Discuss Bobby Driscoll
Discuss → People → Bobby Driscoll → General
(b. 1937, d. 1968) Another of Hollywood's tragic former child stars
posted by genplant29STAFFMOD on December 11, 2017 at 2:16 AM
Bobby Driscoll was a big success during a spread of years from part of the 1940s through part of the '50s, eventually exceeded his child-star sell-by date, and was left to his own devices after that. Starting experimentation with drugs at age 17, he quickly became addicted, multiple run-ins with the law followed over time, and once things eventually reached their peak he was arrested, convicted, and sentenced as a drug addict.
After release, then completion of his parole, he moved on to NYC, where it can be supposed he resumed being a junkie. Aged 31 he was found dead in an abandoned tenement building. (Seems a bit like life imitating art, as Driscoll was the Academy Award-winning star of 1949's The Window, that has a significant parallel.) Unidentified, he was buried in a pauper's grave (he was identified, via records, but without exhumation, the following year), where he remains.
Tragic.
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Reply by rudely_murray
on March 7, 2018 at 8:19 PM
Such a tragic story, one of far too many unhappy endings for Hollywood child stars. Driscoll was genuinely terrific in The Window, and memorable in his Disney roles too.
Reply by genplant29
on March 8, 2018 at 1:50 AM
Until I did some reading about him following my most recent (which was the other month) viewing of The Window, I had forgotten that Driscoll was a significant child star, or featured player, in various "family" type movies I'd seen while growing up.
Sadly, the fate of former child stars and other once-prominent child actors continues to be, much too frequently, substance abuse, and/or drifting into other bad influences, and/or a lot of public "acting out". Fortunately there are some success stories. For example Gordon Gebert (Holiday Affair, The Narrow Margin), who eventually happily left the business, went on to higher education, and became a professor of architecture (which apparently he still is).
Invidua, that's wonderful, the work Paul Petersen has done (and presumably still is doing).