WHERE ARE THEY NOW: Child stars of classic sitcoms
Talia Lakritz
- Jaleel White, who played Steve Urkel on "Family Matters," still appears in TV shows and movies.
- "Malcolm in the Middle" star Frankie Muniz left Hollywood to run an olive-oil store in Scottsdale, Arizona.
Soleil Moon Frye held the titular role in "Punky Brewster."
The show aired from 1984 to 1988. Frye was cast in the role when she was just 7.
Frye has continued acting, mostly through voiceover work. She returned to the role of Punky for a short-lived revival series in 2021.
Frye has lent her voice to characters in "Robot Chicken," "The Proud Family," and "Bratz" movies.
"Punky Brewster" was revived by NBC's Peacock in 2021 — it followed Punky's life as a divorced mom of three kids. Frye returned to the starring role and was an executive producer, but the show was canceled after one season.
Jaleel White started playing Steve Urkel on "Family Matters" in 1988 when he was 12 years old.
Steve Urkel was only supposed to be on one episode of "Family Matters," but White ended up playing him for nine seasons due to the character's popularity.
He's continued acting, appearing in numerous television shows and movies such as "Dreamgirls."
Recent television appearances include "Raven's Home," "The Big Show Show," and "Fresh Off the Boat." He also starred in the 2022 film "The Greatest Inheritance."
Danica McKellar played Winnie Cooper on "The Wonder Years" from 1988 to 1993.
Before "The Wonder Years," McKellar appeared on episodes of "The Twilight Zone" and "Captain Planet and the Planeteers."
McKellar has continued acting, but she also received a bachelor of science in mathematics from UCLA and wrote four bestselling math books.
As an undergraduate, she coauthored a new mathematical physics theorem that was named the Chayes-McKellar-Winn Theorem.
She has also done voiceover work for "Young Justice" and "Transformers: Rescue Bots," and she's famously appeared in Hallmark movies, before moving over to GAC Family with other Hallmark stars.
"I've done 16 movies for the Hallmark Channel and I loved my time there," she told Insider's Anneta Konstantinides in March 2022 of her decision to leave. "In this network I get a much more hands-on role with executive producing, and it's really exciting to sign this multi-picture deal with them and be creating movies."
McKellar's former "Wonder Years" costar, Fred Savage, began acting at age 9.
He starred in "The Princess Bride" in 1987, then got cast as Kevin Arnold in "The Wonder Years" in 1988.
Savage is still acting, but he also works behind the camera as a director.
Most recently, Savage played Max Adler in "Friends from College" and has done voiceover work for "American Dad!" He's also directed episodes of "Modern Family," "Black-ish," and "The Connors."
Tracey Gold played Carol Seaver on "Growing Pains" from 1985 to 1992.
Her acting career began with commercials at age 5.
After the show, she continued appearing in movies and television shows, and she wrote a memoir called "Room to Grow: An Appetite for Life."
She's appeared in dozens of TV movies and series since her time on the show. Her most recent acting credit was in a 2016 movie called "All Hallows' Eve," according to IMDb.
She will appear in Food Network's "Worst Cooks in America Celebrity Edition: That's So '90s" when it premieres in April 2022, People reported.
In her book, which was published in 2003, Gold wrote about growing up in the spotlight and her experience with anorexia.
Cole Sprouse played Ross' son, Ben, on "Friends."
Along with his twin brother, Dylan, Cole Sprouse went on to star as Zack and Cody Martin on Disney Channel's "The Suite Life of Zack and Cody."
After a brief break from acting to attend New York University, the Sprouse twins are back to acting in TV shows and films.
Cole currently plays Jughead Jones on The CW's hit drama "Riverdale."
Dylan returned to acting in 2017 — he's appeared in music videos and voiced video games, and he played Trevor in 2020's "When We Collided." He also opened the brewery All-Wise Meadery with two business partners in 2018.
Cali and Noelle Sheldon took turns playing Ross and Rachel's baby, Emma, on "Friends."
One twin would appear on camera while the other napped.
"All of the cast were super nice to us, they treated us all like little princesses and when we had holidays and stuff, they'd give us little Christmas gifts," Cali told Insider in 2019.
They most recently played twins named Becca and Lindsey in Jordan Peele's movie "Us."
"'Us' was an awesome experience for us because we go to meet all really influential people and obviously you can actually really remember that, so it was cool to be on the set of a real movie," Cali told Insider.
Raven-Symoné played Olivia Kendall on "The Cosby Show" from 1989 to 1992.
She went on to star in "Doctor Doolittle" and "Zenon: Girl of the 21st Century."
After rising to fame in "That's So Raven" on Disney Channel, she returned to the network in a spinoff called "Raven's Home."
Raven-Symoné left her gig as a cohost on "The View" to star in and executive produce "Raven's Home," which premiered in 2017.
Frankie Muniz is best known as Malcolm from the early-2000s sitcom "Malcolm in the Middle."
The role earned him both Emmy and Golden Globe nominations.
After a stint on "Dancing with the Stars," Muniz left Hollywood to run an olive-oil shop in Scottsdale, Arizona, with his wife. He's also a race-car driver.
Muniz won third place on season 25 of "Dancing with the Stars" and hosted "Dancing with the Stars: Juniors."
He married longtime girlfriend Paige Price in February 2020. Together, they took over the premium olive-oil store Outrageous Olive Oils & Vinegars.
"We were looking for something to do together," Muniz told the Arizona Republic in 2019. "We had been customers at the store before and we just knew we liked the product and we wanted to do something together. Now, it's become our lives."
He is also pursuing a professional race-car driving career, according to his website, and he participated in the ARCA Menards Series pre-race practice earlier this year.
Tia and Tamera Mowry played long-lost twins on the sitcom "Sister Sister."
They also played long-lost twins in the Disney Channel original movies "Twitches" and "Twitches Too" about twin witches.
They studied psychology at Pepperdine University and continued working together on a "Twintuition" book series, while also appearing on screen.
Tamera hosted the daytime talk show, "The Real," for seven years, and announced her departure in July. She also acted in "A Christmas Miracle" in 2019.
Tia has also continued acting, with movie credits include roles in "Baggage Claim" and "Indivisible," and a role on the TV show "Family Reunion."
Another famous set of twins, Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen, got their start on "Full House."
The Olsen twins were babies when they began starring on "Full House" in 1987, and they were 9 years old when it ended. They went on to star in their own TV series, "The Adventures of Mary-Kate & Ashley" and "Two of a Kind," as well as a slew of movies, including "Passport to Paris" and "Our Lips Are Sealed."
The Olsen twins retired from acting to focus on their fashion line, Elizabeth and James, which they launched in 2007.
Mary-Kate last acted in "Beastly" in 2011, and Ashley's last major role was in "New York Minute" alongside her sister in 2004.
Their style has evolved over the years, inspiring trends including choker necklaces, big sunglasses, and oversized layers.
Ross Bagley worked with Will Smith on "The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air" in the '90s.
Bagley has since appeared in several horror movies.
His most recent movie was "Dead Ringer" in 2015. He also made appearances on TV shows such as "Judging Amy," "The Wild Thornberrys," and "Providence."
He's also working as a realtor and DJ in Los Angeles, according to his Instagram.
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