How ‘A Christmas Story’ Star Scott Schwartz Went From Child Actor to Adult Film Star

A Christmas Story star Scott Schwartz recently opened up about the unexpected turn his career took when he went from a child actor to working in adult films.

Schwartz memorably played Ralphie’s (Peter Billingsley) classmate, Flick — the boy who got his tongue stuck on a frozen pole at school — in the beloved 1983 holiday film. Additionally, he appeared in over 100 commercials and other onscreen gigs as a child.

During a new episode of Investigation Discovery’s Hollywood Demons titled “Child Stars Gone Wild,” Schwartz, now 57, dished on how he ended up in the adult film industry.

“I’d done all the shows and the ABC after-school specials, and all that kind of stuff,” he recalled. “And I hit puberty. And then we’ve got a problem. My voice changes. I don’t get any taller, 5-foot-2 on a great day. Now, I look 15, I sound 27. What do you do?”

After taking a break from Hollywood to tour as a roadie for a friend who worked in  adult films, Schwartz returned to Los Angeles in the ’90s. “I ended up doing several on-camera, what they call non-sex roles in adult films,”  he explained. “They’re willing to pay $300 a day, I need rent money. OK, fine, I’m not hurting anybody, I’m not going to jail. OK, fine.”

Eventually, Schwartz said that he started working behind the scenes in the industry.

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“I was working in the office of one of the companies, and he needed a cameraperson,” he detailed. “So the next thing you know, I became a cameraperson for one of the companies and shot damn near 200 scenes of adult film. I did that. Put food on the table, roof over my head.”

In 1996, Schwartz, who was still hurting for money, had the opportunity to appear on camera in a sex-centric way. “When the company offered me a good enough of a deal, I said yes,” he said.

Schwartz explained, of Scotty’s X-Rated Adventure, “I played myself in the movie, and I’m like a child star wanting to become an adult actor and get more attention.”

He added, “I did it for the paycheck. I was the second-highest-paid male performer ever. John Wayne Bobbitt was the first, I’m second. It was the one time. OK, I’m good. That was the end of that.”

Hollywood Demons: Child Stars Gone Wild, streaming on HBO Max