Hollywood has been cashing in on cute kids for over a century, and the kids usually pay the price. In Part 1 of The Child Star Problem, we trace the origins of child exploitation in the entertainment industry, starting even before Hollywood with vaudeville stages, traveling acts, and silent films. This episode unpacks the system that raised children for applause and profit, from Jackie Coogan, whose stolen fortune led to the first child labor law in entertainment, to Judy Garland, whose teen years were fueled by pills, starvation, and studio control.

We explore how the industry industrialized innocence, how parents and executives profited from it, and why this early playbook shaped every cautionary tale that followed. Before #FreeBritney and TikTok families, there were contract girls, fixers, and children sold as miracles during the Great Depression. And the cycle? It was built in from the start.

Content Warning: This episode includes mentions of child abuse, sexual harassment, addiction, and suicide.

Attribution Notes:

Follow This, Again on Instagram: @thisagainshow

This, Again is written, produced, and hosted by Mallory Faust. 

Sources & Further Reading

University of Oxford. "Exploitation of Elizabethan Child Actors Revealed."University of Oxford News, June 19, 2013. https://www.ox.ac.uk/news/2013-06-19-exploitation-elizabethan-child-actors-revealed.

Soth, Amelia. "Her Majesty’s Kidnappers."JSTOR Daily, December 17, 2020. https://daily.jstor.org/kidnapping-for-the-queens-choir/.

Hatzinger, Martin, et al. "Castrati - everything to achieve fame." Urologe A 48, no. 6 (June 2009): 649–652. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/19333571/.

Pound, Jeremy. "Secrets of the castrati: the eye-watering surgery that created opera’s greatest stars." Classical Music, July 18, 2025. https://www.classical-music.com/articles/secrets-of-castrati

Blakemore, Erin. "The Last Silent Film Star." JSTOR Daily, June 1, 2018. https://daily.jstor.org/the-last-silent-film-star/

Sid Luft, Judy and I: My Life with Judy Garland

Suyin Haynes, “The True Story Behind the Movie Judy,” TIME

Erin Blakemore, “Golden Age Hollywood Had a Dirty Little Secret: Drugs,” History.com

Shirley Temple Black, Child Star: An Autobiography

John F. Kasson, The Little Girl Who Fought the Great Depression

Hillel Italie, “Shirley Temple, Child Star of the Depression, Dies at 85,” Associated Press / Salt Lake Tribune

Judith Levine, “Baby, Take a Bow,” Boston Review

Duygu Balan, “Smile for the Camera: The Psychological Toll of Child Fame,” Psychology Today

Edward Helmore, “Trauma memoir puts spotlight on mums turning daughters into child stars,” The Guardian

Ariane Resnick, “Understanding Trauma Bonding,” Verywell Mind https://www.verywellmind.com/understanding-trauma-bonding-5185114

Jackie Coogan and the Coogan Law. Ailbhe Rogers, “More Than Pocket Money: A History of Child Actor Laws,” In Custodia Legis (Law Library of Congress blog), June 2022. https://blogs.loc.gov/law/2022/06/more-than-pocket-money-a-history-of-child-actor-laws/

Baby Peggy / Diana Serra Cary. Pamela Hutchinson, “Diana Serra Cary – aka ‘Baby Peggy’ Montgomery – obituary: the early child star who became an activist for Hollywood’s children,” Sight & Sound (BFI), February 25, 2020. https://www.bfi.org.uk/sight-and-sound/news/diana-serra-cary-aka-baby-peggy-montgomery-obituary-early-child-star-who-became-activist-hollywoods-children

Dana Plato, Gary Coleman, and Diff’rent Strokes Actors. Kellie Gormly, “The Tragic ‘Diff’rent Strokes’ Curse: Remembering Dana Plato & Gary Coleman,” Remind Magazine, May 8, 2024. https://www.remindmagazine.com/article/14088/the-tragic-diffrent-strokes-curse-remembering-dana-plato-gary-coleman-todd-bridges/