Frederick Cecil Bartholomew (March 28, 1924 – January 23, 1992), known for his acting work as Freddie Bartholomew, was an English-American

child actor The term child actor or child actress is generally applied to a child acting on stage or in movies or television. An adult who began their acting career as a child may also be called a child actor, or a "former child actor". Closely associated t ...

. One of the most famous child actors of all time, he became very popular in 1930s

Hollywood films The cinema of the United States, consisting mainly of major film studios (also known as Hollywood) along with some independent film, has had a large effect on the global film industry since the early 20th century. The dominant style of Ame ...

. His most famous starring roles are in ''

Captains Courageous ''Captains Courageous: A Story of the Grand Banks'' is an 1897 novel by Rudyard Kipling that follows the adventures of fifteen-year-old Harvey Cheyne Jr., the spoiled son of a railroad tycoon, after he is saved from drowning by a Portuguese f ...

'' (1937) and ''

Little Lord Fauntleroy ''Little Lord Fauntleroy'' is a novel by Frances Hodgson Burnett. It was published as a serial in ''St. Nicholas Magazine'' from November 1885 to October 1886, then as a book by Scribner's (the publisher of ''St. Nicholas'') in 1886. The ill ...

'' (1936). He was born in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

, and for the title role of

MGM Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc., also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures and abbreviated as MGM, is an American film, television production, distribution and media company owned by Amazon through MGM Holdings, founded on April 17, 1924 a ...

's ''

David Copperfield ''David Copperfield'' Dickens invented over 14 variations of the title for this work, see is a novel in the bildungsroman genre by Charles Dickens, narrated by the eponymous David Copperfield, detailing his adventures in his journey from inf ...

'' (1935), he emigrated to the United States at the age of 10 in 1934, living there the rest of his life. Behlmer, Rudy (ed)
''Memo from David O. Selznick''.
Viking Press, 1972. p. 176. He became an

American citizen Citizenship of the United States is a legal status that entails Americans with specific rights, duties, protections, and benefits in the United States. It serves as a foundation of fundamental rights derived from and protected by the Constituti ...

in 1943 following

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

military service. Despite his great success and acclaim following ''David Copperfield'', his childhood film stardom was marred by nearly constant legal battles and payouts, which eventually took a huge toll on both his finances and his career. In adulthood, after World War II service, his film career dwindled rapidly, and he switched from performing to directing and producing in the medium of television.

Biography

Early life

Bartholomew was born Frederick Cecil BartholomewHoerle, Chapter 1. in March 1924 in

Harlesden Harlesden is a district in the London Borough of Brent, North West London. Located north of the Grand Union Canal and Wormwood Scrubs, the Harrow Road flows through the centre of the area which goes eastwards to Central London and west toward ...

in the borough of

Willesden Willesden () is an area of northwest London, situated 5 miles (8 km) northwest of Charing Cross. It is historically a parish in the county of Middlesex that was incorporated as the Municipal Borough of Willesden in 1933, and has forme ...

Middlesex Middlesex (; abbreviation: Middx) is a historic county in southeast England. Its area is almost entirely within the wider urbanised area of London and mostly within the ceremonial county of Greater London, with small sections in neighbour ...

.Birth Registry, Willesden Registration District, County of Middlesex, January–March 1924, Volume 3A, p. 439.
/ref>A 1992 ''New York Times'' obituary, which in addition lacked precise data regarding Bartholomew's birth date or age, erroneously gave his birthplace as Dublin, perhaps somehow confusing Freddie with his uncle, Frederick Head Bartholomew, who was born in Dublin in 1885 when Freddie's grandfather was garrisoned there. His parents were Cecil Llewellyn Bartholomew, a wounded

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

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 Warminster () is an ancient market town with a nearby garrison, and Civil parishes in England, civil parish in south west Wiltshire, England, on the western edge of Salisbury Plain. The parish had a population of about 17,000 in 2011. The 11th-c ...

, a town in

Wiltshire Wiltshire (; abbreviated Wilts) is a historic and ceremonial county in South West England with an area of . It is landlocked and borders the counties of Dorset to the southwest, Somerset to the west, Hampshire to the southeast, Gloucestershire ...

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. Bartholomew was educated at Lord Weymouth's Grammar School in Warminster, and by his Aunt Cissie.

Child star

From England to Hollywood

In Warminster, Bartholomew was a precocious actor and was reciting and performing from age three.Hoerle, Chapter 2. 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.Hoerle, Chapter 3. 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 The Italia Conti Academy of Theatre Arts is a performing arts conservatoire based in Woking, England. It was founded in 1911 by Italia Conti, an actress. The first production at Italia Conti Academy was the play '' Where the Rainbow Ends''. F ...

in London, and appeared in a total of four minor British films. American filmmakers

George Cukor George Dewey Cukor (; July 7, 1899 – January 24, 1983) was an American film director and film producer. He mainly concentrated on comedies and literary adaptations. His career flourished at RKO when David O. Selznick, the studio's Head ...

and David O. Selznick saw him on a 1934 scouting trip to London and chose him for the young title role in their

film ''

'' (1935). Bartholomew and his aunt emigrated to the United States in August 1934, and MGM gave him a seven-year contract. ''David Copperfield'', which also featured Basil Rathbone,

Maureen O'Sullivan Maureen O'Sullivan (17 May 1911 – 23 June 1998) was an Irish-American actress, who played Jane in the ''Tarzan'' series of films during the era of Johnny Weissmuller. She performed with such actors as Laurence Olivier, Greta Garbo, William ...

W. C. Fields William Claude Dukenfield (January 29, 1880 – December 25, 1946), better known as W. C. Fields, was an American comedian, actor, juggler, and writer. Fields's comic persona was a misanthropic and hard-drinking egotist who remained a sympathe ...

, and Lionel Barrymore, was a success, and made Bartholomew an overnight star. He was subsequently cast in a succession of film productions with some of the most popular stars of the day. Among his successes of the 1930s were ''

Anna Karenina ''Anna Karenina'' ( rus, «Анна Каренина», p=ˈanːə kɐˈrʲenʲɪnə) is a novel by the Russian author Leo Tolstoy, first published in book form in 1878. Widely considered to be one of the greatest works of literature ever writt ...

'' (1935) with

Greta Garbo Greta Garbo (born Greta Lovisa Gustafsson; 18 September 1905 – 15 April 1990) was a Swedish-American actress. Regarded as one of the greatest screen actresses, she was known for her melancholic, somber persona, her film portrayals of tragic ch ...

and

Fredric March Fredric March (born Ernest Frederick McIntyre Bickel; August 31, 1897 – April 14, 1975) was an American actor, regarded as one of Hollywood's most celebrated, versatile stars of the 1930s and 1940s.Obituary '' Variety'', April 16, 1975, ...

; ''

Professional Soldier ''Professional Soldier'' is a 1935 adventure film based on a 1931 story by Damon Runyon, "Gentlemen, the King!" It stars Victor McLaglen and Freddie Bartholomew. The film was directed by Tay Garnett, and produced by Twentieth Century Fox. A sold ...

'' (1935) with

Victor McLaglen Victor Andrew de Bier Everleigh McLaglen (10 December 1886 – 7 November 1959) was a British boxer-turned-Hollywood actor.Obituary ''Variety'', 11 November 1959, page 79. He was known as a character actor, particularly in Westerns, and made sev ...

and

Gloria Stuart Gloria Frances Stuart (born Gloria Stewart; July 4, 1910 September 26, 2010) was an American actress, visual artist, and activist. She was known for her roles in Pre-Code films, and garnered renewed fame late in life for her portrayal of Rose ...

; ''

'' (1936) with

Dolores Costello Dolores Costello (September 17, 1903Costello's obituary in ''The New York Times'' says that she was born on September 17, 1905. – March 1, 1979) was an American film actress who achieved her greatest success during the era of silent movies. ...

and

C. Aubrey Smith Sir Charles Aubrey Smith (21 July 1863 – 20 December 1948) was an English Test cricketer who became a stage and film actor, acquiring a niche as the officer-and-gentleman type, as in the first sound version of ''The Prisoner of Zenda'' (1937) ...

; ''

Lloyd's of London Lloyd's of London, generally known simply as Lloyd's, is an insurance and reinsurance market located in London, England. Unlike most of its competitors in the industry, it is not an insurance company; rather, Lloyd's is a corporate body gov ...

'' (1937) with

Madeleine Carroll Edith Madeleine Carroll (26 February 1906 – 2 October 1987) was an English actress, popular both in Britain and America in the 1930s and 1940s. At the peak of her success in 1938, she was the world's highest-paid actress. Carroll is rememb ...

and

Tyrone Power Tyrone Edmund Power III (May 5, 1914 – November 15, 1958) was an American actor. From the 1930s to the 1950s, Power appeared in dozens of films, often in swashbuckler roles or romantic leads. His better-known films include '' Jesse James'', ...

; ''

The Devil is a Sissy ''The Devil is a Sissy'' is a 1936 American MGM comedy-drama film directed by W. S. Van Dyke and Rowland Brown. The film stars Freddie Bartholomew, Jackie Cooper and Mickey Rooney, three of the biggest child stars of the 1930s. The film prem ...

'' (1936) with

Mickey Rooney Mickey Rooney (born Joseph Yule Jr.; other pseudonym Mickey Maguire; September 23, 1920 – April 6, 2014) was an American actor. In a career spanning nine decades, he appeared in more than 300 films and was among the last surviving stars of the ...

and

Jackie Cooper John Cooper Jr. (September 15, 1922 – May 3, 2011) was an American actor, television director, producer, and executive, known universally as Jackie Cooper. He was a child actor who made the transition to an adult career. Cooper was the first ...

; and ''

'' (1937) with

Spencer Tracy Spencer Bonaventure Tracy (April 5, 1900 – June 10, 1967) was an American actor. He was known for his natural performing style and versatility. One of the major stars of Hollywood's Golden Age, Tracy was the first actor to win two cons ...

. ''Captains Courageous'' was the movie he most enjoyed working on. The film took an entire year to make, and much of it was shot off the coasts of

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

and

Catalina Island, California Santa Catalina Island ( xgf, Pimuu'nga or ; es, Isla Santa Catalina) is a rocky island off the coast of Southern California in the Gulf of Santa Catalina. The island name is often shortened to Catalina Island or just Catalina. The island is ...

. He later recalled, "For a kid, it was like one long outing. Spencer Tracy, Lionel Barrymore, Mickey Rooney, Melvyn Douglas and I – we all grew very close toward one another in those 12 months. When the shooting was finished, we cried like a bunch of babies as we said our goodbyes." His acting skills, open and personable presence, emotional range, refined English diction, and angelic looks made him a box-office favorite. He quickly became the second-highest-paid child movie star after

Shirley Temple Shirley Temple Black (born Shirley Jane Temple;While Temple occasionally used "Jane" as a middle name, her birth certificate reads "Shirley Temple". Her birth certificate was altered to prolong her babyhood shortly after she signed with Fox in ...

Ring Lardner Jr. Ringgold Wilmer Lardner Jr. (August 19, 1915 – October 31, 2000) was an American screenwriter. A member of the "Hollywood Ten", he was blacklisted by the Hollywood film studios during the late 1940s and 1950s after his appearance as an " ...

had high praise for him, saying of his performance as the star of ''Little Lord Fauntleroy'', "He is on the screen almost constantly, and his performance is a valid characterization, which is almost unique in a child actor, and, indeed, in three fourths of adult motion-picture stars." Of his role as the protagonist of ''Captains Courageous'',

Frank Nugent Frank Stanley Nugent (May 27, 1908 – December 29, 1965) was an American screenwriter, journalist, and film reviewer, who wrote 21 film scripts, 11 for director John Ford. He wrote almost a thousand reviews for ''The New York Times'' before lea ...

of the ''

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'' wrote, "Young Master Bartholomew ... plays Harvey faultlessly." By April 1936, following the very popular ''Little Lord Fauntleroy'', Bartholomew's success and level of fame caused his long-estranged birth parents to attempt to gain custody of him and his fortune. A legal battle of nearly seven years ensued, resulting in nearly all the wealth that Bartholomew amassed being spent on attorneys' and court fees, and payouts to his birth parents and two sisters.''Bartholomew v. Bartholomew'', 56 Cal.App.2d 216
LawLink.com

MGM contract troubles

The extreme financial drain of his birth parents' ongoing custody battles prompted Bartholomew's aunt to demand a raise in his salary from MGM in July 1937, leveraged by the huge success of ''Captains Courageous''. She threatened to break his MGM contract in order to find a better-paying studio. The contract battle kept him out of work for a year, causing among other things the postponement and eventual loss of his planned lead in a film of Rudyard Kipling's ''

Kim Kim or KIM may refer to: Names * Kim (given name) * Kim (surname) ** Kim (Korean surname) *** Kim family (disambiguation), several dynasties **** Kim family (North Korea), the rulers of North Korea since Kim Il-sung in 1948 ** Kim, Vietnamese f ...

'', and the loss of his planned lead in ''

Thoroughbreds Don't Cry ''Thoroughbreds Don't Cry'' is a 1937 American musical comedy film directed by Alfred E. Green and starring Mickey Rooney and Judy Garland in their first film together. Plot Cricket West is a hopeful actress with a pair of vocal cords that bri ...

'' with

Judy Garland Judy Garland (born Frances Ethel Gumm; June 10, 1922June 22, 1969) was an American actress and singer. While critically acclaimed for many different roles throughout her career, she is widely known for playing the part of Dorothy Gale in '' The ...

and Mickey Rooney. He eventually resumed acting through 1942, in mostly lesser-quality films and roles, only three out of 11 of which were with MGM, and after 1938 he was less popular than in his heyday. This fall in popularity stemmed not only from the quality of the roles and his conflicts with MGM, but also 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

and therefore the literary classics and costume dramas Bartholomew excelled at were less in fashion. In 1938,

Twentieth Century Fox 20th Century Studios, Inc. (previously known as 20th Century Fox) is an American film studio, film production company headquartered at the Fox Studio Lot in the Century City area of Los Angeles. As of 2019, it serves as a film production arm o ...

hired him for the lead in their film of Robert Louis Stevenson's ''

Kidnapped Kidnapped may refer to: * subject to the crime of kidnapping Literature * ''Kidnapped'' (novel), an 1886 novel by Robert Louis Stevenson * ''Kidnapped'' (comics), a 2007 graphic novel adaptation of R. L. Stevenson's novel by Alan Grant and Ca ...

''. MGM then re-teamed him for the fourth and fifth times with Mickey Rooney in ''

Lord Jeff ''Lord Jeff'' is a 1938 MGM film, set in England, starring Freddie Bartholomew as a spoiled orphan who has gotten mixed up with some crooks, but gets set straight by a stint in a mercantile marine vocational school for orphaned boys. Plot Young ...

'' (1938) and ''

A Yank at Eton ''A Yank at Eton'' is an American comedy-drama film directed by Norman Taurog for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and starring Mickey Rooney, Ian Hunter, and Peter Lawford. Released in 1942, it is a kind of junior thematic sequel to MGM's British-made fil ...

'' (1942), and he co-starred with Judy Garland in the lightweight MGM musical ''

Listen, Darling ''Listen, Darling'' is a 1938 American musical comedy film starring Judy Garland, Freddie Bartholomew, Mary Astor, and Walter Pidgeon. It is best known as being the film in which Judy Garland sings " Zing! Went the Strings of My Heart", which la ...

'' in 1938. Freddie Bartholomew and Wendy Barrie at a charity ball and dinner

In 1939

Universal Universal is the adjective for universe. Universal may also refer to: Companies * NBCUniversal, a media and entertainment company ** Universal Animation Studios, an American Animation studio, and a subsidiary of NBCUniversal ** Universal TV, a ...

re-teamed him for the third and fourth times with Jackie Cooper in '' The Spirit of Culver'' and ''Two Bright Boys''. For

RKO RKO Radio Pictures Inc., commonly known as RKO Pictures or simply RKO, was an American film production and distribution company, one of the "Big Five" film studios of Hollywood's Golden Age. The business was formed after the Keith-Albee-Orpheu ...

distribution, he performed in ''

Swiss Family Robinson ''The Swiss Family Robinson'' (German: ''Der Schweizerische Robinson'') is a novel by Johann David Wyss, first published in 1812, about a Swiss family of immigrants whose ship en route to Port Jackson, Australia, goes off course and is shipwreck ...

'' and ''

Tom Brown's School Days ''Tom Brown's School Days'' (sometimes written ''Tom Brown's Schooldays'', also published under the titles ''Tom Brown at Rugby'', ''School Days at Rugby'', and ''Tom Brown's School Days at Rugby'') is an 1857 novel by Thomas Hughes. The stor ...

'' in 1940. And as World War II deepened, Columbia had him star in three military-related films: ''Naval Academy'' (1941), ''Cadets on Parade'' (1942), and ''Junior Army'' (1942).

World War II and beyond

Enlistment and aftermath

World War II military service interrupted Bartholomew's career even further. He enlisted in the U.S. Army Air Forces on January 13, 1943, at the age of 18, and worked in aircraft maintenance. During training he fell and injured his back, was hospitalized for seven months, and was discharged on January 12, 1944. He had one film role in 1944, in the low-budget comedy ''

The Town Went Wild ''The Town Went Wild'' is a 1944 American comedy film directed by Ralph Murphy and starring Freddie Bartholomew and Edward Everett Horton Plot Like Romeo and Juliet, next door neighbours David Conway and Carol Harrison are deeply in love wi ...

''. The film reunited him with

Jimmy Lydon James Joseph Lydon (May 30, 1923 – March 9, 2022) was an American actor and television producer whose career in the entertainment industry began as a teenager during the 1930s. Early life Lydon was born in Harrington Park, New Jersey on May 3 ...

, with whom he had starred in ''Tom Brown's School Days'', ''Naval Academy'', and ''Cadets on Parade''. This ended up being Bartholomew's penultimate film performance, and his last for seven years. His efforts to revive his film career were unsuccessful; and efforts performing in regional theaters and vaudeville did not spark a comeback either. After distressing experiences including a devastating auto accident and performing unsuccessfully in a play in Los Angeles, in 1946 Bartholomew married publicist Maely Daniele. Daniele, six years his senior, was a twice-divorced woman, and his marriage to her caused a serious and permanent rift with his aunt, who moved back to England. The marriage was not a happy one.LeBow, Guy. "Station Break: Freddie B." I
''Watch Your Cleavage, Check Your Zipper! Everything You Were Never Supposed to Know About TV''
SP Books, 1994. p 248. In 1946 he was in a radio play in an episode of ''

Inner Sanctum Mystery ''Inner Sanctum Mystery'', also known as ''Inner Sanctum'', is a popular old-time radio program that aired from January 7, 1941, to October 5, 1952. It was created by producer Himan Brown and was based on the imprint (trade name), imprint given ...

''. In 1947, he appeared as himself in a five-minute cameo in the otherwise all-black musical film ''

Sepia Cinderella ''Sepia Cinderella'' is a 1947 American musical race film directed by Arthur H. Leonard. The film is notable for musical numbers by vocalists Billy Daniels and Sheila Guyse, and for a brief guest appearance by former child star Freddie Bartholo ...

'', relating his post-war efforts to have a successful vaudeville routine and telling a few gags onscreen. He spent most of 1948 touring small American theaters, and in November 1948 left without his wife for an

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

n tour as a night-club singing, patter, and piano act.

Switch to television and off-camera work

Upon his return to the United States in 1949, and in rather desperate circumstances, he switched to the new and burgeoning medium of

television Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of television transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertisin ...

. He shifted from performer to television host and director to television producer and executive. Preferring to be known as Fred C. Bartholomew, he became the

television director A television director is in charge of the activities involved in making a television program or section of a program. They are generally responsible for decisions about the editorial content and creative style of a program, and ensuring the prod ...

of independent television station

WPIX WPIX (channel 11) is a television station in New York City. Owned by Mission Broadcasting, it is operated under a local marketing agreement (LMA) by Nexstar Media Group, making it a ''de facto'' owned-and-operated station and flagship (broadcas ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

from 1949 through 1954.Nuccio, Sal
"Advertising: Role for Freddie Bartholomew"
''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'', November 6, 1964. Accessed March 30, 2011. His final acting role was as a priest in the 1951 film ''

St. Benny the Dip ''St. Benny the Dip'' is a 1951 American comedy film directed by Edgar G. Ulmer. The film is also known as ''Escape If You Can'' in the United Kingdom. Plot summary Benny (Dick Haymes), Monk (Lionel Stander) and Matthew (Roland Young) are t ...

''. He divorced his first wife in 1953, and in December of that year he married television chef and author Aileen Paul, whom he had met at WPIX. With her he had a daughter, Kathleen Millicent Bartholomew, born in March 1956, and a son, Frederick R. Bartholomew, born in 1958. The family, including stepdaughter Celia Ann Paul, lived in

Leonia, New Jersey Leonia is a borough in Bergen County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States census, the borough's population was 8,937,advertising Advertising is the practice and techniques employed to bring attention to a product or service. Advertising aims to put a product or service in the spotlight in hopes of drawing it attention from consumers. It is typically used to promote a ...

firms created and produced radio and television shows. In 1954, Bartholomew began working for

Benton & Bowles Benton & Bowles (B&B) was a New York-based advertising agency founded by William Benton and Chester Bowles in 1929. One of the oldest agencies in the United States, and frequently one of the 10 largest, it merged with D'Arcy-MacManus Masius in ...

, a New York advertising agency, as a television producer and director. At Benton & Bowles, he produced shows such as ''

The Andy Griffith Show ''The Andy Griffith Show '' is an American situation comedy television series that aired on CBS from October 3, 1960, to April 1, 1968, with a total of 249 half-hour episodes spanning eight seasons—159 in black and white and 90 in color. The ...

'', and produced or directed several television

soap opera A soap opera, or ''soap'' for short, is a typically long-running radio or television serial, frequently characterized by melodrama, ensemble casts, and sentimentality. The term "soap opera" originated from radio dramas originally being sponsored ...

s including ''

As the World Turns ''As the World Turns'' (often abbreviated as ''ATWT'') is an American television soap opera that aired on CBS for 54 years from April 2, 1956, to September 17, 2010. Irna Phillips created ''As the World Turns'' as a sister show to her other soa ...

'', ''

The Edge of Night ''The Edge of Night'' is an American television mystery crime drama series and soap opera, created by Irving Vendig and produced by Procter & Gamble Productions. It debuted on CBS on April 2, 1956, and ran as a live broadcast on that networ ...

'' and ''

Search for Tomorrow ''Search for Tomorrow'' is an American television soap opera. It began its run on CBS on September 3, 1951, and concluded on NBC, 35 years later, on December 26, 1986. Set in the fictional town of Henderson in an unspecified state, the show focu ...

''. In 1964 he was made a vice president of radio and television at the company. Bartholomew and his second wife divorced by early 1977. He eventually remarried, and remained married to his third wife, Elizabeth, for the rest of his life. Suffering from

emphysema Emphysema, or pulmonary emphysema, is a lower respiratory tract disease, characterised by air-filled spaces ( pneumatoses) in the lungs, that can vary in size and may be very large. The spaces are caused by the breakdown of the walls of the alve ...

, he retired from television by the late 1980s. He eventually moved with his family to

Bradenton, Florida Bradenton ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Manatee County, Florida, Manatee County, Florida, United States. As of the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census, the city's population is 55,698. History Late 18th and early 19th centuries ...

. In 1991 he was filmed in several interview segments for the

documentary film A documentary film or documentary is a non-fictional film, motion-picture intended to "document reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction, education or maintaining a Recorded history, historical record". Bill Nichols (film critic), Bil ...

''MGM: When the Lion Roars'' (1992). He died of

heart failure Heart failure (HF), also known as congestive heart failure (CHF), is a syndrome, a group of signs and symptoms caused by an impairment of the heart's blood pumping function. Symptoms typically include shortness of breath, excessive fatigue, a ...

in Sarasota, Florida in January 1992, at the age of 67.

Honors

*On April 4, 1936, Bartholomew placed his handprints, footprints, and signature in front of

Grauman's Chinese Theatre Grauman's Chinese Theatre (branded as TCL Chinese Theatre for naming rights reasons) is a movie palace on the historic Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6925 Hollywood Boulevard in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, United States. The original Chines ...

. *In 1960, he received a motion pictures star on the

Hollywood Walk of Fame The Hollywood Walk of Fame is a historic landmark which consists of more than 2,700 five-pointed terrazzo and brass stars embedded in the sidewalks along 15 blocks of Hollywood Boulevard and three blocks of Vine Street in Hollywood, Californ ...

at 6663

Hollywood Boulevard Hollywood Boulevard is a major east–west street in Los Angeles, California. It begins in the east at Sunset Boulevard in the Los Feliz district and proceeds to the west as a major thoroughfare through Little Armenia and Thai Town, Hollywoo ...

for his contributions to the

film A film also called a movie, motion picture, moving picture, picture, photoplay or (slang) flick is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, feelings, beauty, or atmosphere ...

industry. *He is one of the 250 Greatest Male Screen Legends nominated by the

American Film Institute The American Film Institute (AFI) is an American nonprofit film organization that educates filmmakers and honors the heritage of the motion picture arts in the United States. AFI is supported by private funding and public membership fees. Leade ...

in 1999 as part of their AFI's 100 Years...100 Stars selection.

Filmography

*''Toyland'' (1930, Short) *''

Fascination Fascination may refer to: Music *"Fascination", a stride piano composition by James P. Johnson recorded in 1917 (as a piano roll) and 1939 (acoustic) *''Fascination!'', a 1983 album by The Human League **"(Keep Feeling) Fascination", a 1983 song ...

'' (1931) – Child *''

Lily Christine ''Lily Christine'' is a 1932 British drama film directed by Paul L. Stein and starring Corinne Griffith, Colin Clive and Margaret Bannerman. It was made at British and Dominion Elstree Studios by Paramount Pictures.Wood, Linda. ''British Films, ...

'' (1932) – Child (uncredited) *'' Strip! Strip! Hooray!!!'' (1932, Short) – Boy (uncredited) *''

'' (1935) –

as a boy *''

'' (1935) – Sergei *''

'' (1935) – King Peter II *''

'' (1936) – Cedric "Ceddie" Errol, Lord Fauntleroy *''

'' (1936) – Claude *''

'' (1936) – Jonathan Blake as a boy *''

'' (1937) – Harvey Cheyne *''

'' (1938) – David Balfour *''

'' (1938) – Geoffrey Braemer *''

'' (1938) – 'Buzz' Mitchell *'' The Spirit of Culver'' (1939) – Bob Randolph *''

Two Bright Boys ''Two Bright Boys'' is a 1939 American Drama (film and television), drama film directed by Joseph Santley, written by Val Burton and Edmund Hartmann, and starring Jackie Cooper, Freddie Bartholomew, Alan Dinehart, Melville Cooper, Dorothy Peterson ...

'' (1939) – David Harrington *''

'' (1940) – Jack Robinson *''

'' (1940) – Ned East *''

Naval Academy A naval academy provides education for prospective naval officers. See also * Military academy A military academy or service academy is an educational institution which prepares candidates for service in the officer corps. It normally pro ...

'' (1941) – Steve Kendall *''

Cadets on Parade ''Cadets on Parade'' is a 1942 American drama film directed by Lew Landers and written by Howard J. Green. The film stars Freddie Bartholomew, Jimmy Lydon, Joseph Crehan, Raymond Hatton, Minna Gombell and Robert Warwick. The film was released on ...

'' (1942) – Austin Shannon *''

'' (1942) – Peter Carlton *'' Junior Army'' (1942) – Freddie Hewlett *''

'' (1944) – David Conway *''

'' (1947) – Himself *''

'' (1951) – Reverend Wilbur

Mentions in popular culture

The seven-minute

Warner Bros. Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Warner Bros. or abbreviated as WB) is an American film and entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California, and a subsidiary of Warner Bros. D ...

cartoon A cartoon is a type of visual art that is typically drawn, frequently animated, in an unrealistic or semi-realistic style. The specific meaning has evolved over time, but the modern usage usually refers to either: an image or series of images ...

''The Major Lied 'Til Dawn'' (1938) includes a caricature of Bartholomew as his Little Lord Fauntleroy role. He was also caricatured, along with many other Hollywood celebrities, in the eight-minute 1938 Disney cartoon ''

Mother Goose Goes Hollywood ''Mother Goose Goes Hollywood'' is a 1938 animated short film produced by Walt Disney Productions and distributed by RKO Radio Pictures. The short was released on December 23, 1938. The film parodies several Mother Goose nursery rhymes using cari ...

'' – in this case as his character from the film ''

''. As in the film, Freddie falls into the sea and is saved by

's character. A non-alcoholic cocktail – a parallel of the

– which combines ginger ale with lime juice, known as a "Freddie Bartholomew cocktail", is named for him. Although his name isn't mentioned, he is referred to in J. D. Salinger's ''

The Catcher in the Rye ''The Catcher in the Rye'' is an American novel by J. D. Salinger that was partially published in serial form from 1945–46 before being novelized in 1951. Originally intended for adults, it is often read by adolescents for its themes of angst ...

'', as a figure whom Holden Caulfield looks like – specifically, Bartholomew's most iconic role as Harvey Cheyne in ''

'' (1937), referred to by the character Sunny as the kid in the movie "who falls off boat".Beidler, Peter G
''A Reader's Companion to J. D. Salinger's the Catcher in the Rye''
Second Edition. Coffeetown Press, 2011. pp. 29–31.

References

* Hoerle, Helen. ''The Story of Freddie Bartholomew''. Akron, Ohio: Saalfield Publishing Company, 1935.

Notes

External links

*
Online biography, with citationsGenealogy and birth data
*
Freddie Bartholomew
at Virtual History {{DEFAULTSORT:Bartholomew, Freddie 1924 births 1992 deaths English male child actors English male film actors Male actors from London American male film actors Alumni of the Italia Conti Academy of Theatre Arts People educated at Lord Weymouth's Grammar School People from Leonia, New Jersey People from Willesden English people of Welsh descent Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer contract players 20th-century English male actors 20th-century American male actors English emigrants to the United States Television producers from New Jersey