Nov 21 2024 81 mins
Are Hollywood's youngest stars in any less danger now than those of past eras? We pose this question to Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman’s Claudia Lamb. At age 11 she was cast as Mary’s daughter Heather Hartman in the groundbreaking Norman Lear soap parody. Claudia offers a front row view to her traumatic life as a 70s child star, at the mercy of her abusive parents and insight into how she gnawed through their shackles to pursue a radio journalism career and become a champion for today’s child actors.
Claudia was a gourmet meal ticket to her criminally exploitative parents who squandered all her money as she cranked out hundreds of commercials and print ads as a toddler who was shoved into the spotlight and dragged by her angry and brutal mother to audition after audition.
Claudia candidly conveys the extent of the violence and terror inflicted by her narcissistically cruel mother as Claudia’s labor, throughout her childhood supported the entire family while alienating her five brothers.
Her talent and intelligence branded her as a go-to for commercial producers, where, as a stand-by, she frequently replaced the principal. Then at the age of 11, after being pummeled by her mother for a poor math grade, (working kids needed to keep their grades above a C average) Claudia was dragged to a cattle-call populated by every chubby, frizzy haired 13 year old in Hollywood. Claudia, a scrawny, pigtailed 11 year old nailed the reading and was instantly cast as Heather Hartman where she treasured her three years on the set of Norman Lear's outrageous, unprecedented soap satire.
Claudia tells of marathon filming sessions, (five episodes a week) with no cue cards or teleprompters. (Louise Lasser would scribble her lines on the kitchen table!) She celebrates the immense talents of Mary Kay Place, Martin Mull and Fred Willard, and shares fabulous anecdotes about Donny and Jimmy Osmond (The Donny & Marie Show filmed next door) and how Claudia was nearly crushed by a mob of fans who spotted her chatting up some Osmonds and jumped a fence to get in on that action.
Claudia is frank in her assessment of the adults who let her down as she endured her mother's abuse. Her bruises were in clear view of the wardrobe department. At the age of 18, Claudia put Hollywood in her rear view and became an award winning journalist who now speaks to parents about the reality and dangers posed to children by show business.
Weezy offers a supporting view, recommending Demi Lovato’s new documentary on Hulu and Disney + called Child Star. Fritz is captivated by the Hulu series adaptation of Patrick Radden Keefe’s best-seller about “The Troubles” in Ireland, Say Nothing. And Claudia weighs in on recs with a doc called Casa Bonita Mi Amor on Paramount +.
Path Points of Interest:
Child Star on Hulu and Disney+