Freddie Bartholomew: Biography of Hollywood’s Beloved Child Actor
Discover the life of Freddie Bartholomew, Hollywood’s famous child actor known for iconic roles and his lasting impact on classic cinema.
Frederick Cecil Bartolomew was born on March 28, 1924 in London, and emigrated to the United States at the age of 10, becoming an American citizen. At the age of three he was already acting and at the age of five he was considered a child prodigy, even reciting entire poems by William Shakespeare. He also sang and danced divinely. After acting in a few films, he was hired by David Selznick for the lead role in the first production of David Copperfield (1935).
His immediate success led him to participate in a series of films, becoming one of the main child actors of the time and working alongside stars such as Greta Garbo, Gloria Stuart and Dolores Costello, among others.
In Captains Courageous (1937), alongside Spencer Tracy, he gave one of his best performances, despite the fact that filming took a whole year to complete. This made him get used to the cast and he missed them a lot when filming ended. Soon after, the boy was the favorite on the big screen, second only to Shirley Temple in terms of popularity.
That’s when things started to go wrong when his father started a legal battle to get all the money received by the boy who lived with his aunt. The battle, which lasted seven years, reduced his opportunities and took almost all of his fortune in lawyers and court fees. In an attempt to support himself, his aunt asked for a raise in the boy’s salary, threatening to break the contract, but his popularity had already plummeted. In the meantime, he was starting to reach adolescence.
The actor enlisted in the army in 1943, but soon got injured and was hospitalized for a few months. After being discharged, he returned to the movies, but his career was no longer the same. After distressing experiences, including a car accident in Los Angeles, he married Maely Daniele. His aunt disapproved of the marriage, distancing herself from her nephew. With few movies available, all that was left was to try TV, and that’s what he did.
After his divorce in 1953, he began a career in television, becoming a presenter, director and producer. In late 1953, he married Aileen Paul, with whom he had two children. However, the marriage also ended in divorce and he married one last time in 1977, to Elizabeth. Freddie retired from television in the late 1980s, moving with his family to Bradenton, Florida. In 1992, he died of pulmonary emphysema at the age of 67.
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