20 Facts About Freddie Bartholomew

Frederick Cecil Bartholomew, known for his acting work as Freddie Bartholomew, was an English-American child actor who was very popular in 1930s Hollywood films.

Freddie Bartholomew became an American citizen in 1943, following World War II military service.

Freddie Bartholomew lived under the care of his "Aunt Cissie", who raised him and became his surrogate mother.

In Warminster, Freddie Bartholomew was a precocious actor and was reciting and performing from age three.

Freddie Bartholomew pursued acting studies at the Italia Conti Academy of Theatre Arts in London, and appeared in four minor British films.

Freddie Bartholomew was cast in a succession of film productions with some of the most popular stars of the day.

Freddie Bartholomew's acting skills, open and personable presence, emotional range, refined English diction, and angelic looks made him a box-office favorite.

Freddie Bartholomew quickly became the second-highest-paid child movie star, after Shirley Temple.

Freddie Bartholomew threatened to break his MGM contract to find a better-paying studio.

Freddie Bartholomew resumed acting in 1942, in mostly lesser-quality films and roles, only three of 11 of which were with MGM, and after 1938, he was less popular than in his heyday.

The fall in popularity stemmed not only from the quality of the roles and his conflicts with MGM, but from the fact that, by late 1938, he was a tall, nearly 6-foot teenager, and the fact that the world was focusing on the growing problems of World War II, thus the literary classics and costume dramas at which Freddie Bartholomew excelled were less in fashion.

Freddie Bartholomew enlisted in the US Army Air Forces January 13,1943, at age 18, and worked in aircraft maintenance.

Freddie Bartholomew had one film role in 1944, in the low-budget comedy, The Town Went Wild.

In 1946, after distressing experiences, including a devastating auto accident and performing unsuccessfully in a play in Los Angeles, Freddie Bartholomew married publicist Maely Daniele.

Freddie Bartholomew spent most of 1948 touring small American theaters, and in November 1948, left without his wife for an Australian tour as a nightclub singing, patter and piano act.

Freddie Bartholomew shifted from performer to television host and director to television producer and executive.

Freddie Bartholomew's final acting role was as a priest in the 1951 film St Benny the Dip.

Freddie Bartholomew divorced his first wife in 1953, and in December of that year, he married television chef and author Aileen Paul, who he had met at WPIX.

Freddie Bartholomew remarried in February 1976, and remained married to his third wife, Elizabeth Grabill, for the rest of his life.

Freddie Bartholomew died of heart failure in Sarasota, Florida, in January 1992, at age 67.