationship to his struggles with drugs and alcohol, and a reluctance to quit smoking.
In the 2000s, Bertinelli was mainly known for her public weight loss journey with Jenny Craig, in which she famously lost 40 pounds. She also starred on TV Land sitcom "Hot in Cleveland" from 2010 to 2015. She married husband Tom Vitale in 2011.
Most recently, the 59-year-old has been hosting "Kids Baking Championship" and "Valerie's Home Cooking," which won her two Daytime Emmy Awards in 2019.
Christopher Knight played the middle Brady, Peter, starting at 12 years old.
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Knight is best known for his role as Peter, the middle son on " The Brady Bunch." He also appeared in a 1979 movie called "Just You and Me, Kid," and in other '70s sitcoms like "Happy Days," "One Day at a Time," and "CHiPs."
Knight retired from acting in 1988 but has since appeared on a few reality TV shows.
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Knight, a self-proclaimed "geek," left Hollywood in the '80s to pursue a career in computers. He successfully founded Kidwise Learningware, a company that created educational software, in 1995.
He reappeared on TV in the 2000s during an episode of "That '70s Show" alongside "Brady Bunch" co-star Barry Williams, and then on the fourth season of VH1 reality show "The Surreal Life."
On the show, Knight, now 61, met his future wife, Adrianne Curry. The two co-starred on a spin-off reality show "My Fair Brady" that lasted for three seasons. The couple divorced in 2013.
One of Knight's on-screen sisters was played by 11-year-old Eve Plumb.
Paramount Television
Plumb played Jan, whose signature catchphrase "Marcia, Marcia, Marcia" is one of the best-known lines from the show. During the '70s she also appeared in multiple TV films like "Dawn: Portrait of a Teenage Runaway" and its sequel, "Alexander: The Other Side of Dawn," in which she played a teenage runaway who resorts to prostitution.
Plumb is still a working actress, and appeared on the most recent season of HBO's "Crashing."
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In addition to her acting, Plumb is a successful painter. Her work has appeared in galleries across the US.
Plumb, 61, has recently appeared in multiple popular TV shows, including "Crashing," "Blue Bloods," and "Law and Order: Special Victims Unit." She also had a role in "Grease Live."
In 2016, she sold the Malibu mansion she bought for herself in 1969 when she was 11 years old.
Danny Bonaduce got his start on "The Partridge Family" when he was 11.
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Bonaduce came from a Hollywood family — his father, Joseph, was a writer on "The Dick Van Dyke Show" and "One Day at a Time." According to him, his father was physically and emotionally abusive.
His breakout role was as middle child Danny Partridge in "The Partridge Family." He appeared on the show for all four seasons until 1974. Four years later he starred in "Corvette Summer" alongside Mark Hamill.
He also released a self-titled album in 1973 and had a minor hit with the song "Dreamland."
As an adult, he starred in a VH1 show about his life called "Breaking Bonaduce."
Mark J. Terrill/AP Images
Bonaduce is best known now as a TV and radio personality. His show, "Breaking Bonaduce," aired on VH1 in 2005 and 2006, and was an unflinching look at Bonaduce's life. The show depicted his marriage slowly breaking down, his descent into experimenting with performance enhancing drugs after years of drug abuse, and an off-screen suicide attempt.
The 59-year-old separated from his wife, Gretchen, in 2007. He married Amy Railsback in 2010.
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