Kristy McNichol was a huge TV and movie star in the 1970s and 1980s.
The brunette with the big grin was best known for playing the tough daughter on the hit TV series Family. The role landed her magazine covers and a massive following.
McNichol also played Leticia ‘Buddy’ Lawrence on Family, Patricia Apple on Apple’s Way, and Barbara Weston on Empty Nest.
She also appeared in the 1978 NBC movie Summer of My German Soldier and the 1980 cult classic Little Darlings with Tatum O’Neal.
And there were the TV shows like Starsky & Hutch, CHiPs, The Bionic Woman and The Love Boat.
She retired from her TV career in 2001 to teach acting at a private school in Los Angeles and has since devoted much of her time to charity work
The star was spotted in Los Angeles this week during a power walk.
Kristy McNichol was a huge TV and movie star in the 1970s and 1980s. The brunette with the big grin had a massive following
Seen with costar Tatum O’Neal in the 1980 teen movie Little Darlings
She was dressed for comfort in a white T-shirt, black shorts, a maroon jacket and sneakers with cropped short hair.
The actress has kept a low profile since she left Hollywood in the 90s – foregoing social media and only showing up to some press events.
Like many child stars, she wasn’t the only sibling trying to make it big. McNichol’s brother Jimmy started out alongside her in commercials before the two parted ways to go on solo gigs.
It would take only a few years for her to land one of her biggest roles as Letitia ‘Buddy’ Lawrence in the TV drama Family which ran for four years from 1976 to 1980.
McNichols would win two Emmy Awards and was only 14 years old when the show began, but her cheeky tomboy persona endeared her to fans and set her on a trajectory of success for the next two decades.
She would also dip her toes into the music industry alongside her brother through the musical numbers that would feature on TV specials. This would segue into the pair recording an album Kristy and Jimmy McNichol for RCA Records.
As her popularity grew, she developed a cult following for ABC’s Battle of the Network Stars which was a celebrity sports show she typically dominated in.
Her face became heavily associated with the network and her work on the TV movie Summer of My German Soldier was critically acclaimed.
Her other costar in Little Darlings was Matt Dillon
But it would be her leading role in the 1980 coming-of-age film Little Darlings alongside Tatum O’Neil that would make her a heartthrob for teenagers – the premise being two girls with opposite and clashing personalities bunking together at summer camp and making a bet to see who can lose their virginity first.
At this point, McNichols was on a high, starring alongside Dennis Quaid and Mark Hamill in The Night the Lights Went Out in Georgia (1980) and Only When I Laugh (1981) which got her nominated for a Golden Globe Award.
Unfortunately, 1982 would be the year she began to question her career path. The former actress told People Magazine that on her way to the set of Just the Way You Are, she felt she was ‘on the brink of a total emotional collapse’.
She had dealt with years of success, eight movies by that time, creepy advances by directors and unresolved questions about herself.
Throughout the filming of that film, she said she mustered the energy to pull through the scene since that’s what she knew all her life and then turned into a ‘sad little lost animal in the darkness’.
Her weight dropped, depression skyrocketed and was constantly haunted by strange dreams.
As her popularity grew, she developed a cult following for ABC’s Battle of the Network Stars which was a celebrity sports show she typically dominated in; seen in 1977
It would take only a few years for her to land one of her biggest roles as Letitia ‘Buddy’ Lawrence in the TV drama Family which ran for four years from 1976 to 1980
McNichols and Mark Hamill in The Night the Lights Went Out in Georgia (1980); Dennis Quaid also starred in the film
And when she finally refused to continue filming the movie, even though she returned on set a year later, the rumors of her mental state flew throughout the tabloids.
The culprit? The intense pressures of child stardom.
McNichol returned to TV a few more times, making appearances in Women of Valor (1986), You Can’t Hurry Love (1988) and Two Moon Junction (1988).
Her final big role was in 1988 as Barbara Weston in Empty Nest, a spin-off of the Golden Girls, but she left the show four years later after being diagnosed with bipolar disorder.
The star was spotted in Los Angeles this week during a power walk
She was dressed for comfort in a white T-shirt, black shorts, a maroon jacket and sneakers with cropped short hair
In 2001, she announced she had retired from acting and retreated to her Sherman Oaks home.
But she would come back into the public eye to reveal her biggest secret that had been the cause of speculation for years: her sexuality.
McNichols came out as a lesbian in 2012 and revealed that she had lived with her girlfriend, Martie Allen, for over 20 years.
It took decades to bring forth publicly, but McNichol said she hoped it may stop some children from becoming victims of homophobic bullying.
The former actress also said when she came out that another reason for discussing her sexuality now was because she is ‘approaching 50’ and wants to ‘be open about who I am.’
