Customer Reviews

Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star (but don't have sex or take the car)

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Dickie Moore is best known for appearing in The Little Rascals, but he also graced films like Blonde Venus, So Big, and Sergeant York. He wasn't the biggest of the child stars, but he certainly mingled with great stars and suffered the consequences of having fame at such a young age.

This book is not a biography although Moore does relate some childhood experiences and lightly grazes on moments from later in life, always relating them to the effect stardom had on them. The book is filled with interviews from countless other child stars like Natalie Wood, Edith Fellows, Shirley Temple, Donald O'Connor, Jane Powell, Mickey Rooney, Jackie Coogan, etc etc. Each provide insight into the main theme of the book: how are child stars supposed to have "rosebuds" (a symbol from the film Citizen Kane) when they didn't have normal childhoods?

The book is highly entertaining and it takes an interesting slant on delving into some of the brightest stars of the Depression era and later. It is by no means an auto-biography or a monumental study; it is simply a therapeutic exploration by one of my favorite child stars.

This book allowed me to EXPERIENCE what it is like to be a child actor. I'm a 100% left brain person, but I was still able to FEEL the frustrations and exhaustion from long rehersals and from the long waits while the crew set up the next shots. I EXPERIENCED the anguish of always missing childhood events such as being in little league. I watched kids playing little league, knowing that I would never be able to particiate, because I had to be on the all day including Saturdays. I missed sleep overs with my friends, because I had to get up 4:00 AM the next day, so that I could be in make up at 5:00 AM and be on the set for filming at 6:00 AM. I could go on and on.

I EXPERIENCED this these things so vividly that I can talk about them in first person, even though I've never even seen a sound stage and I don't know anyone in the entertainment business.

It should be noted that this book deals with people who were children in the 1930's such as Mickey Rooney. It would be nice if a book exists which deals with people who were child actors in the 1970's and 1980's. If you know about such as book, please contact me.

Jay Roberts (Jay9751Roberts@Comcast.net)

Dickie Moore's account of his childhood is rather sad. The depression must have taken out the nurture gene from some parents, maybe the fear of poverty did it. Dickie Moore, Baby Peggy, Marcia Mae Jones, and Edith Fellows to name a few had horrific lives and lived through things that no children should have ever had to live through. While Dickie's book was a little depressing,it was really a good read. I had read it as a library book and liked it so much I bought it for my collection.

It is a book well worth reading. It is hard to find books that tell about the child stars of long ago, the ones that I loved seeing in the movies.

I am presently re-reading this book.There are so many different people in it called "I" that it is easy to get lost.I found it necessary to keep going back to find out who "I" is. I suppose I will have to read it a few times to get all the stories. Despite the "I" problem it is still an interesting read.