My father, the child star: a graphic novelist reflects on the cost of fame

As a gameshow prodigy, Joel Kupperman was fawned over by celebrities and received 10,000 fan letters a week. His son Michael’s illustrated memoir All the Answers explores the true story his father never told him

“He was clearly not a performer,” says author and illustrator Michael Kupperman of his father, Joel. “After a certain point, he was not going to become a popular television personality. He didn’t have that kind of ease with the camera. He was very charming as a kid but, as he got older …” He pauses to find the right words. “He’s a very dry fella, you know?”

I find it difficult to imagine my own dad as a media sensation, so it is easy to sympathise with Kupperman’s assessment. But as the most prominent member of the much-loved Quiz Kids radio programme, Joel was, for a time, the most famous child in the US.

He was a pin-up for a while. He had people writing to him as a potential boyfriend ... it got into some weird territory

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from Children | The Guardian https://ift.tt/2JxQ6oS