The Two Coreys: America's Original Child Stars

July 27, 2007 — -- In America, the child star on the skids has become a cultural cliche. But before the days of Lindsay Lohan, Shannon Doherty and Britney Spears came the pioneers of this particular genre of the true Hollywood story: Corey Feldman and Corey Haim.

In the 1980s, "the two Coreys," as they were known, were the titans of teen cinema, starring in hit films like "Lost Boys," "License to Drive" and "Dream a Little Dream," before seeing it all evaporate after very public struggles with drugs, alcohol and the law.

"We were kind of really at the tip of the iceberg," said Feldman. "You didn't really see kid stars getting busted at that point. It all kind of started snowballing after that. … We were the predecessors."

They were two of the first child actors to take fans through that now-familiar — but still seemingly irritable — saga of kids whose sweet-face, on-screen personas are contradicted by their ugly off-screen entanglements with fame, money and drugs.

Corey Haim, for example, went from the loveable little brother in "Lost Boys" to a crack and Valium addict who made a reported 15 trips to rehab and then bloated up to more than 300 pounds.

Haim says he empathizes with Lindsay Lohan, who after a recent arrest for alleged cocaine possession and driving under the influence, has reportedly headed back to rehab for a third time.

"Yeah, I just feel bad for her. It is watching a person who is doing movies, singing, very talented, very pretty, doing what I did, and it is just, she doesn't realize that she's getting sick. She doesn't realize that she's sick. … For me, rock bottom was I couldn't even look in the mirror anymore," Haim said.

He continued, "I felt guilty about myself and everybody and what I was doing, this and that, I just did something about it on my own, but she's young enough to catch it. I see, just a version of me that is female and younger and I just hope that she catches it now, you know?"