PRETTY BABIES: An Insider's Look at the World of the Hollywood Child Star

by Andrea Darvi ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 17, 1983

Darvi, a successful pre-teen/teen actress in early-1960s television, sprinkles her own experiences all through this chatty journalistic survey of recent and current child-acting--which blends some intriguing specifics in with the predictable generalizations about the psychic price of fame and fortune. After a rambling introductory chapter, more or less stressing the ""dehumanizing"" trend in TV-era kiddie showbiz, Darvi turns to the ""stage mother"" (or father): interviews with kids, mothers, and directors suggest that the monster-clichÉ ""is often true""; insiders discuss the ""Mothers' Grapevine, a most lethal stage mother perversion""; and, while touching on parent-behavior bordering on ""child abuse,"" Darvi recalls her own mother's more protective ways. Next comes a chapter on agents--including a peek at a diaper-commercial audition and lots of cruel quotes from ruthless ten-percenters. Then: the kiddie-actor's preparation--from all-important photos to a workshop for commercial-acting to dancing/singing/acting. . . and pop-psychotherapy confidence-builders. (""Most acting schools for children are gimmicky and cost-ineffective."") And finally there are the perils and woes of the actual career and its aftermath: on-the-set tensions; separation anxiety at the end of each job; sexual harassment (perhaps less of a danger today, thanks to more openness about sex); the often-circumvented California child-labor laws, with inevitable reference to the Twilight Zone tragedy; and the problems of child actors reaching dead-end adolescence--Darvi herself ""washed up"" at 16, plus many other sad/bitter stories (some familiar, some not). With lots of candid quotes from famous and not-so-famous child actors: a loose and repetitious report, but modestly informative--and enlivened by Darvi's casual, wry, rarely self-indulgent remarks on her own career as TV's ""basic Third World vulnerable"" type.

Pub Date: Oct. 17, 1983

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: McGraw-Hill

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 1983

Categories: NONFICTION