Take a closer look at some of Hollywood's top-tier talent at the beginning of their careers.

Child Stars, Then and Now

Take a closer look at some of Hollywood&#39;s top-tier talent at the beginning of their careers.

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James Dunn, Cliff Edwards, June Knight, Charles 'Buddy' Rogers, and Lillian Roth in Take a Chance (1933)

Lilian Bond, Robert Gleckler, Dorothy Lee, Charles 'Buddy' Rogers, and Lillian Roth in Take a Chance (1933)

James Dunn, Cliff Edwards, Marjorie Kane, June Knight, Lillian Roth, Vivian Vance, and Mildred Webb in Take a Chance (1933)

Charles 'Buddy' Rogers and Lillian Roth in Paramount on Parade (1930)

Barbara Stanwyck and Lillian Roth in Ladies They Talk About (1933)

Barbara Stanwyck, Maude Eburne, and Lillian Roth in Ladies They Talk About (1933)

Groucho Marx, Margaret Dumont, Robert Greig, Margaret Irving, Donald MacBride, Zeppo Marx, Edward Metcalfe, Kathryn Reece, Ann Roth, Lillian Roth, Louis Sorin, and Fredi Washington in Animal Crackers (1930)

Susan Hayward and Lillian Roth at an event for I'll Cry Tomorrow (1955)

James Dunn, June Knight, Charles 'Buddy' Rogers, and Lillian Roth in Take a Chance (1933)

Reginald Denny, Kay Johnson, and Lillian Roth in Madam Satan (1930)

Lillian Roth in Ladies They Talk About (1933)

Dennis King, Jeanette MacDonald, and Lillian Roth in The Vagabond King (1930)

James Dunn, Cliff Edwards, Charles 'Buddy' Rogers, and Lillian Roth in Take a Chance (1933)

James Dunn and Lillian Roth in Take a Chance (1933)

Nancy Carroll, Richard 'Skeets' Gallagher, Lillian Roth, and Stanley Smith in Honey (1930)

Jean Arthur, William Powell, Clara Bow, Maurice Chevalier, Nancy Carroll, Richard Arlen, Mary Brian, George Bancroft, Evelyn Brent, Clive Brook, Ruth Chatterton, Leon Errol, Richard 'Skeets' Gallagher, Helen Kane, Dennis King, Jack Oakie, Charles 'Buddy' Rogers, and Lillian Roth in Paramount on Parade (1930)

Jack Oakie and Lillian Roth in Sea Legs (1930)

Tragic songstress Lillian Roth (nee Lillian Rutstein) was born in Boston, Massachusetts, on December 13, 1910. She was given her first name in honor of singer Lillian Russell. She was the daughter of stage parents who groomed her and younger sister Ann for stardom at an early age.

The girls did not disappoint. In 1916, Lillian moved with her family to New York City, where the youngsters found work as extras in films. Lillian's precocious talent was picked up on quickly, and at age six she made her Broadway debut in "The Inner Man." All the while, the girls trained at the Professional Children's School. They became billed as "Broadway's Youngest Stars" after putting together a successful vaudeville tour billed as "The Roth Kids." In this act Lillian did serious dramatic impersonations of famous stars of the day, with Anna delivering amusing satires of Lillian's readings.

Lillian's vocal talents also impressed, and she was cast in the show "Artists and Models" at age 15. Shy by nature, the ever-increasing thrust into the limelight caused Lillian to develop severe nervous disorders, but somehow she persevered. At age 17, Florenz Ziegfeld Jr. signed her up as an ingénue headliner in his new show "Midnight Frolics."

This attention led to impresario Ernst Lubitsch's invitation to Hollywood for his glossy musical The Love Parade (1929) with Maurice Chevalier and Jeanette MacDonald. Lillian was a hit in her second lead role. She also impressed as Huguette in The Vagabond King (1930), a rather dated early musical talkie. Paramount cast her in Honey (1930), in which she debuted her signature standard "Sing You Sinners." Other roles included Cecil B. DeMille's Madam Satan (1930) and the Marx Brothers' vehicle Animal Crackers (1930), which countered her vocal stylings with the boys' zany antics.

The sudden death of her fiancé in the early '30s drove Lillian over the brink. She found that liquor gave her a calming sensation, which led to a full-scale addiction. Marriages, one to renowned Municipal Court Justice Benjamin Shalleck, came and went at a steady pace. There would be six in all. Her career deteriorated as she spiraled further and further down into alcoholic delirium.

Decades would be spent in and out of mental institutions until she met and married T. Burt McGuire, Jr., a former alcoholic, in the late '40s. With his support, Lillian slowly revived her career with club work. She became a singing sensation again and toured throughout the world, receiving ecstatic reviews wherever she went. Lillian's daring autobiography, "I'll Cry Tomorrow," was published in 1954 and topped The New York Times Best Seller list. She left out few details of her sordid past and battles with substance abuse. She became the first celebrity to associate her name with alcoholism and Alcoholics Anonymous, putting a well-known face on the disease (as Rock Hudson would later do for AIDS, albeit less willingly) while doing her part in helping to remove the social stigma.

A bold, no-holds-barred film adaptation of Lillian's book followed. Susan Hayward's gutsy portrayal of Lillian won her a fourth Oscar nomination. Lillian herself would return to films in her twilight years, but only in small roles and to minor fanfare. A beautiful and touching vocalist and actress, she put her own wonderful spin on such vintage songs as "When the Red, Red Robin," "I Wish I Had My Old Gal Back Again," and "Eadie Was a Lady." She overcame unimaginable odds and somehow lived to tell about it.

Lillian's turbulent life came to an end in New York City after suffering a fatal stroke on May 12, 1980. She was 69.

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Lillian Roth

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