Figure 1.--.

Information about child actors also provodes a great deal of fashion information. Both clothes these children wore as well as the costumes they wore in their films and shows provide much valuable information. These childrens often dressed very fashionably so information about them provides insights into contemprary fashions. The costumes they wore in films also provides useful information--although it must be treated more cautiously. HBC is preparing an alphabetical listing of child actors in movies, plays, and television.

Nemec, Corin - (US,1972- )

Personable boy playing Parker Lewis in the Fox series "Parker Lewis Can't Lose" (1990- ), the misadventures of an irreverent teenager. He was born in Little Rock, Ark., but his parents divorced when he was an infant. He grew up in Atalanta , Ga. with his sister and mother. They moved to Los Angeles when his career began to develop. He was 18 at the time of his Parker Lewis opened, but he began doing commercials when he was 13 and has been in several TV shows series, including "Webster" and "Sidekicks"; TV movies including "What's Alan Watching?" and "I Know My Name Is Stephen"; and movies such as "Tucker: The Man and His Dream". He was nominated for an Emmy for his part in "I Know My Name is Stephen," a powerful TV movie. His mother quit her job to look after his career and keep him out of trouble. He says "I don't think I want my kid to act until he's at least in his teens because a lot of times, [acting at a young age] will take away from a childhood, not being in school."

Newly, Anthony - (UK,1931- )

Noted British actor, singer, composer, and director began as a child actor with fins in the mid-1940s. He was a teenager in his earliest films: "Adventures of Dusty Bates (1947), Vice Versa (1947), "The Little Ballerina" (1947), "The Guinea Pig" (1948), and "Oliver Twist" (1948). He was introduced in the credits to "The Guinea Pig" (1947) as "Vice Versa," although he wore long pants when sent off to a dreadful boarding school. He also wore longs in the public school film, "The Guinea Pig" (1948). His most notable teenage role was probably the Artful Dodger in "Oliver Twist."

Note?, Brawley - (US,1986- )

Played the son of a rich man in "Ransom" (1997). He has plenty of practice playing the son of a famous father as he Rick Note's son. He lives in Florida with his mother who is now divorced from Note. He is no Hollywood brat, however, and landed his first acting role by accident. He was spotted by the director of one of his dad's films and wound up playing his father's character as a boy in "Mother Night". Ron Howard chose his for "Ransome." He has got a lot of film offers, but isn't sure that he wants to do another movie right away. He is so unaffected by the Hollywood scene that he skipped the "Ransome" premier to attend a Halloween party with his friends in Florida.

North, Jay - (US, 1951- )

Jay started his show business career in commercials. Best known for his TV series, "Dennis the Menace" (1959-63). He was reportedly chosen personally by creator Hank Ketcham himself to play Dennis in the TV series. Jay appeared in some 146 episodes of "Dennis."Incredibly, even though he began the series when he was about 6 years old, I never once saw him in shorts. Disappointing as the cartoonist often drew him in shorts, especially when his mother dresses him up for church and other special occasions. There was one imaginative scene where Mr. Wilson and a class of kids were in nice black suits and knee socks, but I not sure Dennis was also in shorts. (I only saw part of it.) Jay landed the Dennis part when he was 7 years old. One fellow child star says that Jay could not be more venomous if he was raised by snakes, and to hear him tell it he was. Jay says now that his years as Dennis were a nightmare of loneliness and "physical and emotional abuse" from his aunt and uncle, who were his legal guardians. His aunt kept him from contact with other kids his age and claims she often beat him when he muffed a line. He took to drawing horrible pictures on the backs of his scripts, people on fire, people being hung, and dismembered. He told one journalist that "Dennis the Menace" was a piece of garbage. Through it all, he was very popular. He had many guest roles in major television shows. He also appeared in many variety Shows: George Goble, Milton Berle, Dinah Shore, Eddie Fisher, and Tennessee Ernie Ford. His film T.V. shows were: Wanted Dead or Alive, Rescue Eight, Robert Taylor's Detectives, Desilu Playhouse, 77 Sunset Strip, Sugarfoot Family Films, Religious Programs, General Hospital, and Scout's Honor (T.V. movie). The flms were: The Big Operator, The Miracle of the Hills, Pepe, Zebra in the Kitchen, Maya, and The Teacher. Jay never had any good films, although he had a scene in "Maya" (1965) where he is pulled out of a river where he almost drowns and drys off without his clothes in front of a fire--very unusual for an American movie. He was never one of my favorites. He had blond hair and was a very effective Dennis in his TV series. He also starred in a short-lived TV series spun off from the movie, "Maya" (1967-68). Unfortunately it was a poorly done show and at any rate Jay was growing up. Interestingly he was almost always outfitted in Indian-style shorts. Following the failure of the TV spin off, he was never again able to land an important role. He had trouble adjusting after his child star faded. He says, "I went from being a huge star to being a has-been at age 11. Nobody wanted me for anything because I was so heavily identified with "Dennis the Menace." He faced all sorts of problems adjusting. He served in the Navy. I saw him on a 1994 TV show and he seems to have conquered his "personal daemons". Like many of us in our middle ages, Jay has gained quite a bit of weight.

Created: October 18, 2000
Last updated: August 21, 2001