Inspired by the busy little life of Push star Dakota Fanning, Blockbuster.co.uk's Marshall Julius delves into the lives and careers of ten of Hollywood's best-known child stars.

A seasoned actress and still only 15 years old, Dakota Fanning is one of hundreds of child stars who have, over the years, wowed audiences with their precocious talents. Currently starring in sci fi thriller Push, available this week at Blockbuster.co.uk, Fanning is on the verge of breaking through into the realms of adult movie stardom, but it's a difficult transition that has proven, over the years, to be too arduous for some, if not most.

For every Zac Efron, there are a dozen Brad Renfros, for every survivor like Drew Barrymore, there are many more like River Phoenix who simply couldn't adapt to grown-up life. Certainly these are rich, dramatic pickings, an abundance of triumphs and tragedies for us to now explore...

"I knew from my first commercial that I wanted to be an actress."

Childhood: Eager to act almost from birth, Georgia-born Dakota knocked out some episodic telly at the age of six, appearing in the likes of ER and CSI before making her feature debut in 2001's Tomcats. Later that year, Fanning found fame co-starring with Sean Penn and Michelle Pfeiffer in I Am Sam, and has since starred in Uptown Girls (2003), Man on Fire (2004), War of the Worlds (2005) and Charlotte's Web (2006).

Adulthood: On the verge of grown-up status, Dakota has graduated to playing teens in movies like The Secret Life of Bees (2008), Push (2009) and upcoming Twilight sequel, New Moon (2009).

Hollywood Confidential: The youngest person ever nominated for a Screen Actors Guild Award (for I Am Sam), home-schooled Dakota could read from the age of 2.

"Our relationship is stronger when we don't live together." - Mary Kate

Childhood: At just nine months old the Californian Olsen twins hit the big time playing the same cutesy kid in hit family sitcom Full House (1987-1995), later cranking out multiple direct-to-video movies and big screen comedy New York Minute (2004). Heavily merchandising their image to the pre-teen crowd, the girls are now worth well over $100 million.

Adulthood: Seeking to establish separate identities, Ashley moved to New York in 2004 to do the whole university thing, while sister Mary-Kate checked into rehab with anorexia before pursuing a solo acting career that saw her snogging Ben Kingsley in The Wackness (2008), though lately she's best known for owning the apartment that Heath Ledger accidentally killed himself in.

Hollywood Confidential: New York Minute earned the lowest-ever amount - just $5.96 million in its opening weekend - for any film opening in over 3000 cinemas.

"Contrary to popular belief, I've never been to rehab. I've never been to jail, never been arrested. All the child-star clichés. I've tried very hard to avoid them all."

Childhood: The third of seven kids, New Yorker Mac was on Broadway by the age of four, in movies at eight and after upstaging John Candy in Uncle Buck (1989) at nine, became one of the biggest and cutest stars on the planet at ten, courtesy of comedy mega-hit Home Alone (1990). Riding on the success of that movie, Culkin commanded $8 million salaries for a while, but his greedy manager dad Kit pushed him too hard and he quit the business at 14.

Adulthood: Mac married actress Rachel Miner in 1998 but divorced her in 2000 to focus on returning to acting. Screen highlights to date include Party Monster (2003) and prematurely cancelled telly soap Kings (2009). It's possible he should have stuck with Miner.

Hollywood Confidential: Culkin is godfather to Michael Jackson's son Prince and daughter Paris.

"My friends would probably describe me as silly. And honest. And that I think about things a bit too much."

Childhood: An only child from Connecticut, Brandis appeared in more than 85 adverts from the age of five, cranked out episodic telly from six, appeared in movies from ten, and took the lead, at age 14, in The Neverending Story II: The Next Chapter (1990). Best known for playing a nerd who talked to dolphins in so-so sci fi show seaQuest DSV (1993-1996), he was a talented young actor who never quite got the projects he deserved.

Adulthood: Eager to make it as a writer/director as well as an adult actor, Brandis was reportedly depressed about his lagging career, and shortly after his "comeback" role was cut from Hart's War (2002), he died from injuries suffered hanging himself. He didn't leave a note.

Hollywood Confidential: Jonathan's high school prom date was Just Married (2003) star Brittany Murphy.

"Life is very interesting. In the end, some of your greatest pains become your greatest strengths."

Childhood: Born in Los Angeles into the celebrated but dysfunctional Barrymore acting dynasty, Drew appeared in her first film at eleven months, found fame in Spielberg's E.T. (1980) when she was six, started smoking cigarettes at nine, boozing at 11, smoking dope at 12 and snorting coke at 13. Then came rehab, a suicide attempt, more rehab and, at 14, an autobiography called Little Girl Lost.

Adulthood: Against all early expectations, Drew cleaned up her act, and from 16 started rebuilding her career with roles in movies like Poison Ivy (1992) and Scream (1996). Today, despite a couple of impetuous and short-lived marriages, she's America's Sweetheart, a UN Ambassador Against Hunger with her own thriving production company, Flower Films.

Hollywood Confidential: Drew got a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in February 2004, joining famous relatives Ethel, John and Lionel Barrymore.

"When Diff'rent Strokes got canceled, I was enormously thrilled and very much looked forward to starting the rest of my life."

Childhood: Gary Coleman was born in Illinois with a congenital kidney disease that halted his growth at an early age. Cast at ten as an adorably cheeky type adopted by a wealthy widower in hit sitcom Diff'rent Strokes (1978-1986), Gary was exploited by the network, working up to fifteen hours a day, and ripped off by his parents, keeping just a fraction of his $100,000 per episode salary.

Adulthood: Utah resident Gary has spent most of his adult life making cameo appearances on TV and making ends meet in a variety of jobs from menial to political. Boasting two failed suicide attempts, an assault charge, various misdemeanours and a struggling marriage, he's hardly the happiest guy in the world.

Hollywood Confidential: Gary came top of VH1's Hundred Greatest Kid Stars.

"Normal is not something to aspire to, it's something to get away from."

Childhood: A precocious talent, Foster grew up in Los Angeles and could read from the age of three, which is roughly when she made her acting debut in a Coppertone ad. Following a decade of cranking out largely forgettable family entertainment, Foster was nominated for an Oscar for her role as a child prostitute in 1976's Taxi Driver, consolidating her fame that same year with hit comedies Freaky Friday and Bugsy Malone.

Adulthood: Fluent in French and Italian with a degree in English Literature from Yale, Foster was way too smart and mature to derail her life with parties and drugs. Winning Best Actress Oscars for The Accused (1989) and Silence of the Lambs (1991), she remains a major movie star with successful sidelines in motherhood, directing and lesbianism.

Hollywood Confidential: Foster was stalked by John Hinckley during her college years, who attempted to assassinate President Ronald Reagan in 1981 to impress her. It didn't.

"When you are young, your identity is connected to your celebrity. When it starts to decline, your self-worth goes with it."

Childhood: Doing ads from six and episodic telly from 11, Jackie hit the big time playing angry outsiders in hit baseball comedy The Bad News Bears (1976) and cycling comedy Breaking Away (1979).

Adulthood: A talented but unattractive man, Jackie's career dwindled with his youth, and he officially quit the business in 1993 to pursue a variety of professions including limo driver, security officer and pizza delivery guy. Unexpectedly cast by filmmaker Steve Zaillian, who remembered him from years earlier, in All the King's Men (2006), Jackie's unexpected comeback led to a well-deserved Oscar nomination for Little Children (2006) and later to him stealing the show as Rorschach in the best film of 2009, Watchmen.

Hollywood Confidential: Haley is currently hard at work playing Freddy Krueger in the Nightmare on Elm Street remake, coming soon.

"I stopped believing in Santa Claus when I was six. Mother took me to see him in a department store and he asked for my autograph."

Childhood: Encouraged before each take by her mother Gertrude to, "Sparkle, Shirley, Sparkle," by the time Temple achieved stardom, at age six, in 1934 musical comedy Bright Eyes, she'd already appeared in almost 30 films. A sweetly sunny actress, singer and dancer, Californian-born Shirley was the biggest box office draw from 1936 to 1938, and even though that was at the height of the Great Depression, her fans spent millions of dollars on Shirley dolls, records, dresses, hats and pretty much anything else with her picture on it.

Adulthood: Although, by 21, Temple's screen career was officially over, in later life she thrived in politics, representing the US as a diplomat in Ghana and Czechoslovakia. Now 81, she's retired from public life.

Hollywood Confidential: Shirley's mum styled her hair for every movie, always giving her exactly 56 curls.

"I'm a woman who wants to reach out and take 40 million people in her arms."

Childhood: "I was born at the age of 12," said Judy, not in Minnesota, but "on a Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer lot." Driven by a sadistic stage mother and groomed for stardom by MGM, who saddled her with a lifelong drug habit by feeding her amphetamines to keep her energy up and her weight down, Garland won the hearts of audiences everywhere as sweet, mellifluous Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz (1939).

Adulthood: Starring in a string of classic musicals throughout the Forties until her increasingly erratic, drug-fueled behaviour saw her fired from MGM, five-time married Garland made it big in comeback classic A Star is Born (1954), and singing to live audiences, before dying of an overdose at 47.

Hollywood Confidential: During her first marriage, Judy was forced by MGM boss Louis B. Mayer to have an abortion, for fear of her damaging her good-girl image. The event left her traumatised for life.