Freddie Bartholomew - Childhood Movie Star 1924 -1992 One of the most popular child actors in film history, Freddie Bartholomew was born Frederick Llwellyn in Dublin, Ireland, in 1924. He was raised in England by an aunt, Millicent Bartholomew, from whom he took his surname. Freddie had appeared on the London stage and in two minor British films when on a visit to the U.S. with his aunt in 1934, he was offered the title role in “David Copperfield” by MGM. This film made him an overnight star and he went on to appear in such classics as “Anna Karenina” (1935); “Little Lord Fauntleroy” (1936); and “Captains Courageous” (1937). His salary soared to $2, 500 a week making him filmdom's highest paid child star after Shirley Temple. But with the advent of young manhood, his dimpled, angelic good looks began to fade. After a stint in the Air Force in World War II, his film career was all but finished. In 1954, he went to work for an advertising agency and remarked at the time that the millions he had earned as a child had been spent mostly on lawsuits, one of which involved a headline court battle in 1937 between his parents and his aunt for custody of young Freddie. “I was drained dry,” he said. Freddie Bartholomew died in Florida in 1992 at the age of 67. He leaves a legacy of some of the greatest adventure films of the 1930s. Photo from the movie "Captains Courageous" also starring Spencer Tracy, Lionel Barrymore and a very young Mickey Rooney. Thanks to <barthsburgery.com> for the photo.