Ex Child Actor, Brian Bonsall, Looks Like Hell
By: Keith
Update 04/09/10:
Brian pleaded guilty to felony menacing and a probation violation in connection to his 2009 and 2007 cases. He was sentenced to two years probation, 5 days work release and 40 hours community service.
Update 02/19/10:
Unfortunately for him, Brian has been re-arrested. On Feb 15 he tested positive for marijuana use which is a violation of his bond conditions stemming from the above mentioned assault. He had been trying to get a medical marijuana license, but it doesn’t seem he had one at the time of the arrest.
Original Story: Ex Child Actor, Brian Bonsall, Looks Like Hell
Remember Andrew Keaton from Family Ties (the show with Michael J Fox)? He was the youngest Keaton, the cute one. Yesterday, in Boulder Colorado, the police charged him for hitting a friend in the head with a wooden stool. That’s not all either. He already had a warrant out for him from 2007 for violating his bond conditions stemming from a case in which he was convicted of another assault. This current arrest could land him in jail for up to 6 years.
Hitting someone in the head with a stool sounds like a lot of fun, but this case is tragic. Brian was a really cute kid. By all appearances he had a lot of good things going for him. He won several Young Artist Awards for his work on Family Ties, and he has been in numerous other TV shows and Movies. He was a legitimate talent. He probably still is a talented guy. But, he’s also had issues with substance abuse with a 2001 DUI and another arrest in 2004. He could be a perfectly nice guy (although he looks a little scary these days) for all I know. What I do know is that he’s another case of a child actor who went awry. And, I can’t say why it happens. Perhaps it’s the stress of fame or the corruption of too much money too early that makes child actors lose it. Maybe the same thing that gives them the ability to be child actors in the first place also curses them to errant behavior later. Or, more possibly, could it be that the parents of said actors are the problem by allocating too little attention to creating a nurturing family during childhood?
Brian’s evolution has been interesting to say the least. He isn’t a complete disaster. He fronts a punk band here in Boulder and he’s been successful in other bands throughout the country as well. He’s a talented guy who just happens to have hit the skids in a few areas of his life. None of us are perfect, and the potential lies in all of us to screw up. Brian could still do more great things with his life, but he probably needs to start now before he runs into further troubles.
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Keith, there has always been this little part of me that just hates to see children on my TV screen in a regularly scheduled show. It’s illegal to ask children to work for a living in every other part of the US, is it not? They can’t work in factories, stores, or in any type of official way for a business until they reach a certain age. Am I wrong about that? That’s what I’ve always understood anyway. I assume it’s still OK for a kid to sweep up in his grandpa’s shop for a few bucks a week. But the kind of grueling schedule expected of children who act has to take it’s toll. I think of Michael Jackson or Danny Bonaduce (who has managed to capitalize on his misspent youth, so maybe good for him.) I mean, I enjoy watching the Harry Potter movies, but I wonder what all that work has done to the child actors who participated. I think something’s wrong that needs fixing. Just my opinion.
Beth, I wonder what the child labor laws do say about it. There must be a provision for whatever these kids to that makes it ok. But, that’s a great point. I bet if we read the laws we’d find a bunch of loop holes that permit this as long as…. and then x,y and z conditions are met sort of thing. Definitely something wrong.
If it’s the parents fault then they can blame their parents and then blame the parents before that. .. I wish nearly everyone the best but it’s not likely to happen in this case. Adult decisions beget adult consequences so it’s bye bye to him.
Yes, mom, bye bye to him. At some point we have to all take responsibility for our actions. Whatever may have happened in his childhood is water under the bridge at this point. Nevertheless, parents can be to blame for certain egregious behavior if it screws up a kids mental wellbeing. Not saying we need to go back to Adam and Eve for original blame and excuse our own actions. Just saying that life is a ripple effect.
hi i love u brian bonsall add m : dianaob_22@hotmail.com kiss bye
Well Brian is back in jail. Doing 120 days on a DUI in Denver. 60 days is flat time and so he will do 96 days total. He looks like he has cleaned up a bit. What a shame.