Being a child star is rough—you don’t get to hang out with friends, have sleepovers, or go to a normal school. So it’s really no surprise when some get involved in drugs, partying and other sorts of trouble. We’ve all heard about the exploits of Lindsey Lohan, Britney Spears, and Shia Laboeuf. But what about the ones who seemed to disappear into the shadows?

Adam Lamberg – “Lizzie McGuire”

Adam Lamberg, best known for playing my first TV crush Gordo on “Lizzie McGuire,” didn’t stick with acting for too long after the show ended. He starred in two fairly unknown movies called “When Do We Eat?” and “Beautiful Loser” before retiring from acting altogether. But don’t worry, Lamberg has been keeping himself quite busy. After his retirement, he went on to major in geography at the University of California, Berkeley. He then packed his bags and headed north to New York City where he works as a development associate at the Irish Arts Center. Oh, and he’s working on a Masters degree in Public Administration. And he’s still a cutie to boot!

Christy Carlson Romano – “Even Stevens”

Well, we all know little brother Shia didn’t make it out of childhood stardom unscathed but what about Christy Carlson Romano, who played his older sister Ren on Even Stevens? After her initial role as brainy Ren Stevens, she went on to do more work for Disney, voicing the titular character Kim Possible until the end of that show’s run. Romano continues to act; according to IMDB, she has two projects in the can: “Prism” (no release date yet) and “The Girl in the Photographs,” which released yesterday on September 14th. She also has a third film in post-production called “Bear With Us.” 

Film isn’t the only acting Romano has been pursuing—in February of 2004 she began a 31 week run as Belle in the Broadway show of “Beauty and the Beast.” She also joined the cast of “Avenue Q” as Kate Monster in 2008 for a short run. Romano has lent her voice to the video game “Kingdom Hearts,” wrote a YA novel which received accolades from the New York Public Library, and directed a music video for Steph Gold’s “The Sun” which was accepted into the LA Shorts Fest in 2012. You go, girl!

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Raven-Symone – “That’s So Raven”

Perhaps Miss Symone is the most well-known actress on this list, and rightfully so. After “That’s So Raven” and her Disney TV film, “The Cheetah Girls,” she starred in several made-for-TV films and even had a short-lived show called “The State of Georgia” in which she starred as Georgia, an aspiring performer taking New York by storm. The show was cancelled after 12 episodes and Raven-Symone moved on to Broadway. In January 2012, she began her tour as Deloris van Cartier, the lead role in the Broadway show of Sister Act. In May of 2015, it was announced that Symone would permanently replace Rosie O’Donnell on talk show “The View” following several guest hosting appearances. Symone isn’t entirely without scandal, though. She has been criticized in her views on her own sexual identity as well as how she views her racial identity. In an interview with Oprah Winfrey, she acknowledged that she was in a happy relationship with a woman, but didn’t identify as LGBT; she also stated she didn’t identify as African-American and rejects societal labels. She said she identifies simply as an American who loves humans.

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Who was your favorite Disney star?

Additional Image: Wikimedia

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