Childhood Stars Who Beat The Odds

Of the saddest Hollywood cliches is losing a former child star to drugs—among the casualties have been Brad Renfro, River Phoenix and recently, Corey Haim. We’ve seen their names on the D-List before and the tragic stories have become all too familiar. But what about the stars who managed to escape the woes of being young in Hollywood? PopEater.com came out with a list of former teen actors and actresses who survived in and out of show business.

The list includes the mother of all survivor stories, Drew Barrymore, whose rebellious stage involved smoking pot and drinking alcohol before she hit puberty. Now, she’s an A-list actress, a budding film director, and a UN Ambassador Against Hunger. Neil Patrick Harris also made the list – the former teen star has come a long way since his days playing a child genius on Doogie Howser. Playing the lead in CBS hit show How I Met Your Mother, he is also the only actor to host both the Emmy’s and the Tony’s. What’s even more admirable is that his success was not damaged by coming out in 2006, making him the only openly gay actor in Hollywood to pull off playing a hetrosexual playboy on TV. –KRIS ALCANTARA

See who else made it on the list at PopEater.com.