Some ugly ducklings just need time to blossom into the beautiful swans that they were meant to be.

These fifteen former child actors did the reverse.  They peaked early on, starting out adorable, talented and full of promise, but unfortunately for them time has not been their friend.  These tween stars suffered a double dose of cruelty when their careers went down the tubes along with their looks.  In Hollywood nothing lasts forever, and these former stars are proof of that.

Child actors rarely come out on the other side of puberty unscathed and too often we hear about how they turned their careers into train wrecks in no time.  Seriously, it is a wonder that any loving parents out there push their children into show business knowing that the chances of them not crashing and burning is slim to none.  Many of these fifteen can add poor adult choices to their fateful triangle of despair:

Dead careers...check.

Run ins with the law, substance abuse and destructive decisions...check.

Sorry kids, I hope you enjoyed your fame, fortune and cuteness while it lasted.  It won't be returning anytime soon.

15 Taylor Momsen

Born in St. Louis, Missouri, this Midwestern Muffin was about as cute as a button before she jumped feet first into a vat of black eyeliner and hair bleach.  Taylor Momsen acted on hit shows like Gossip Girl, where she played Jenny Humphrey, How The Grinch Stole Christmas.  The blonde beauty who had been acting since she was knee high to a grasshopper had come a long way since landing her first Shake n' Bake commercial at age three.  After striking it big with Gossip Girl though, she fell off of the acting radar and landed in a rock and roll band, The Pretty Reckless.  She has enjoyed some success as a grungy, angsty crooner, but nothing like she had back in her acting heydays.  Truthfully, I bet she is still a stunner somewhere underneath all of that Covergirl.

14 Jonathan Lipnicki

Who could forget Little Lipnicki's role as the son of Renee Zellweger in the box office mega hit Jerry Maguire.  He was about as squishable as they came, I remember hoping that my sons would be as lovable as him was in that film.  I take that all back now.  I think he peaked around age five.  While he is not nearly as aesthetically offensive as others on this list, he is kind of just...eh.  Jonathan left acting to live life as a typical teenager before attempting to regain his acting mojo, landing small roles in shows like Monk and Family Guy.  It seems like today he has a balance of engaging in normal activities like Jiu-Jitsu practice and polishing the old acting chops at venues like the legendary Playhouse West.  He might not be raking in mad dough, but he doesn't seem like he is a train wreck either, that's a win for a former child star!

13 Lark Voorhies

Lark Voorhies played Lisa Turtle on every girl's favorite television show, Saved By The Bell.  Others came and went, but Turtle was there to stay.  It turns out she should have tried to stay there...forever.  When the show ended, so did Lark's cute and sassy style as well as her sanity.  These days she is best known for her disturbing appearance and her wacky public rants.  She piles on the heavy makeup (that really doesn't give with her skin tone,) and conducts interviews like she is a few french fries short of a happy meal.  Oh yeah, she also made a little sex tape with ex boyfriend Jimmy Green.  I wonder if she used Dustin Diamond's contacts when peddling that gem?  At least they each made their own tape.  None of us would have survived a Screech and Lisa porn.

12 Taran Noah Smith

Taran Noah Smith played the youngest son of Tim The Tool Man Taylor on Home Improvement.  Along with familiar names like Tim Allen, Patricia Richardson and Jonathan Taylor Thomas, Smith spent the majority of his childhood on one of the longest running sitcoms in television history.  The show did eventually run its course and ended when Smith was sixteen years old.  By then he had transformed from adorable tyke to quirky teen and it was in that phase Taran has remained.  He stopped acting all together and married a woman twice his age, accused his parents of dipping into his trust fund, made some poor business decisions, got busted for possession of hash and divorced his cougar wife in 2007.  Adulthood has not been kind to the Tool Man's youngest son.

11 Rupert Grint

Rupert Grint is best known for playing Ron Weasley in the ever popular Harry Potter series.  I also like to think of him as the vice president of Gingers-Run-The-Friend-Zone, (with Ed Sheeran heading that gang up of course.)  Rupert was kind of sweet and cute in that we-will-never-ever-hook-up way, but as he aged he became...kind of gross.  I'm sure he is a nice guy and all, but let's be honest:  if you are going to bed Ron Weasley, then you are going to be knock down drunk in a pitch black bar.  Even though this English gent isn't exactly a sight for soar eyes, he is kind of a gem of a hidden talent.  Before landing the role of Ron at age eleven, he had only acted in school plays and local community theater.  That is one hell of a promotion there Rup!

10 Amanda Bynes

Once upon a time she was a Nickelodeon darling, then the wheels came off of Amanda Bynes in a very big way.  Back in the 1990's and early 2000's Amanda starred in shows like All That and The Amanda Show before venturing into movies such as What A Girl Wants, Hairspray and Easy A.  Life was good for this golden haired girl, until she slowly started to do what most child stars do...unravel.  Amanda began retiring, un-retiring, ranting, changing her appearance dramatically and making bizarre statements on Twitter.  Then came the trouble with the law... a lot of it.  She was eventually committed to a psychiatric facility before her parents swooped in to oversee their daughter's health and wealth.  Today the former actress claims that she is three years sober and ready to jump back into the acting saddle.

9 Haley Joel Osment

Remember this kid?  He was the little guy who saw dead people while starring in The Sixth Sense alongside Bruce Willis.  After earning an Academy award nomination for his performance, Osment went on to score some big time roles in films like Pay It Forward and A.I. Artificial Intelligence.  This kid was on top of the world and headed for a long and fulfilling career, but the roles started to slim down and Haley began to do the opposite.  The big guy ended up suffering a fairly nasty automobile accident in 2006, pleading no contest to driving under the influence of alcohol and drug possession.  He currently lives in New York city and plays both the guitar and the piano.  Kind of a shame, this guy really does have quite a bit of talent.

8 Edward Furlong

I used to think this guy was so freaking hot.  Don't lie, you probably did too.  He starred in Terminator 2, American History X, Before and After, and about twenty other films over the last few decades.  Furlong went from a teen heartthrob with the smoldering stare to  a bloated, greasy guy that I would purposely cross the street to get away from.  I get it Eddie, the roles stopped coming and turning forty is fun for no one, but you have let yourself go in a very big way.  It makes middle aged women like me very sad.  It isn't just his unkempt looks that makes me want to vomit, he has also struggled with drugs, alcohol and domestic abuse, not exactly attractive qualities.  The guy has spent more time in and out of rehabs and jail than he has on film sets in the past few years.

7 Macaulay Culkin

This guy right here is the poster child for cute kid actor turned washed up, ugly addict.  Seriously how is this even the same person!?  Grown up Mac barely even resembles little Kevin McAllister who we all fell in love with while watching the Home Alone movies.  He was such darling little stinker back then with his quick witted pranks and snarky retorts, now he is...well yucky.  After the kiddo landed some big movie roles in films like Uncle Buck and My Girl, he retired from acting at age fourteen, and took a real interest in drugs and alcohol, eventually getting busted in 2004.  His is truly a sad story, but a common one.  He was a child superstar, controlled by iron-fisted stage parents who developed an appetite for destruction.  Not exactly a recipe for success there huh?

6 Ron Howard

Who knew that the creative genius and Academy Award winning filmmaker Ron Howard used to be a total cutie pa-tootie!  Ron started out acting as Opie in the Andy Griffith Show and later as Richie Cunningham in Happy Days before he went on to create the masterpieces that we all love: A Beautiful Mind, Apollo 13, Cinderella Man, Backdraft and Cocoon.  This is merely a short list of what this man has had a hand in creating, film is most definitely in his blood.  So yes, Ron Howard has a brilliant mind.  And yes, Ron Howard is nothing to look at.  I suppose he put all of his efforts into exercising the creative side of his brain and neglected his appearance.  Ron is married to his lovely wife Cheryl and together they have three gorgeous daughters.

5 Erik Per Sullivan

Well here is a child actor who never quite grew into his looks.  Erik Per Sullivan played little Dewey on the hit television show Malcom in the Middle.  As the little bro to Frankie Muniz, Erik enjoyed countless ladies cooing over him, wanting to pinch his sweet little cheeks.  I hope he enjoyed those days because I doubt the ladies are swooning over him these days.  He still has that baby face, but now it's in a man's body, which makes things a little weird to look at.  Those giant floppy ears work for little kids, but on a grown man...no.  These days Erik is mostly staying away from the acting world, although he did a bit of voice over work in Finding Nemo as well as a few other small films.

4 Henry Thomas

His name might not ring a bell, but his face sure will.  Henry Thomas is "that kid from E.T."  He portrayed lonely ten year old Elliot who befriended everyone's favorite alien.  Thomas was basically a no name kid from a fairly poor, rural background who returned to home life after filming with Spielberg to bullying and taunting from his local peers.  He wasn't in Kansas anymore and he turned to the lady folk to ease the blow of reality. Might as well get something out of his big time role.  Eventually Thomas moved to the big city where he made a living as a working actor, mostly landing smaller roles, but somehow managed to avoid the curse of the childhood star.  Today he lives in the Los Angeles area with his wife and three children and for the most part is just a normal dude.  Sure, he is nothing really to gawk at now, but at least he isn't in jail or rehab like so many other child actors.

3 Michael Fishman

I love me some Roseanne.  I swear I have seen every episode and nearly peed my pants with excitement when I heard they were bringing the show back.  Michael Fishman played the youngest Conner kid, D.J.  The little half-wit was always up to no good, but who could get mad at that cute little face?  After one of television's longest running sitcoms ended, Fishman pretty much fell off the radar and out of acting.  His adorable looks didn't last very long and after a few small roles in other films and projects Fishman gave up the silver screen to settle into domestic bliss.  Today he is married with two children and taking acting classes in hopes of breaking back into the business as an adult actor.  The return of Roseanne is one heck of a lucky break for Fishman!

2 Tina Yothers

Tina Yothers began acting in commercials when she was just three years old.  The green eyed cutie pie with a million dollar smile seemed made for television and it wasn't long before she landed the role of youngest daughter, Jennifer Keaton, on the hit television show Family Ties.  At nine years old, Yothers was catapulted into the limelight, but enjoyed very little acting success following the show's run.  She tried her hand at a music career, forming a band called Jaded with her brother, (nothing about that sounds like a winner,) but that too didn't catch on.  In recent years Tina has appeared on reality television shows like Wife Swap, Celebrity Fit Club and What Not To Wear, basically every single reality show that criticizes your being and negates your self worth.

1 Robert Macnaughton

What a fall from grace this once handsome little guy has had.  During his fifteen minutes of fame, Macnaughton starred in what is now considered one's of the greatest films of our time, E.T., playing the Elliot's cool, older, athletic brother.  Now?  I feel like that hair probably says it all.  Bleached out dreads are not ok Macnaughton.  After landing a few small film roles, Robert left the wonderful world of acting and threw himself into things like bad hair and  parenthood.  He married actress (Bianca Hunter,) and together they have a collective four sons.  The family has lived away from the Hollywood lights for some time now, first in Pheonix, Arizona where Robert became a mail handler, (I didn't even know that was an actual job,) and now in Jersey City, New Jersey.  Umm, best of luck in the mail handling biz.