Leif Garrett: Latest Fallen Former Child Star

Jan. 20, 2006— -- There seemed to be no trace of the golden-haired child star who wore an easy smile on the cover of Tiger Beat in Leif Garrett's mug shot. He was arrested on drug possession charges in Los Angeles on Saturday.

"That was the most horrendous thing I'd ever seen," said Garrett's mother, Carolyn Stellar. "It wasn't my son. It was heroin's son, and it was horrendous to look at it."

On Wednesday, Garrett, 44, pleaded not guilty to drug possession charges after he was arrested for allegedly trying to ride the subway without a ticket. He was charged with felony possession of heroin and fare evasion.

Garrett -- best-known for singing and acting in the late 1970s -- is just the latest of a string of former child stars who have run into troubled times in adulthood. Stellar blames herself for her son's problems.

"There are a lot of things I could have done differently," Stellar said. "You have to be the most protective parent in the world, even if it irritates others."

Former child star Danny Bonaduce told Stellar she should not feel guilty.

"When exactly do we start to blame Leif?" Bonaduce asked. "Because I'd like to start blaming Leif right about now, because that way I can help him."

Bonaduce met Garrett while they were filming the 2003 movie "Dickie Roberts: Former Child Star," in which they spoofed their status as child stars.

Bonaduce can also relate to Garrett's drug problems. The former darling of "The Partridge Family" has been in and out of rehab for drug and alcohol addiction, and is currently documenting his struggle on the VH1 reality show "Breaking Bonaduce."

Despite his own problems, Bonaduce said child stars did not always end up failing as adults.

"For every Leif Garrett, there's a Ron Howard," Bonaduce said. "In fact, for every Leif Garrett, there are three or four or five Ron Howards, child actors who grow up and keep it together."

But more often the troubled former child stars grab the headlines.