For part one, (though not in the 80's) there is no better example of a Child Star who went on to have an incredible career as an adult than Ron Howard. He played little "Opie Taylor" on The Andy Griffith Show in the 60's when he was just 6 years old and then "Richie Cunningham" on Happy Days when he was 20 years old. He also starred in the film American Graffiti when he was 19. Then he retired from acting and became a successful Oscar-winning director and producer as well as the co-chairman of Imagine Entertainment which he began with Brian Grazer in 1986. Howard's films have achieved both critical and box office acclaim.

As we move to the 80's, I am going to start with an article by Victor Baita I came across on msnbc.com. Here is the article below:

Totally tubular: '80s TV teen success stories
By Victor Balta
msnbc.com contributor

Neil Patrick Harris
We always knew we loved Doogie, but we never knew we'd love him as much as we did when Neil Patrick Harris played a parody of himself in "Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle" in 2004. Even if we'll always see him as the cute, 16-year-old medical prodigy, he's parlayed his recent revival into a spot as one of TV's most awesome characters, Barney on CBS's "How I Met Your Mother." With a reprise on "Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay" and his recent turn on Joss Whedon's Internet sensation, "Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog," Harris, 35, is on the pulse of pop culture.

Mark-Paul Gosselaar
Even with the luscious new locks, most people look at Gosselaar and see Zack Morris from "Saved By the Bell." But at 34, he's all grown up and has worked his way out of the typecast and into serious drama. TV drama guru Steven Bochco recently called Gosselaar "one of the small, handful of best actors that we have in television today." That might have something to do with the fact that Gosselaar stars in Bochco's latest venture, TNT's "Raising the Bar." But Bochco's admiration is genuine; as he's given Gosselaar a role in virtually everything he's created since "NYPD Blue."

Alyssa Milano
It could have gone either way for the bubbly "Who's the Boss?" cutie after she starred in "Poison Ivy II" in 1996, but she made it through the darkness and found the light. A regular role on "Melrose Place" helped land her a starring gig on the it-lasted-longer-than-you -thought-it-did "Charmed." (Eight seasons. Who knew?). On the heels of her wild guest role on "My Name Is Earl" last season, ABC recently announced that it picked up the pilot for the 35-year-old Milano's new sitcom, "Single with Parents," which also stars Beau Bridges and Annie Potts.

Fred Savage
Ahh, Kevin Arnold longing for that first kiss with Winnie Cooper on "The Wonder Years." Savage, who seems immune to aging, might forever carry that prepubescent role with him, but he's making his biggest moves behind the camera, these days. Savage, 32, is directing sitcoms, scoring nominations from the Directors Guild of America for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Children's Programs in each of the past two years for episodes of The Disney Channel's "Wizards of Waverly Place." He has also directed 11 episodes of cult favorite, FX's "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia." The pilot for his new sitcom, "Secret White Millionaire," was recently picked up by CBS.

Michael J. Fox
The original, modern-day child-star-turned-success -story, Fox rode the "Family Ties" wave to some starring movie roles, including "Back to the Future" and "Teen Wolf." That rolled into a starring spot on ABC's "Spin City," for which he won an Emmy and three Golden Globe Awards, but Fox cut his time on the show in 2000, shortly after announcing that he'd had Parkinson's Disease since 1991. Fox, 47, is the voice of Stuart Little in the animated mouse movie franchise, and has made occasional guest appearances on shows such as "Scrubs" and "Boston Legal" in recent years.

I felt that was a solid article and it covered 5 of my very favorites, so that is why I wanted to share it with you. The only problem I had is that it was missing a couple more of the significant success stories. We have heard all of the sad stories of Child Stars who, for many different reasons, were never able to carry childhood success into a lifelong career. Actually, there are more Child Stars than you would expect who have managed to have respectable careers.

I am not going to try to cite all of them, but there were a couple from the 80s that were not covered in the article above that I felt definitely deserved mentioning.

Drew Barrymore
She began acting when she was just 11 months old, but really gained attention at 7 years old when she played "Gertie" in the blockbuster E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982). She then appeared in the 1984 films Firestarter and Irreconcilable Differences. At a very young age, Barrymore spiraled out of control having to deal with drug and alcohol abuse which almost ended her career and possibly even her life. She reestablished herself in the mid-90's and it is hard to believe now that she was the same little girl who needed rehab to save her life. In 1995, she formed the production company Flower Films which has produced several films including 2000's box office smash Charlie's Angels. I am a big fan of 1998's The Wedding Singer which she co-starred with Adam Sandler in. Barrymore has appeared in about 37 feature films grossing over $2.3 billion worldwide.

Sarah Jessica Parker
She was 17 years old when she starred in the television series Square Pegs (1982-83). She then appeared in several movies including Footloose (1984), Girls Just Wanna Have Fun (1985) and Flight of the Navigator (1986). Both Footloose and Girls Just Wanna Have Fun ranked on my Best Dancing Scenes from 80s Movies list. Since then, she has appeared in about 22 feature films not to mention becoming a fashion icon. Parker is probably best known, though, for her Emmy-winning role as "Carrie Bradshaw" in HBO's Sex in the City series (1998-2004) as well as the 2008 successful film version of the show.

Jason Bateman
He began in 1981 when he was 12 years old on the television series Little House on the Prairie. Then Bateman was on Silver Spoons (1982-83) and The Hogan Family (1986-91) which helped him become a teen idol during most of the 80's. We did not hear much from him during the 90's however, but Bateman made a major comeback after appearing in the 2002 film The Sweetest Thing and then in 2003 when he landed the role of "Michael Bluth" on the outstanding Fox sitcom Arrested Development. I was a big fan of the 2007 film Juno and Bateman was a big part of that film's success. He has established himself as a star once again in both television and movies.

Johnny Depp
Depp is borderline whether he should be considered as part of this topic. I was surprised to find out that he was already 24 years old when he starred on the Fox television series 21 Jump Street as "Officer Tom Hanson" (1987-90). Before that, he did have small movie roles in A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984) and Platoon (1986). I am not sure if this qualifies him as a "Child" Star of the 80's, but since that point he has starred in about 32 feature films which have grossed over $4.7 billion worldwide. He has been nominated for three Academy Awards for his work in Pirates of the Caribbean (2004), Finding Neverland (2005) and Sweeney Todd (2008). There is no doubt that he has become one of the biggest movie stars and best actors of his generation.

On this topic of Child Stars of the 80s who have achieved success as adults, I really felt it was worth adding those four to the conversation. Part two of this issue will be much more subjective and, as I mentioned earlier, much more superficial as well. Part two will feature Female Child Stars of the 80s who grew up to be Hot Adults. You are going to want to check out that issue for sure (can click on that link to take you there).

That will wrap up part one of this issue of Kickin' it Old School. Thanks as always for reading. If you are interested in reading more of my 80's related issues, please click there for a summary. You can always click on the Archives in the upper left hand column or use the Google Search Box at the top of the right hand column to find any other issues you may have missed. While you are up there in the upper right hand column, please take a moment to rate/vote for Kickin' it (I appreciate it). Peace and much love.

Check this out: Here is a link to a video I find very amusing. It is called "100 Movie Spoilers in 5 Minutes." It is exactly what you might think... two guys just spoiling the ending to movie after movie for 5 minutes straight. It is pretty impressive and very entertaining. WARNING: Does contain movie spoilers (100 to be exact) and also contains some explicit language (though not all that much). Hope you enjoy it.

Quote of the day: "The difference between the impossible and the possible lies in a person's determination." -Tommy Lasorda

Download this: As announced in earlier issues, I have made the decision to temporarily suspend this feature. I have received less and less feedback regarding the song recommendations made here, so I am going to go without it for a while and see how that goes. Let me know if you miss it. You can find a link to the summary of all past recommendations in the LINKS section in the left hand column.