Child stars who went off the rails revealed: Shia LaBeouf, Lindsay Lohan and Demi Lovato among those who struggled
THE "curse" of the child actor has seen stars such as Shia LaBeouf, Lindsay Lohan, and Demi Lovato struggle after they hit the limelight.
Many former child stars often battle addictions and other issues, making headlines for landing in rehab or jail.
Most recently, Peter Robbins, who voiced Peanuts character Charlie Brown, passed away last week by suicide.
PETER ROBBINS
Robbins started voicing Charlie Brown in 1963, appearing in several Peanuts cartoons.
Robbins was also a child actor, working professionally by the age of seven. He appeared in episodes of The Munsters as Elmer but landed his iconic role as Charlie Brown when he was nine.
Throughout his life, Robbins battled bipolar disorder and served a four-year sentence for sending threatening letters to the manager of a mobile home park where he lived.
Robbins was interviewed in 2019 after his release from prison, and detailed his lifelong battle with bipolar disorder to KSWB.
“I would recommend to anybody that has bipolar disorder to take it seriously because your life can turn around in the span of a month like it did to me,” he said.
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“I came out of prison and I’m a better person for it. I’m much more humble and grateful and thankful that I lived through the experience.”
Robbins regarded Charlie Brown as an important aspect of his life and his recovery; he was relentlessly thankful to the fans.
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“Charlie Brown fans are the greatest fans in the world,”
Robbins said in 2019. “And everybody is willing, I hope, to give me a second chance.”
SHIA LABEOUF
Shia LaBeouf is another ex-Disney star who went through a troublesome period when he left the network.
The Even Stevens actor was arrested back in 2014 and later charged with disorderly conduct and criminal trespass at Studio 54 theatre.
After his arrest, the 32-year-old joined an outpatient program for alcoholism and has since staged a number of bizarre public appearances which have left fans concerned about his well-being.
In 2014, he appeared at the premiere of his movie Nymphomaniac wearing a paper bag on his head which had the words "I am not famous anymore" scrawled in large letters over his face.
Later that same year he spent a night in jail after being disruptive while watching a Broadway show and was arrested again in 2017 for disorderly conduct, obstruction, and public drunkenness.
A video that emerged of his racist rant at police officers at the time pushed the former Disney star to apologize on Twitter, where he described the incident as a "new low" and said he was newly committed to sobriety.
LINDSAY LOHAN
After modeling as a child, Lindsay Lohan made her acting breakthrough in the 1998 Disney film The Parent Trap, when she was just 12.
She followed up with a string of high-profile film appearances, including Mean Girls, before returning to Disney in 2005 with Herbie: Fully Loaded.
However, her life has been peppered with legal run-ins and controversies ever since a booze-fuelled car crash in 2007, and she has had a notably sour relationship with her father which may have contributed to her turmoil.
Lowlights include the party girl's subsequent hour-long stay in prison for cocaine possession and drink driving, and when she was fitted with an alcohol-monitoring device as a condition of her bail.
In 2010 she then earned a two-week prison sentence for failing to attend her court-ordered weekly alcohol education classes, and eventually ended up in rehab after leaving jail.
DEMI LOVATO
Demi Lovato first appeared onscreen in Barney & Friends opposite Selena Gomez from 2002 to 2004. However, they gained fame after landing the starring role in the 2008 film Camp Rock.
Lovato later released their debut album Don’t Forget that same year, which peaked at No. 2 on the US Billboard 200.
The success continued when Lovato starred as the titular character in the Disney sitcom Sonny with a Chance in 2009. However, their stint on the show ended when Lovato checked into treatment for personal issues in late-2010.
Lovato has long suffered from bulimia nervosa, self-harm and had admitted to using cocaine several times. The singer suffered a near-fatal episode in 2018 before returning to a "California Sober" lifestyle of drinking alcohol and smoking marijuana.
Lovato, 29, has quietly completed a third stint in rehab for addiction at a facility in Utah.
They have since returned home to LA and are "doing well," a source has revealed to
They denounced the “California Sober” lifestyle back in December, sharing on Instagram that “Sober sober is the only way to be.”
JAKE LLOYD
Jake Lloyd was just 10 when he played a young Anakin Skywalker in Star Wars: Episode 1 - The Phantom Menace, alongside Natalie Portman and Ewan McGregor.
With such hype over the movie's release, Jake was doing up to 60 interviews a day, and such attention resulted in him being bullied at school.
Jake, who had previously appeared in Jingle All The Way, said: "My entire school life was really a living hell."
He only made a couple more movies - one remained unreleased, and a documentary about Tibetan refugees.
He said: "I've learned to hate it when the cameras are pointed at me."
Jake was jailed in 2015 after leading police on a high-speed chase in South Carolina, USA. Soon afterward, he transferred to a psychiatric unit.
According to entertainment site TMZ, his mum, Lisa, filed a police report three months before the car chase claiming Jake had "stomped on her three or four times" but didn't press charges.
In 2020 the family released a statement to say Jake had moved closer to home and had been diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia.
DUSTIN DIAMOND
Dustin Diamond made his name playing wacky Screech in the Saved by the Bell TV series - starting off in its first incarnation as Good Morning, Miss Bliss in 1988, until 2000, with Saved by the Bell: The New Class, when he played the high school principal's assistant.
Afterward, he toured with his own stand-up comedy and appeared on game shows like The Weakest Link and Celebrity Boxing 2.
But in 2001, he filed for bankruptcy and flogged T-shirts emblazoned with "I paid $15 to save Screeech's house" - which had an extra 'e' in the name to get around copyright.
In 2006, he released a sex tape - Screeched: Saved by the Smell - but later admitted on Oprah Winfrey's show that he didn't appear in it, but rather it was a stunt double.
He was arrested in Wisconsin, US, for possession of a switchblade, which he allegedly pulled during a bar fight in which a man was stabbed.
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He served three months in jail for carrying a concealed weapon and disorderly conduct.
He died from lung cancer last February, aged 44.
You're not alone
SUICIDE is the 10th leading cause of death in the US, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Leading Causes of Death Report from 2018.
There were "more than two and half times as many suicides" in the US than there were homicides, according to the .
For people ages 10 and 34, suicide was the "second leading cause of death" and the fourth for individuals ages 35 to 54.
Suicide is a vital health concern in the U.S. It affects all genders, races and ages.
This is why The-Sun.com launched the You're Not Alone campaign.
The campaign calls on readers to discuss their mental health issues with their family, friends and health professionals. We can all pitch in to help out others who may be suffering and help save lives.
If you are struggling to cope, you are not alone. There are many free and confidential programs in the US aimed to help those who are struggling with their mental health.
If you or someone you know is struggling with mental health problems, these organizations are here to provide support:
- National Suicide Prevention Lifeline, , 1-800-273-TALK
- Crisis Text Line, , Text HOME to 741741
- Veterans Crisis Hotline, , 1-800-273-8255
- Trevor Project, , 1-866-488-7386
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