Freddie Bartholomew was one of the most famous and successful child actors of all time. He starred in several classic Hollywood films in the 1930s, such as David Copperfield, Little Lord Fauntleroy, and Captains Courageous. He charmed audiences with his impeccable acting skills, his adorable curls, and his refined British accent. But what happened to him after his childhood fame faded away? How did he die and what was the cause of his death? In this article, we will explore the life and death of Freddie Bartholomew, the child star who epitomized Hollywood’s vision of a proper little English boy.
Early Life and Career
Freddie Bartholomew was born Frederick Cecil Bartholomew on March 28, 1924, in London, England. His parents were Cecil Llewellyn Bartholomew, a wounded World War I veteran who became a minor civil servant after the war, and Lilian May Clarke Bartholomew. By the age of three, Freddie was living in Warminster, a town in Wiltshire in southwest England, in his paternal grandparents’ home. He lived under the care of his aunt “Cissie”, Millicent Mary Bartholomew, who raised him and became his surrogate mother.
Freddie was a precocious actor and was reciting and performing from age three. By age five he was a popular Warminster celebrity, the “boy wonder elocutionist”, reciting poems, prose, and selections from various plays, including Shakespeare. He sang and danced as well. His first film role came by the age of six, in 1930. He also pursued acting studies at the Italia Conti Academy of Theatre Arts in London, and appeared in a total of four minor British films.
American filmmakers George Cukor and David O. Selznick saw him on a 1934 scouting trip to London and chose him for the young title role in their MGM film David Copperfield (1935). He immigrated to the United States at the age of 10 in 1934, living there the rest of his life. He became an American citizen in 1943 following World War II military service.
The illustrious, star-studded and highly successful David Copperfield (1935) made Freddie an overnight sensation, and he went on to star in a succession of high-quality films through 1937, including Anna Karenina (1935); Professional Soldier (1935); the riveting Little Lord Fauntleroy (1936); Lloyd’s of London (1936); The Devil Is a Sissy (1936); and Freddie’s biggest success, Captains Courageous (1937), opposite Spencer Tracy.
Legal Battles and Decline
Following the success of Little Lord Fauntleroy (1936), Freddie’s birth parents, who were strangers to him, stepped in and attempted for seven years to gain custody of him and his fortune. His aunt Millicent attempted to offset these legal expenses and payouts by demanding a raise in Freddie’s MGM salary in 1937. Another slew of court cases ensued, this time over the MGM contract, and Freddie missed a critical year’s work and some golden film opportunities.
By the time he resumed acting work in 1938, he was well into his teens, and audiences grew less interested in literary period pieces as World War II erupted in Europe. Following Kidnapped (1938), many of his ten remaining films through 1942 were knock-offs or juvenile military films, and only two were for MGM. The best of the films after Kidnapped (1938) were Swiss Family Robinson (1940), Lord Jeff (1938), Listen, Darling (1938), and Tom Brown’s School Days (1940).
His salary soared to $2,500 a week making him filmdom’s highest paid child star after Shirley Temple. In 1943, Freddie enlisted in the U.S. Air Force for a year to work in aircraft maintenance, exiting with both a back injury and American citizenship.
The additional time away from the screen had not done him any favors, though, and efforts to revive his career on film were unsuccessful. His efforts performing in regional theaters and vaudeville did not spark a comeback either. Aunt Millicent left for England when Freddie married publicist Maely Daniele in 1946 against her wishes.
Freddie toured a few months in Australia doing nightclub singing and piano, but when he returned to the U.S. in 1949 he switched to television, making a gradual move from performer to host to director, at New York station WPIX.
Death and Legacy
Freddie Bartholomew died of emphysema on January 23, 1992, at Sarasota Memorial Hospital in Sarasota, Florida. He was 67 years old. He had been a heavy smoker for most of his life, and had suffered from chronic lung problems. He was survived by his third wife, Elizabeth Grabill, whom he married in 1976, his two children from his second marriage to Aileen Paul, and three grandchildren.
Freddie Bartholomew was one of the most talented and beloved child stars of the golden age of Hollywood. He left behind a legacy of memorable performances that still enchant and inspire audiences today. He was inducted into the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1960, with a star at 6667 Hollywood Boulevard.
According to Britannica, Freddie Bartholomew “epitomized Hollywood’s vision of a proper little English boy in such Depression-era films as Little Lord Fauntleroy (1936) and Captains Courageous (1937)”. According to IMDb, he was “one of the most popular child actors in film history”. According to Wikipedia, he was “an English-American child actor. One of the most famous child actors of all time, he became very popular in 1930s Hollywood films”.
