5 Child Stars From The '80s Who Look Unrecognizable Today

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No one expects a child star to look the same forever. Yet, actors who started young are often scrutinized — just look at the tragic way Millie Bobby Brown's appearance has been commented on by the media and "Stranger Things" fans alike, simply because time has passed and she has grown up over the years.

Of course, actors do change over time, and this doesn't stop just because the public tends to envision them as youngsters who played iconic roles in older projects. That's why it's good to remember just what happened between the famous early roles of child stars and what they're doing these days, and how much they've changed over that time. We've already discussed 1990s child stars who grew up to be unrecognizable. Today, we'll go even further back in history and see what some of the most iconic child actors of the 1980s who starred in beloved shows like "Growing Pains" and "The Cosby Show" and films like "The Goonies" look like today.

Aileen Quinn was one of the most radiant child stars of the 1980s thanks to one particular role. Her turn as the titular character of John Huston's 1982 film adaptation of the Broadway musical comedy-drama "Annie" earned her two Golden Globe nominations and saw her hold her own opposite the likes of Albert Finney, Carol Burnett, and Tim Curry. 

Quinn already had experience from the Broadway version of "Annie," where she was a "swing orphan," going on stage if one of the actors playing an orphan had to miss a production. She got the film role after beating 8,000 other hopefuls for it. However, she has only acted in a handful of projects after "Annie," which was her second-ever film role after a small role in the 1981 Burt Reynolds comedy "Paternity." After a couple of voice roles, Quinn appeared as Princess Zora in the 1986 musical "The Frog Prince," after which she stopped screen acting for two decades. 

As an adult, she's returned in front of the camera, but her acting projects have been few and far between. Between 2007 and her most recent role in 2020, she only appeared in a few comparatively small parts, with a guest star turn as Ramona Delaney on "Will & Grace" arguably her biggest role. She has been more active in theater, however, appearing in a number of stage shows on and off Broadway. She's also a drama professor at Monmouth University — a truly fitting place of work, because the university's Great Hall at Shadow Lawn served as Daddy Warbuck's (Finney) mansion in "Annie." 

Because of his peculiar career, Sean Astin straddles the line between child stars who grew up to be unrecognizable and famous Hollywood actors who started out as child stars. Astin's breakthrough role was Mikey Walsh in Richard Donner's 1985 adventure classic "The Goonies," and he has acted steadily ever since, appearing in at least two projects most years.

When Astin's transition to adult stardom came, it was almost a cheat code. As the plucky hobbit Sam Gamgee in Peter Jackson's "The Lord of the Rings" trilogy, his common sense attitude, boundless heart, and full-on fantasy heroics were just far enough removed from "The Goonies" to put his name on the map in a brand new way. Astin has been even busier after the J.R.R. Tolkien adaptations than he was before, appearing in roles across many different genres and being in high demand: In 2015 alone, he had no fewer than 14 different screen and voice acting roles. Astin has also proved that he continues to be fully capable of delivering an iconic role when the opportunity presents itself; Many fans of Netflix sci-fi smash hit "Stranger Things" remember his charming Bob Newby as one of the best things in the show's Season 2.

Apart from his prominence in the acting game, Astin has also become a major power player in the actors' trade guild SAG-AFTRA. He is the current president of the labor union, having served in the role since September 2025.

There are many impressive screen acting debuts in film history, but C. Thomas Howell's screen acting debut is in a class of its own. The young actor's very first film role was Tyler, one of the bike gang in a little 1982 Steven Spielberg project called "E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial." His next project was the main role of Oklahoma greaser Ponyboy Curtis in Francis Ford Coppola's 1983 coming-of-age drama "The Outsiders." 

As you can probably guess, Howell wasn't exactly short of work after these two early roles. Movies like "Red Dawn" and "The Hitcher" followed, but unfortunately, one film soon derailed his momentum. 1986's critically panned "Soul Man" featured the actor in a role that involved copious use of blackface. The controversial movie ruined Howell's career for a long time, effectively stripping him of his high-profile leading man status. 

Howell has nevertheless continued to work steadily in film and TV roles, with well over 200 acting credits to his name. He also makes country music as Tommy Howell. 

The youngest person on this list and a literal late-game addition in the pantheon of 1980s child stars, Raven-Symoné Christina Pearman — known mononymously as either Raven-Symoné or simply Raven — joined "The Cosby Show" as Denise Huxtable's (Lisa Bonet) stepdaughter Olivia Kendall. After wrapping up her stint on the show in 1992, she moved to playing Nicole Lee in "Hangin' with Mr. Cooper," Charisse Dolittle in the 1998 Eddie Murphy comedy "Dr. Dolittle" and its 2001 sequel, and a series of other roles. 

In the 2000s, Raven-Symoné experienced major success playing main character Raven Baxter on "That's So Raven" and voicing Monique on "Kim Possible." She returned to playing Raven in 2017 on "Raven's Home," which ran until 2023. She's also played the recurring character Rhonda Johnson on "Black-ish."

Apart from acting, Raven-Symoné is an accomplished musician with multiple albums to her name. She has also appeared in the Broadway musical "Sister Act," playing the main character Deloris Van Cartier in 2012.  

Tracey Gold had already appeared in a small role in the celebrated 1977 miniseries "Roots" and a number of other projects before her 1980s stardom, establishing herself as Carol Seaver on "Growing Pains" — a sitcom role that she played from 1985 to 1992. 

After "Growing Pains," Gold continued to appear in movies and TV shows, getting steady work even though she never reached the height of her 1980s success again. On a personal front, Gold's life hasn't always been easy. She was the unwilling subject of one of the biggest child star controversies in TV history when "Growing Pains" wrote in jokes about her weight, which contributed to her negative self-image. Gold has been vocal about her time with anorexia, discussing it openly and even writing a book about her journey, called "Room to Grow: An Appetite for Life." While she hasn't acted since 2016's "All Hallows' Eve," she remains involved in the arts, notably teaching acting at the Santa Clarita School of Performing Arts. 

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