They were part of your childhood, so where are the child actors from your favorite holiday movies today?
They were part of your childhood, but where are the child actors from your favorite holiday movies today?
Macaulay Culkin
In 1990, Culkin starred as Kevin McCallister in one of the holiday season's most popular movies, "Home Alone," when he was just 10. He went on to star in the sequel "Home Alone 2: Lost in New York" in 1992.
He acted in other hit movies including "My Girl," "Richie Rich," and "Good Son" but took a break before returning in 2003 with a cameo in "Will & Grace." The same year, he also played party promoter-turned-killer Michael Alig in the movie "Party Monster."
He was friends with the Michael Jackson and is goddaughter to the late superstar's daughter, Paris Jackson.
Culkin continued his love of music by starting a pizza-themed comedy rock band, The Pizza Underground. Now 38, he's focusing his time on Bunny Ears, a lifestyle blog he calls a mix of "Goop" and "The Onion."
He dated Mila Kunis for nine years before they broke up in 2011. He is now in a relationship with actress Brenda Song.
This holiday season, he appeared in a commercial for Google, in which he reenacts many of his famous "Home Alone" scenes, but with the help of Google Assistant.
Natalie Wood
Wood played Suzy in the original "Miracle on 34th Street" in 1947.
She went on to enjoy a career as a movie star in her adult years, too. Perhaps most famously, she played Maria in "West Side Story" in 1961 and starred alongside her husband, Robert Wagner, in a television version of "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof" in 1976.
Throughout her career, she was nominated for three Academy Awards and won three Golden Globes.
In 1981, Wood died in a mysterious drowning accident that's been the subject of much speculation. She was found floating in the waters off Catalina Island in 1981 after boating with Wagner. She was 43.
The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department re-opened the investigation into her death in February 2018.
Wagner has denied having anything to do with her death and has always said he believes she tried to climb into a dinghy and fell into the water, where she accidentally drowned.
Wood's sister, Lana, previously spoke to Inside Edition to appeal for information about what happened that night.
Addressing Wagner, she said, "Stand up and tell me the truth. I know things go bad. I know people lose their tempers. I know bad things happen when you don't want them to. So stand up and tell me that.
"Tell me what happened to her."
Mara Wilson
Wilson was just 7 when she starred in the remake of "Miracle on 34th Street" in 1994. But her big break came just before, when she starred as Robin Williams' youngest child, Natalie, in "Mrs. Doubtfire."
After "Miracle on 34th Street," she starred in "Matilda" in 1996 and "Thomas and the Magic Railroad" in 2000.
She took an extended break from acting but has made some TV and movie appearances in her adult years, including a cameo as a waitress in "Broad City" in 2016. She is a writer and storyteller, and uses her platform to talk about mental health.
"I wish somebody had told me it's OK to be anxious, that you don't have to fight it," she said in a video for Project UROK in 2015. "You are not the only one who has this. Other people can, and have, fought these battles before. The important thing to remember is you are not alone and you are OK."
Peter Robbins
In the 1960s, Robbins voiced Charlie Brown in the "Peanuts" TV specials and was the voice behind Charlie Brown in "A Charlie Brown Christmas." He remained in the role until he was 14.
After graduating from college, he worked in radio and in real estate.
After a series of legal troubles, including multiple probation violations and threats against his former girlfriend, a San Diego Police sergeant and the manager of the mobile home park where he lived, Robbins was sentenced to four years and eight months in prison in California.
He told a judge at his sentencing in 2015 that he suffers from bipolar disorder and paranoid schizophrenia.
“I’m mentally ill. I’ve committed no crime,” Robbins said.
Peter Billingsley
Billingsley starred as Ralphie in "A Christmas Story" in 1983 when he was just 12.
In 2017, he spoke to Inside Edition about auditioning for the role.
“I, as it turned out, was the very first person the director ever saw for the role,” he said. “For a long time, I didn't know what people saw in this movie, because you were so close to it. But now you step back and get a little perspective. It's like, 'Yeah, this is a really, really good film.'"
He appeared in a handful of other TV and movies roles throughout the '80s and '90s, then shocked audiences when he appeared alongside Will Ferrell in "Elf" in 2003. Not only did he act in "The Break Up," "Iron Man" and "Four Christmases," he produced them as well.
In 2017, he hosted a special edition of ABC's "20/20" called "Lights, Camera, Christmas: Inside Holiday Movie Classics," in which he revisited beloved Christmas movies with their stars.
Karolyn Grimes
Grimes is best known for her role as Zuzu Bailey in "It's a Wonderful Life." The actress starred in the classic when she was just 6 years old.
She only took a handful of acting roles after the 1946 film. Tragically, she was orphaned at 15, after her mother died of an illness and her father was killed in a car crash. She moved to Missouri to live with an aunt and uncle.
She went on to graduate college then worked as a medical technician and had seven children. Now in her 70s, she's a popular guest at "It's A Wonderful Life" screenings around the country.
Eric Lloyd
Lloyd was just 8 when he starred as Charlie Calvin in the first of Disney's "The Santa Clause" trilogy in 1994.
Most of his success on screen was in the '90s with movies, including "Dunston Checks In" in 1996. He also played the recurring character of Little John Warner in NBC's "Jesse" between 1998 and 2000.
He later graduated from Chapman University with a bachelor in fine arts in film production and now runs a music and film production studio in Los Angeles with a friend. He predominantly works as a sound mixer and visual director, according to his website.
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