One in a bazillion

I was not a child actor. Therefore the only way I can relate to a child star is to watch their lives unfold on the TV, in the tabloids, on TMZ.com, and then try to understand their lives as opposed to my own.
I guess I just don't get how hard it must be to transition into the actor-as-adult biz (not necessarily the adult actor biz), let alone to be just a normal type human.
We've all seen Lindsay Lohan's mugshot (not to mention her naughty bits) as she careens towards another stint in rehab. It seems the entire child cast of Diff'rent Strokes has had it rough (witness Dana Plato, Todd Bridges, and Gary Coleman) and do I even need to mention Scott Baio? If you've seen Scott Baio is 45 and Single, or the new one ...46 and Pregnant, then you'll know that he is a merely a child grown older. I'm an immature dork, and I learned stuff in high school that he hasn't even contemplated yet.
Which brings me to my point...child actors who become grown up actors without robbing liquor stores, or doing multiple turns in reality shows/rehab are few and far between.
The reason I was thinking about this is because I was watching a movie with Christian Bale the other day (the movie was Equilibrium, and it was okay, I'll give it a C+) and I thought about his early roles (Empire of the Sun, Newsies) and how he now seems to be a hard workin' guy who is a darned good actor. I never heard of him getting a DUI, going into rehab, getting arrested for soliciting a hooker who turned out to be a dude, getting high with Danny Bonaduce, or getting in a fist fight with Peter Billingsley.
If Bale has done any of these things, then he's got a tremendous PR team. However, he seems to be a normal guy from Wales who tries very hard to master his craft. Lately he's been in a whole buncha good movies. The Prestige, Batman Begins, the Machinist, 3:10 to Yuma, American Psycho (this one is a guilty pleasure for me) and The New World.
I hope he keeps it up and I don't have to start looking for him as the contestant named Actor Boy on I Love New York 7.