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5 former child stars who entered politics

Talia LakritzMay 3, 2023, 19:42 IST

Former child star Shirley Temple ran for Congress in 1968.Bettmann/Contributor/Getty Images ; Bettmann/Contributor/Getty Images

  • "Boy Meets World" star Ben Savage is currently running for Congress.
  • Shirley Temple unsuccessfully ran for Congress in 1968, then became a UN ambassador.
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Shirley Temple began appearing in films at just 3 years old and remains one of the most well-known child stars of all time.

Shirley Temple circa 1933.Bettmann/Contributor/Getty Images

After a GOP primary defeat in 1967, Temple was appointed a United Nations ambassador.

Shirley Temple at the Republican Women's Conference in 1968.Bettmann/Contributor/Getty Images
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Sheila James Kuehl appeared in various TV shows and movies throughout the '50s and '60s, most famously as the young genius Zelda Gilroy.

Sheila James as Zelda Gilroy in 1961.CBS via Getty Images

Kuehl became California's first openly gay state legislator in 1994.

Sheila Kuehl speaks at the opening of the Anita May Rosenstein Campus LGBT Center in Los Angeles in 2019.John Salangsang/Variety/Penske Media via Getty Images
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Melissa Gilbert starred as Laura Ingalls Wilder in "Little House on the Prairie" from 1974 to 1983.

Melissa Gilbert as Laura Ingalls Wilder in "Little House on the Prairie."NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal via Getty Images via Getty Images

Gilbert launched a congressional campaign in 2016, but she withdrew from the race due to health issues.

Melissa Gilbert in 2017.Roy Rochlin / Contributor/Getty Images
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Stacey Dash played Cher's friend Dionne Davenport in the 1995 film "Clueless."

Stacey Dash as Dionne Davenport in "Clueless."CBS via Getty Images

She became a Fox News commentator before launching an unsuccessful congressional bid in 2018.

Stacey Dash in 2020.Michael Tran/Getty Images
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Ben Savage rose to fame as Cory Matthews on the '90s sitcom "Boy Meets World."

Ben Savage in "Boy Meets World" in 1993.ABC Photo Archives/Disney General Entertainment Content via Getty Images

In 2023, Savage announced he is running for Congress.

Ben Savage in 2018.Dia Dipasupil/New York Daily News/Tribune News Service via Getty Images
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